I thought that this was a particularly good explanation from http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
When an adverbial clause comes later on in the sentence, however, the writer must determine if the clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence or not. A "because clause" can be particularly troublesome in this regard. In most sentences, a "because clause" is essential to the meaning of the sentence, and it will not be set off with a comma:
The Okies had to leave their farms in the midwest because the drought conditions had ruined their farms.
Sometimes, though, the "because clause" must be set off with a comma to avoid misreading:
I knew that President Nixon would resign that morning, because my sister-in-law worked in the White House and she called me with the news.
Without that comma, the sentence says that Nixon's resignation was the fault of my sister-in-law. Nixon did not resign because my sister-in-law worked in the White House, so we set off that clause to make the meaning clearly parenthetical.
I think there are also other good examples of when "because" is non-restrictive and should be preceded by a comma.
Geoff Layton
> Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:43:45 -0500
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Punctuation Question
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Martha's _Rhetorical Grammar_ offers a solution here. She points out that a comma places focus on the word in front of it (in speech, "the pause," the slight raise in pitch and accent). In this case it preserves some focus for the end of the main clause, which would receive end forcus if the because clause was moved to the front of the sentence. I always enjoyed telling my students that the comma between a main clause and a subordinate one following it was optional -- trust your ear -- it's a rhetorical choice.
>
> Dave Sawyer
> Dept. of English (Retired)
> ________________________________________
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Hagen [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:35 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Punctuation Question
>
> I would suspect the writer is not making any conscious decision at all
> about syntactic analysis (e.g., deciding that "because" is a
> coordinator). More likely, he is punctuating on feel, and inserted the
> comma because he hears a slight pause in his mental reading of the
> sentence and wants to convey that pause.
>
> On 4/13/2011 4:16 AM, T. J. Ray wrote:
> > I believe you're right in thinking he feels this is a coordinate
> > conjunction. My understanding is that
> > "because" clauses are dependent and hence should not be preceded with a
> > comma. I just
> > wanted a number of opinions before I bring it to the committee's
> > attention, folks who evidently
> > don't see a problem with it as no one had marked any of these before I
> > saw the MSS.
> >
> > Thanks for your time.
> >
> >
> > On Wednesday 04/13/2011 at 5:43 am, "Dixon, Jack" wrote:
> >> Focusing on the obvious, I suspect the writer believes that "because"
> >> functions as a coordinating conjunction rather than a subordinating.
> >> Does the student punctuate most subordinating clauses that follow the
> >> independent clause this way, or do he make this mistake with "because"
> >> only?
> >>
> >> I seem to remember that Martha Kolln in _Rhetorical Grammar_ addresses
> >> the few instances when terminal subord. clauses are set off with commas.
> >>
> >> ________________________________________
> >> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> >> [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of T. J. Ray [[log in to unmask]]
> >> Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 8:10 PM
> >> To: [log in to unmask]
> >> Subject: Punctuation Question
> >>
> >> I have a doctoral student who produces sentences like the following:
> >>
> >> "This quatrain cannot be read in isolation at all, because the syntax
> >> is
> >> inherent and incomplete on its own."
> >>
> >> My question is not a search for whatever he meant to say but is about
> >> his punctuation: the comma. Comments are welcome.
> >>
> >> T. J.
> >>
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