I've looked at various guides and handbooks over the years on this issue. What I find telling is that there is no widely-agreed name we give to the error that results (1) when a comma is left out in a compound sentence or (2) when a comma is inserted needlessly in what only LOOKS like a compound sentence but is really just a compound verb. The fact that we lack a name for these semi-related problems indicates the errors are not so serious, not compared to 'Those Errors Which We Elect to Name' (e.g., comma splice). These nameless errors are some of the most common I see in my college students' writing--common, but not so serious as other potential problems.
That being said, I think the comma in a compound sentence is useful, for it cues the reader where a different 'idea' (subject & verb) ends and where another related idea begins. Often, the comma is not the only cue, yet I find it a useful signal most of the time.
In creative writing, these commas are particularly expendable for the reasons others have already pointed out--especially when it comes to dialogue and intentional pauses.
Larry
____________________________
Larry Beason, Associate Professor
Director of Composition
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688-0002
251-460-7861
>>> "Spruiell, William C" <[log in to unmask]> 01/10/08 3:08 PM >>>
I tell my (college) students that it's one of those rules that they need
to apply in formal academic writing, but can take less seriously in
other styles. Frankly, I have to admit that I tell them this mainly
because I think other teachers / editors enforce it, not because I think
it's a particularly valuable rule. One difficulty, though: telling
students they need to use it in formal writing doesn't work very well if
they've never had any exposure to the independent / dependent clause
distinction, so even if we don't present the rule until late high school
or early college, the groundwork for it needs to be in place already.
I'm not sure of its history, but I suspect it's one of those many, many
cases that started out as a helpful suggestion about warding off
ambiguity and ended up being a rigid requirement.
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Kischner
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 2:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Commas in compound sentences
I'm wondering how many people are still teaching that placing a comma
before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence is the rule and
omitting the comma is the exception? I have been reading through mostly
fiction books for elementary and middle school readers, and in those
books it is certainly the other way around. So in teaching kids at
those levels to use the comma, we are up against most of what they see
in print.
Last night, I made up some compound sentences to use in a workshop for
elementary and middle school teachers. I inserted the comma before each
coordinating conjunction. Then I read most of a delightful book,
Clarice Bean Spells Trouble by Lauren Child. It is full of sentences
like this: "Grandad has actually got manners but he doesn't use them
that much anymore and he hasn't let the dog see them, which is why
Cement is utterly mannerless." This morning, when I returned to my
carefully made-up sentences, the commas looked like clutter: "Matthew
wanted to play soccer, but the doctor said he should rest his injured
leg."
I know that fiction narrated in the first person is the likeliest place
to find compound sentences without commas. But, though I haven't
searched methodically, I think I have noticed them all over the place,
in both fiction and nonfiction for both younger and older readers.
I wonder whether the comma-before-the-conjunction "rule" has become one
of those pedagogic oversimplifications of reality we sometimes resort to
in order to give learners something clear and secure to grasp until
they're ready for more complexity. Whether such oversimplifications are
effective or justified is a whole other question. What I think I'd
prefer is a better rule.
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
"Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
