Slide 1

Punctuation Slide 2 Part I: The Comma Slide 3 I. The Comma A. 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. Slide 4 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. Slide 5 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. Slide 6 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 doesnt, do not use a comma. Doomsday turned out to be a ferocious, bloodthirsty monster who sought to destroy Superman. Slide 7 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 storys climax, the they killed each other simultaneously with one crushing obliterating punch. Slide 8 Slide 9 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 Batmans storyline. Slide 10 Introductory Subordinate Clauses Whereas Superman was killed in his story, Batman only sustained a career- ending injury. While Doomsday was an alien monstrosity, Batmans villain was the steroid- injected human named Bane. Although Batman fought nobly against his foe, Bane succeeded in shattering Batmans spine. Slide 11 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. Slide 12 Slide 13 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. Slide 14 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. Slide 15 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. Slide 16 H. Use commas to set off nonrestrictive appositive phrases. Wolverine, a mutant, also is the product of revolutionary experimentation. Wolverines 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. Slide 17 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. Slide 18 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. Th e city of Biloxi, Mississippi, is home to X-Mens Gambit. Use commas to set off years when following dates in sentences. July 28, 1994, was the day I bought my first comic book. Slide 19 Slide 20 II. Semicolons A. 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. Slide 21 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. Slide 22 Slide 23 III. Colons A. 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) Slide 24 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 readers 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. Slide 25 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 readers 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. Slide 26 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) Slide 27 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. Slide 28 ItalicsQuotations Titles of books or playsShort story titles Titles of moviesPoem titles Titles of TV showsNames of episodes of TV shows Titles of magazines, comics, or newspapers Titles of articles in newspapers or magazines Titles of music albumsNames of songs Names of video games Names of paintings or sculptures Names of boats, plains, or spacecraft Slide 29 A Few Quotation Mark Reminders We have practiced this skill since the start of the school year, but dont 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. Slide 30 V. Dashes A. Never use dashes. Peter Parker was bit by a spider it must have been radioactive and turned into Spiderman. Spidermans villains Venom, Carnage, and Doctor Octopus are some of the best Marvel ever created. Spidermans girlfriend Mary Jane was played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst in the movie. B. Any sentence with dashes should be rewritten. Slide 31 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. Spidermans villains Venom, Carnage, and Doctor Octopus are some of the best Marvel ever created. Spidermans villains including Venom, Carnage, and Doctor Octopus are some of the best Marvel ever created. Spidermans girlfriend Mary Jane was played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst in the movie. Spidermans girlfriend, Mary Jane, was played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst in the movie. Slide 32 VI. Hyphens A. Hyphens, which look like dashes, combine compound numbers and separate parts of some compound words. Fifty-sevenmother-in-lawmerry-go-round B. Hyphens are also used to form some compound adjectives, but only if they appear before a noun. Spidermans 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. Slide 33 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. Slide 34 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. Slide 35 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. Slide 36 D. The obeles was used immediately after the name of someone who died. It took one of two forms: