Keys to Writing Effectively - Practice

Punctuation



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Drivers who maneuver the roads have rules and signs to help them along the way. Across the country, and the world, red means stop, green means go. A squiggly line with an arrow at the top means winding road. A blue hexagon with children walking is the universal sign for children crossing. Try and imagine driving anywhere without these signs and rules for drivers to follow! It would most likely be total chaos!
But what about in the world of the written word? Chances are you’re as lost as the next guy when it comes to punctuation and the plethora of rules associated with it! The common signs used in the written world are known as punctuation. Punctuation serves to help us maneuver our way through both reading and writing, in whatever language you are studying. It helps to indicate the structure and organization of the written language, and it indicates pace and intonation when reading aloud. Unfortunately, punctuation is a difficult concept for many people. You may know only the basics: a period comes at the end of a sentence. An exclamation mark indicates excitement! Question marks are easy, but what am I supposed to use a colon for? Or a semi-colon?

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Imagine if you came across the following excerpt in your textbook:

the small purple scar on my right knee has been there for 13 years a reminder of the first time i rode a bike it looks bumpy but the purple puckered skin feels smooth when I run my fingers over it the bike was given to me on my sixth birthday i was living with my grandparents on Florida Road in the Kingston township my sister and I call them paka and beppa i sat on the banana seat of my shiny blue bike while paka pushed me along i began to peddle and before long I looked like a drunk riding down the road avoiding the center line, making winding trails in the gravel i remember sitting beside my new bike with a dent in the fender staring at the bloody hole in my knee through a rip in my jeans beppa kept a jar of toothpicks on the window ledge above the kitchen sink they were round and dyed in the primary colors it was with this bottle of toothpicks peroxide and a wash cloth that Beppa cleaned my knee

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A short passage like this is manageable, possibly. You could read it and not get too frustrated by the lack of signs telling you where to stop a thought and where to start another, where to pause, and so forth. But, if your whole textbook had no punctuation, no headings or paragraphs, reading, and being able to make sense of what you were reading, would become considerably more challenging, and you may abandon it altogether.

What it comes down to, really, is being able to communicate your message in the most effective way. Punctuation is just another piece of that effective communication puzzle.


Time to Read


    1. Read pp. 18-29, Punctuation, in your English Language Arts Handbook for Secondary Students.

    2. Read pp. 74-75, Fragments, in your English Language Arts Handbook for Secondary Students.

    3. Read pp. 75-76, Run-on Sentences, in your English Language Arts Handbook for Secondary Students.

    4. Read p. 75, Comma Splices, in your English Language Arts Handbook for Secondary Students.

    5. Download Mohammed's passage from one of the links below. Edit it for punctuation, fragments, run-ons, and comma splices as well as word choice in relation to tone and mood. Can Mohammed use different (better or more specific) words to create his tone and mood?


If you'd like some feedback on your practice work, email it to your teacher.

Below is Mohammed's passage.