Punctuation

Part I: The Comma

I. The CommaA. Use a comma to separate 3 or more items in

a series. This can include single words, phrases, or clauses.

The most famous superheroes are likely Batman, Superman, and the X-Men.

These heroes have all succeeded in selling a great deal of comic books, launching successful movie franchises, and generating merchandise sales in toy stores.

B. Use Commas to separate two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

1. Remember that coordinating conjunctions are FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR, YET, and SO.

Batman is arguably the more successful of the two, but Superman has existed significantly longer.

Many students like to argue about who would win in a fight, yet both heroes have been defeated at different times in their history.

C. Use commas after introductory prepositional phrases.

In the year 1995, DC comics was struggling to compete with Marvel and needed to make a big splash.

At many local comic book stores, strange posters began to appear depicting a Superman logo dripping blood.

Near the top of the posters, it simply said “Doomsday is coming.”

D. Use commas to separate two adjectives of equal importance before a noun.

1. Determine if they are of equal importance by reversing the order. If the sentence still makes sense, use a comma. If it doesn’t, do not use a comma.

Doomsday turned out to be a ferocious, bloodthirsty monster who sought to destroy Superman.

Equal Importance Tests

The two engaged in an epic unforgettable combat lasting nearly 10 issues.

Both Superman and Doomsday sustained numerous painful injuries during their battle.

Powerful explosive punches shattered their bones and demolished city blocks.

At the story’s climax, the they killed each other simultaneously with one crushing obliterating punch.

E. Use a comma after an introductory subordinate clause.

1. Remember that a subordinate clause has a noun and a verb, but cannot stand by itself.

2. Subordinate clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions.

Since the Doomsday story line proved so successful, DC Comics did something similar with Batman’s storyline.

Introductory Subordinate ClausesWhereas Superman was killed in his story, Batman only

sustained a career-ending injury.

While Doomsday was an alien monstrosity, Batman’s villain was the steroid-injected human named Bane.

Although Batman fought nobly against his foe, Bane succeeded in shattering Batman’s spine.

F. Use commas to set off names in direct address or other interrupting elements within a sentence.

Batman would be temporarily replaced, I think, with a character named Azrael.

Hubert, did you know Azrael had a futuristic suit?

It had, believe it or not, the capability of shooting lasers.

G. Use commas to set off nonessential subordinate adjective clauses.

1. A nonessential subordinate adjective clause is one that provides information that is not necessary.

2. Usually any adjective clause that describes a proper noun is nonessential, and one that describes a general noun is essential.

Essential or Nonessential? The Superheroes who I always liked the best were the X-Men.

The X-Men who were published by Marvel Comics consisted of mutants with special powers.

Some of powers that the mutants possessed included teleportation, healing, and flying.

Some of the mutants who many fans enjoyed the most were Gambit, Iceman, and Wolverine.

Wolverine who is known for his bad attitude and retractable claws has been the star of his own feature film.

Essential or Nonessential? The Superheroes who I always liked the best were the X-Men.

The X-Men, who were published by Marvel Comics, consisted of mutants with special powers.

Some of powers that the mutants possessed included teleportation, healing, and flying.

Some of the mutants who proved to be the most popular were Gambit, Iceman, and Wolverine.

Wolverine, who is known for his bad attitude and retractable claws, has been the star of his own feature film.

H. Use commas to set off nonrestrictive appositive phrases.

Wolverine, a mutant, also is the product of revolutionary experimentation.

Wolverine’s healing power, the result of genetic mutation, was exploited in order to fuse his skeleton with adamantium, an indestructible metal.

Unfortunately this apparent strength turned into a weakness when it was ripped from his body by Magneto, his powerful enemy.

Restrictive/Nonrestrictive The mutant Iceman is a little known member of the X-

men.

Iceman, a mutant, is a little known member of the X-Men.

Some claim that his ability to generate incredible cold is weak.

Some claim that to generate incredible cold, his ability, is weak.

Other Less Important Comma Rules

Use commas after greetings in casual letters.

Dear Batman, will you be my friend? Use commas to set off the names of states when

following cities in sentences.

The city of Biloxi, Mississippi, is home to X-Men’s Gambit.

Use commas to set off years when following dates in sentences.

July 28, 1994, was the day I bought my first comic book.

II. SemicolonsA. Use semicolons to separate closely related

independent clauses that are NOT joined by a coordinating conjunction.

Many consider Aquaman to be the worst superhero of all time; he is the topic of many jokes.

Aquaman lives in the ocean; he can only be out of the water for an hour at a time.

His only power is the ability to command sea creatures; he cannot even make water move.

B. Use semicolons in sentences with a lot of commas to help avoid confusion.

Some of the animals Aquaman has controlled include great white sharks, found off the coast of Australia; narwhal, residing in the Arctic Ocean; blue whales, spread throughout the Atlantic Ocean; and piranha, primarily based in tropical rivers.

Aquaman was once the leader of the Justice League, which has members such as Flash, who can run very fast; Wonder Woman, who has a lasso of truth; Green Lantern, who has a magical ring; and Superman, who has incredible super powers.

III. ColonsA. Use a colon to introduce a list. A colon can NEVER follow a verb or

preposition.

The Fantastic Four is a team consisting of the following members: Human Torch, Thing, Mister Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman.

The Fantastic Four is a team consisting of Human Torch, Thing, Mister Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman. (no colon – list follows preposition)

The Fantastic Four includes Human Torch, Thing, Mister Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman. (no colon – list follows verb)

B. Use colons to introduce very long quotations that become block quotes.

Comic book legend Stan Lee reflected on comic books, saying:

I'm no prophet, but I'm guessing that comic books will always be strong. I don't think anything can really beat the pure fun and

pleasure of holding a magazine in your hand, reading the story on paper, being able to roll it up and put it in your pocket, reread again later, show it to a friend, carry it with you, toss it on a shelf, collect them, have a lot of magazines lined up and read them again as a series. I think young people have always loved that. I think they always will (Lee 325).

C. Use colons to direct a reader’s attention to a specific word at the end of a sentence for emphasis.

When people think of Image comics, they often remember one thing: Spawn.

B. Use colons to introduce very long quotations that become block quotes.

Comic book legend Stan Lee reflected on comic books, saying:

I'm no prophet, but I'm guessing that comic books will always be strong. I don't think anything can really beat the pure fun and pleasure of holding a magazine in your hand, reading the story on paper, being able to roll it up and put it in your pocket, reread again later, show it to a friend, carry it with you, toss it on a shelf, collect them, have a lot of magazines lined up and read them again as a series. I think young people have always loved that. I think they always will.”

C. Use colons to direct a reader’s attention to a specific word at the end of a sentence for emphasis.

When people think of Image comics, they often remember one thing: Spawn.

Use a shorter quotation!

The majority of your paper should be YOU talking, not someone

else!

Rewrite the sentence to avoid this.

D. Use a colon as part of your “tag” to a quote instead of a comma if the last word of the “tag” is a noun.

Spawn, a character who sold his soul in order to seek vengeance, knew of the sacrifices required for justice: “The war between Heaven & Hell depends on the choices we make, and those choices require sacrifice. That's the test.”

(last word is a noun, so a colon is used)

Spawn, a character who sold his soul in order to seek vengeance, knew of the sacrifices required for justice and said, “The war between Heaven & Hell depends on the choices we make, and those choices require sacrifice. That's the test.”

(last word is a verb, so a comma is used)

IV. Quotations and Underlining/Italics

In new MLA stylebooks, anything that would once have been underlined is now supposed to

be italicized.

On the following slide is a chart. Copy the chart.

Italics Quotations

Titles of books or plays Short story titles

Titles of movies Poem titles

Titles of TV shows Names of episodes of TV shows

Titles of magazines, comics, or newspapers

Titles of articles in newspapers or magazines

Titles of music albums Names of songs

Names of video games

Names of paintings or sculptures

Names of boats, plains, or spacecraft

A Few Quotation Mark Reminders We have practiced this skill since the start of the

school year, but don’t forget the following three models.

Spiderman once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Spiderman once said.

“With great power,” said Spiderman, “comes great responsibility.”

V. DashesA. Never use dashes. Peter Parker was bit by a spider – it must have been radioactive – and turned into Spiderman.

Spiderman’s villains – Venom, Carnage, and Doctor Octopus – are some of the best Marvel ever created.

Spiderman’s girlfriend – Mary Jane – was played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst in the movie.

B. Any sentence with dashes should be rewritten.

Peter Parker was bit by a spider – it must have been radioactive – and turned into Spiderman.

Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and turned into spiderman.

Spiderman’s villains – Venom, Carnage, and Doctor Octopus – are some of the best Marvel ever created.

Spiderman’s villains including Venom, Carnage, and Doctor Octopus are some of the best Marvel ever created.

Spiderman’s girlfriend – Mary Jane – was played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst in the movie.

Spiderman’s girlfriend, Mary Jane, was played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst in the movie.

VI. HyphensA. Hyphens, which look like dashes, combine compound

numbers and separate parts of some compound words.Fifty-seven mother-in-law merry-go-round

B. Hyphens are also used to form some compound adjectives, but only if they appear before a noun.

Spiderman’s Carnage storyline is well regarded.

The well-regarded Carnage storyline is very famous.

The storyline spanned approximately twelve issues.

The twelve-issue storyline sold a lot of comics.

VII. Rarely Used Punctuation

A. The Interrobang combines the functions of the question mark and the exclamation point. It asks a question in an excited manner.

VII. Rarely Used Punctuation (cont.)

B. The Snark is used at the end of sentences to indicate that the sentence is sarcastic. It is sometimes called the “irony mark.”

VII. Rarely used punctuation (cont.)

C. The Hedera used to be used in very old English documents to indicate breaks between paragraphs. This is remarkable when you consider it used to be drawn each time, not typed.

D. The obeles was used immediately after the name of someone who died. It took one of two forms: