Usage of Punctuation Marks in Academic Writing
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Usage of punctuation marks in academic writing
Introduction
These are symbols which indicate the organisation in written language, structure and the intonation to be observed in a sentence when it is read aloud. In the written English, It has been necessary to eliminate the ambiguity existing in a sentence. For this reason, punctuation marks have been in used to bring out the intended meaning of a sentence rather than the variations that can be gotten from it.
The punctuation practice had not been embraced in fully but not long after printing was invented, many of these marks have been added till to date. As of now, the number of the punctuation marks has reached fourteen, but many are yet to be added with time and their relevance of use in the written language.
Body
The comma is denoted by the mark (,) and is more or less the same to the apostrophe except the area of placement where it is normally situated at the base of the text line. This mark has many uses depending on the different situation that the user might find appropriate. It is mostly used when one wants to separate elements or ideas that happen to appear in series (three elements or more) in a sentence, including the furthermost two elements appearing at the end as explained by Michael (57). Example: He grabbed the little child, raised an alarm, and ran for their lives. In this example, the second comma is known as a serial comma. The second use of a comma is when it is used together with a conjunction to connect two clauses. This is employed when there is a need to separate two independent clause and doing it with a coordinating conjunction is felt to be not enough. Example: He was summoned by his master, but harkened to the voice of his co-worker instead. Sometimes, the connection made by the coordinating conjunction is balanced nicely and so there is no need to use the comma for the separation. E.g. He was summoned by his master but harkened to the voice of
Instructor:
Subject Title:
Date:
Usage of punctuation marks in academic writing
Introduction
These are symbols which indicate the organisation in written language, structure and the intonation to be observed in a sentence when it is read aloud. In the written English, It has been necessary to eliminate the ambiguity existing in a sentence. For this reason, punctuation marks have been in used to bring out the intended meaning of a sentence rather than the variations that can be gotten from it.
The punctuation practice had not been embraced in fully but not long after printing was invented, many of these marks have been added till to date. As of now, the number of the punctuation marks has reached fourteen, but many are yet to be added with time and their relevance of use in the written language.
Body
The comma is denoted by the mark (,) and is more or less the same to the apostrophe except the area of placement where it is normally situated at the base of the text line. This mark has many uses depending on the different situation that the user might find appropriate. It is mostly used when one wants to separate elements or ideas that happen to appear in series (three elements or more) in a sentence, including the furthermost two elements appearing at the end as explained by Michael (57). Example: He grabbed the little child, raised an alarm, and ran for their lives. In this example, the second comma is known as a serial comma. The second use of a comma is when it is used together with a conjunction to connect two clauses. This is employed when there is a need to separate two independent clause and doing it with a coordinating conjunction is felt to be not enough. Example: He was summoned by his master, but harkened to the voice of his co-worker instead. Sometimes, the connection made by the coordinating conjunction is balanced nicely and so there is no need to use the comma for the separation. E.g. He was summoned by his master but harkened to the voice of
Cited: Harrison, Michael A. Introduction to Formal Language Theory. Mass: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.1978. Print. S, William A. The Gregg Reference Manual. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2001. Print Truss, Lynne. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. U.K: London. 2003. Print.