Commas, Quotation Marks, Colons, Semicolons,
Apostrophes, Hyphens, Dashes, and Parentheses
(noun): the practice or system of using certain conventional
marks or characters in writing or printing in order to separate
elements and make the meaning clear, as in ending a sentence
or separating clauses.
Examples:
Tired, he decided to go to bed early.
“Please pay attention,” said the teacher.
So far we have read these authors: Shakespeare, Lee, and Miller.
I studied for four hours; now I’m ready for the test.
I’m trying to understand the girl’s handwriting but I can’t.
The president – a fifty-four year old man – vetoed the bill.
Shakespeare (1564-1616) invented many words that we use today.
 Use commas to:
 Separate items in a series (three or more related words,
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phrases, or clauses)
Separate two or more adjectives that come before a noun
Separate long, independent clauses in a sentence
Set off words, phrases, and clauses that come at the
beginning of a sentence
Separate interrupters from the rest of the sentence
Separate nouns of direct address from the rest of the
sentence
Create an appositive phrase
 Aka the Harvard Comma aka the serial comma
 Refers to the optional comma that comes before the
coordinating conjunction in a series
 For example:
 This sentence does NOT contain the Oxford Comma:
 The athlete caught the ball, ran down the field and scored a
goal.
 This sentence does contain the Oxford Comma:
 The athlete caught the ball, ran down the field, and scored a
goal.
 Common arguments for consistent use of the serial comma:
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Use of the comma is consistent with conventional practice
It matches the spoken cadence of sentences better
It can resolve ambiguity
Its use is consistent with other means of separating items in a list
(for example, when semicolons are used to separate items a
semicolon is consistently included before the last item even when
and or or is present)
 Common arguments against consistent use of the serial
comma:
 Use of the comma is inconsistent with conventional practice
 The comma may introduce ambiguity (see examples below)
 It is redundant in a simple list because the and or the or is often
meant to serve (by itself) to mark the logical separation between
the final two items unless the final two items are not truly
separate items but are two parts of a compound single item
 Where space is at a premium the comma adds unnecessary bulk
to the text
 Direct Quote: write speaker’s exact words
 QUOTATION MARKS NEEDED (as well as other
punctuation)
 Example: First Romeo said, “But soft, what light through
yonder window breaks?” and then Juliet was all, “What’s
in a name?”
 Indirect quote: tells what speaker said without using
the exact words
 QUOTATION MARKS NOT NEEDED
 Example: Romeo said that Juliet was a great source of
light and Juliet asked if a name actually means anything.
 Place comma after introduction and begin quote with a
capital letter
 Romeo asked, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?”
 “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” asked Romeo.
 Question marks and exclamation points that belong to the
quote are placed inside the quotation marks
 Juliet asked, “What’s in a name?”
 Did Juliet say, “A rose would still smell as sweet”?
 Periods and commas belong inside the quotation marks
 Friar L said, “These violent delights have violent ends.”
 Friar L said, “These violent delights have violent ends,” and
then he performed the marriage for Romeo and Juliet.
 Direct quotes can be divided into two parts with correct
punctuation
 The first letter of the second part of the quote is not
capitalized if it’s all in one sentence
 “A plague,” cried Mercutio, “on both your houses!”
 If the quote is broken up into two sentences, then the first
letter of the second part is capitalized
 “A plague on both your houses!” cried Mercutio. “Tomorrow you
shall find me a grave man.”
 Place a comma after the first part
 “A plague,” cried Mercutio, “on both your houses!”
 “The two houses,” stated the Chorus, “are both alike in dignity.”
 Titles of short works always go in quotation marks
 Short Story: “The Ransom of Red Chief” (O. Henry)
 Poem: “Nothing Gold Can Stay” (Robert Frost)
 Chapter of a Book: “My Name” (Sandra Cisneros)
 Magazine Article: “How to Read Shakespeare”
 Song: “Awake My Soul” (Mumford & Sons)
 Titles of long words go in italics if typed or underlined
if handwritten
 Book: A Day No Pigs Would Die (Robert Peck)
 Magazine: People
 Newspaper: The Maycomb Tribune
 Play: The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
 Movie: Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann)
 TV Series: Pretty Little Liars
 Painting: Mona Lisa (da Vinci)
 Musical Works (album titles): Babel (Mumford & Sons)
 Do no capitalize any unimportant words (the, a, and,
of, for, to) unless it is the first or last word in the title
 Correct: The New York Times
 Incorrect: the New York times
 Choose a fictional character, political figure, or celebrity
and make a list of short and long works that person would
likely enjoy. Humor and creativity is encouraged, as well as
making up titles of works. You must choose at least 4 short
works and 4 long works. Obviously, correctly punctuate the
titles!
 Short works to choose from: Short Story, Poem, Chapter of a
Book, Magazine Article, Song
 Long works to choose from: Book, Magazine, Newspaper,
Play, Movie, TV Series, Painting, Musical Works (album
titles)
 Short Story: “Donald Duck Runs Away”
 Poem:
 Chapter of a Book:
 Magazine Article:
 Song: “It’s a Small World”
 Book:
 Magazine:
 Newspaper:
 Play:
 Movie:
 TV Series: Mickey Mouse Club House
 Painting:
 Musical Works (album titles):
 Short Story:
 Poem:
 Chapter of a Book:
 Magazine Article:
 Song:
 Book:
 Magazine:
 Newspaper:
 Play:
 Movie:
 TV Series:
 Painting:
 Musical Works (album titles):
 One member of your group will have exactly TEN
SECONDS to look at a picture of a conversation in
progress. Reporting the details back to the group, you have
TWO MINUTES to come up with a two-way dialogue
consisting of four lines that is CORRECTLY
PUNCTUATED. You will also have to comply with the
category announced at the beginning of each round such
as “Romeo and Juliet vocabulary” or “Romeo and Juliet
quotes.” After writing the dialogue on an iPad, you must
then give the iPad to another member of your group to
write the dialogue CORRECTLY on the board and without
guidance from the rest of the group.
 Uses:
 After the greeting in a business letter
 Dear Sir:
 Writing the time
 10:05
 Before a list of items (especially if you have the word
‘following’ or ‘these’)
 Bring the following to school: pencil, pen, iPad, and brain.
 **Do NOT use a colon after a preposition or verb
 Uses
 In place of a coordinating conjunction to join two
related clauses (compound sentence)
 To join two related clauses especially if there is a
conjunction such as ‘however’ or ‘therefore’ starting the
second clause
 To separate two independent clauses that have commas
in one or both of them (for clarity)
 ALONE or in groups of TWO or THREE, write an
announcement for a school event. Include the date,
time, place, and a list of items that participants should
bring.
 Correctly punctuate the PARAGRAPH with COLONS,
SEMICOLONS, and COMMAS.
 Have your announcement be Romeo and Juliet themed
or St. Mary’s Elementary themed. Humor and
creativity is highly encouraged.
 As much as characters would like to “defy their stars,” is it
actually possible to “change your stars”?
 Consider the two works, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
and A Knight’s Tale in which the concept of fate is a
common theme. What message do each of the works send
about fate and the possibility of changing one’s fate? How
is the message similar? How is the message different? Use
specific examples from both (at least two from each) and
explore this subject in a formal written essay
 You will be graded on both literary analysis (literature)
and organization and conventions (English) for this essay
 Some plot summary will be necessary but the most
important aspect is your analysis of the theme of fate
 Review of commas, colons, semicolons, and titles of
long works:
 P. 288 #8-12
 P. 289 #7-11
 P. 291 #6-10
 P. 292 #1-8
 P. 293 #10-15
 Uses
 Show possession
 St. Mary’s Elementary School
 Romeo’s poison
 Form contractions
 I didn’t do the homework and don’t plan on it
 Form plurals of letters, numbers, and symbols
 So many of the answers on the math test were 4’s.
 A lot of you got 3’s on the ELA test
 Form plurals of words used as the names of words
 I don’t want to hear any if’s, and’s, or but’s.
 Uses:
 Write compound numbers
 Twenty-two
 Expressing an adjective in two or more words
 Long-awaited
 Write some compound nouns
 Sister-in-law
 Uses:
 Set off a sudden change of thought or an afterthought
 To tell you the truth – it’ll help you
 I love watching thunderstorms – especially ones with lots of heavy
rain
 Express “namely” or “in other words”
 The meeting – the one with the other teachers – lasted all
afternoon
 I didn’t like that cake – it was really terrible.
 Uses
 Indicate an interrupted thought with information that isn’t
necessary to understanding the sentence
 Enclose extra information
 Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an excellent playwright.
 My brother (the tall one in blue) just scored a goal.