Editing for Punctuation

Lesson 7 Editing for Punctuation

 

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Image courtesy of Wikipedia.org Links to an external site.

Dear Martin is a novel about a young, black man who is falsely accused of a crime. As he struggles to make sense of the world around him, he begins to write letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to imagine what the role model might say to him about justice. As he finishes his senior year of high school and looks toward college, Justyce McAllister faces challenges that most teens do—internal conflict about right and wrong, relationships with friends, girlfriends, and parents, and earning the grades he wants to go to Yale. He also faces racism, violence, and an identity crisis as he decides what kind of man he wants to be. 

 Essential Question

 

How do we best convey meaning and emotion with punctuation?


Grammar in the World

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What Do I Know?

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What do you already know about choosing the best punctuation for your sentences' meaning? Use this interactive to find out. 

 

Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time, but it’s often helpful to see how a skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

 

Learn About Editing for Punctuation

Before you begin this topic, be sure to refer to our SENTENCE TYPES AND END PUNCTUATION module in Group 6. This will help you identify types of sentences so that you can then learn to edit to correct them.

When we speak, we cannot see capitalization or end punctuation; however, when we write, it is important to let the reader know where a sentence begins and ends. It is also important to let the reader know the emotion behind the words. Is the speaker or writer sad? Excited? Angry? Punctuation works with words to strengthen our message. It helps us show emotion--the feeling behind what we’re saying. 

Punctuation in Essays, Articles, Short Stories, and Novels

There are four types of sentences.

  1. Declarative - ends with a period (.) Usually spoken matter of factly. 
  2. Interrogative - ends with a question mark (?) Spoken as a question or with sarcasm.
  3. Imperative - ends with a period (.) Usually spoken as a command with excitement, anger, or frustration.
  4. Exclamatory - ends with an exclamation point (!) Usually spoken with excitement, anger, or frustration. 

Each type of sentence has a different purpose. The end punctuation can tell you the purpose of the sentence as well as how to read the sentence.  

 

Sentence Type

End Punctuation

Purpose

Example

Declarative

period (.)

convey information, make a statement

Dear Martin is one of my favorite novels. 

Interrogative

question mark

(?)

requests information

Have you read it yet?

Imperative

period (.) or
exclamation point (!)

makes a request or command

You should read Dear Martin. 

Exclamatory

exclamation

point (!)

conveys emotion or emphasis

It made a big impact on my life! 

Punctuation in Poetry

Punctuation works differently in poetry than it does in prose. Poems often are not written in full sentences. Instead, they are written with line breaks. These line breaks show you where to pause as you read. Other punctuation in the poem (dashes, commas, no end punctuation, as well as periods, question marks, and exclamation points) help you emphasize emotions.

For instance, look at this well-loved poem by Robert Hayden. Notice how there are few end punctuation marks. Instead, the lines without punctuation and the commas lead us from image to image. The lines that have a period or question mark at the end are firm stops that force us to pause.

Those Winter Sundays
by Robert Hayden


Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

 

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

 

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46461/those-winter-sundays



3 Steps to Edit Punctuation

Keep these goals in mind when editing to correct punctuation.

  1. Make sure you have correctly punctuated sentences so that they are neither fragments nor run-ons.
  2. Use a variety of punctuation in your writing.
  3. Choose the correct punctuation to reflect both your meaning and emotion.

In our Editing to Correct Run-On Sentences and Editing to Correct Fragments modules (in Group 7), you can see the specific steps you can take to be sure you have written complete sentences. Review those topics. Then, proofread your writing to be sure that you have used complete sentences all the way through your piece.

One note: If you are working on a creative writing piece or poetry, you may sometimes use fragments, run-ons, and other creative punctuation choices to express dialogue or for effect.

Do I Get It?

For practice using a variety of punctuation marks, visit Group 6: Punctuation.

For practice developing different types of sentences, visit these modules in Group 4: