Michael: Yes, of course, you are right. What was I thinking? Thanks for the
correction. Helene

>From: "Kischner, Michael" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: punctuation query
>Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:05:17 -0700
>
>Sorry, Helene, I think you've got it wrong.  Precisely because she has
>only one greatest short story, the title is a nonrestrictive appositive
>and SHOULD be set off with commas.
>
>I have only one brother:  "My brother, Tony, owns a restaurant."
>If I had two brothers, Tony and Andy:  "My brother Tony owns a
>restaurant."
>
>". . . Her greatest story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," is about. . . " --
>conforms to the first example.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: helene hoover [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 8:57 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: punctuation query
>
>MK: Your example, "In her greatest short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper,'
>Charlotte Perkins..." makes the title an appositive. Since there is only
>one "greatest" short story, the appositive does NOT get commas around
>it, but Johanna is right about the initial adverbial phrase, of course.
>H Hoover
>
> >From: "Kischner, Michael" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: punctuation query
> >Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 17:00:26 -0700
> >
> >It seems that we are talking about restrictive and non-restrictive, but
>
> >you can avoid it in this case by telling them that, if the writer has
> >written only one story (or poem or whatever), you would set it off with
>
> >commas.  If the writer has written more than one, then one does not use
>
> >commas.  It gets a little more complicated when you start adding
> >modifiers:  "In her greatest short story, 'The Yellow Wallpaper,"
> >Charlotte. . . " -- because she has written only one "greatest" short
> >story.  Or "In her story about kitchen remodels, 'The Yellow
> >Wallpaper,". . .  (sorry, Ive taught the story but just now totally
> >forget what it was about!).
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Jo Rubba [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> >Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 4:40 PM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: punctuation query
> >
> >Help!  This is driving me nuts.
> >
> >My students don't know when to put a comma before the title of a book,
> >story, poem, etc. I am having trouble figuring out the rule. I'm
> >hoping it's not the standard restrictive - non-restrictive principle,
> >because half of them don't get that. It seems to have to do with prior
> >mention, but I can't formulate it. Here are some typical contexts:
> >
> >Charlotte Perkins' short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" portrays a woman
> >going mad.
> >In his poem "In Hardwood Groves", Robert Frost exploits the metaphor
> >PEOPLE ARE PLANTS ...
> >
> >I know that commas around the story/poem title would be wrong; in the
> >second context, the comma after the title is required to set off the
> >initial adverbial phrase.
> >
> >Most commonly, my students use the comma(s) when they should not. Is
> >there a straighforward explanation for this? Please don't tell me I
> >have to explain noun complementation or restrictive/non-restrictive
> >appositives ... please ...
> >
> >***************************************************
> >Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics English Department, Cal
>
> >Poly State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Tel. 805-756-2184 ~
> >Dept. phone 805-756-2596 Dept. fax: 805-756-6374 ~  E-mail:
> >[log in to unmask]
> >URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
> >***************************************************
> >
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