I would only add to Johanna's informative comments that in trying to
encourage students to go easy on the commas, I sometimes ask them to look
at punctuation from a reader's point of view. You might ask your students,
when _they_ read, what do commas mean to them? They may mention pauses,
but not all pauses get commas and vice-versa (assuming it makes sense to say
that one pauses while reading silently in the first place). They may
finally say, if you're lucky, something about a break or division that sets
off a section of a sentence, that without a comma, a part of a sentence runs
into another part and may be confusing. This kind of exercise doesn't do
the full job, especially with commas, but I think it is always helpful to
have students try to see a writing issue from the reader's side. Mina
Shaughnessy compared punctuation to traffic signs; they tell the reader
where they are headed and how the road is about to change. I always liked
the comparison.
Brock
-----Original Message-----
From: Johanna Rubba [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 2:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Grammar Questions
[log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> Would you please let me know if you think the following are punctuated
> correctly.
>
> 1. We went shopping in Memphis last week and bought several things for
our
> new home.
>
> (Note that there is no comma because there are not two independent
clauses;
> however, my students tend to put a comma before *and* whether the sentence
> is compound or complex).
Correct.
>
> 2. While driving to work this morning, I stopped to buy gasoline.
>
> 3. I stopped to buy gasoline while driving to work this morning.
>
> (is it *generally* correct that a dependent clause at the beginning of the
> sentence is followed by a comma, but a dependent clause at the end of the
> sentence is NOT preceded by a comma?)
Both are correct. And the 'rule of thumb' you cite is common advice.
>
> 4. Since the programmers will be here soon, we are setting up the
> computers; and we are hoping to have the network online before noon.
>
> (Is it correct to use a semicolon before *and* since a comma is already
used
> elsewhere in the sentence?)
My old Warriner's says your usage is ok; an equally-old Harbrace college
handbook also lists this as an exception to the rule to avoid using ;
before coordinating conjunctions. St. Martins' 1997 'The Everyday
Writer' agrees. It looks funny to me, though. I would just put a period
there and eliminate the 'and'. But this is apparently my stylistic
preference.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba Assistant Professor, Linguistics
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue * San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. (805)-756-2184 * Fax: (805)-756-6374 * Dept. Phone. 756-259
* E-mail: [log in to unmask] * Home page:
http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
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