Tag Archives: punctuation

The Weekly Text, 4 August 2023: Styling Sentences Lesson 2, A Series with a Variation with an Excursus on the Conjunction And.

Another week has passed, so it’s time for this week’s Text, which is the second lesson of the Styling Sentences Unit, this one, as above, on a sentence structure that includes a series with a variation, with an excursus on using the conjunction and.

I begin this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Latinism non sequitur. It means, as the text of the document begins,  “A thought that does not logically follow what has just been said.” It’s probably a concept and practice students should know before they set off on writing long, complicated declarative sentences. Finally, here is the worksheet with mentor texts that is the work of this lesson. There are no modified cloze exercises in this document; students work from the mentor texts to produce their own sentences in the form displayed.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

The Weekly Text, 28 July 2023: Styling Sentences Lesson 1, A Series without a Conjunction with an Excursus on the Colon, Lists, and the Serial Comma

This week’s Text is a the first lesson of fifteen in the Styling Sentences unit, this one on a series without a conjunction with an excursus on the colon, lists, and the serial comma. This lesson opens with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the grammatical concept of subordination, something, I think it’s fair to say, that anyone who needs to write well should know. Finally, here is the worksheet with comprehensive examples of the sentence structure under study.

Unlike most of the materials related to writing instruction you will find on this blog, this material is relatively unsupported. There are no modified cloze exercises (though, in reviewing this material, I understood how to go about preparing some, a maneuver that stymied me when I first contrived this unit), simply mentor sentences from the text from which I derived much of the material in this unit to guide students in composing sentences of their own.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Pair of Learning Supports on Ellipsis Points

As I mentioned in a post last week, a recent editing job caused me to develop some learning supports on punctuation; this week’s is a pair of learning supports on using ellipsis points. The text is drawn, as with the previous week’s post on using slashes, from June Casagrande’s The Best Punctuation Book, Period. (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014) and Susan Thurman’s The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2003).

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Pair of Learning Supports on Using Slashes and Backslashes

Recently, I edited a the fourth iteration of a privately published book that I have worked with on and off for about twenty-five years. In this most recent edition, I thought the author relied too heavily on slashes where he should have been using coordinating conjunctions. So, I prepared these two learning supports on using slashes and backslashes. These texts are drawn from June Casagrande’s The Best Punctuation Book, Period, (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014) and, from Susan Thurman’s book The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2003).

Incidentally, the slash is also known as a virgule and solidus. But for our vernacular? Slash (in spite of its complicated polysemy) and backslash are the right words to describe these punctuation marks.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Cultural Literacy: Quotation Marks

Moving right along this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on quotation marks. This is a half-page worksheet with two comprehension questions and space to write practice sentences. Even in this short reading, the authors and editors manage to explain, simply, with an example, the single/double quotation mark rule in punctuation.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Learning Support on Gray Areas in Comma Use

Last but not least, here is a learning support on gray areas in comma use. This is the fifteenth of fifteen posts carrying learning supports–presented seriatim in the order, sorted by major subheadings, from the punctuation manual from which they are excerpted. If you click here, you will end up back at the first posted support, titled “An Introductory Learning Support on Using the Comma.” From there, you scroll up to find them in order. Each post indicates which is which in the sequence.

If you want it, here is the table of contents for all fifteen of the learning supports in this chain.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Learning Support on Comma Placement Relative to Other Punctuation

Here is a learning support on comma placement relative to other punctuation. This is the fourteenth of fifteenth learning supports, presented seriatim as they were presented in the punctuation manual from which they were excerpted. (You can find an excursus on this choice of publishing practice here.)

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Learning Support on Using a Comma with Specific Words or Names

To finish up for today, here is a learning support on using a comma with specific words or terms. This is the thirteenth of fifteen such posts. (You can find an excursus on this choice of publishing practice here.)

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Learning Support on Using a Comma in Measurements

Moving right along, here is a learning support on using a comma in measurements. This is the twelfth of fifteen learning supports on commas posted in a series on Mark’s Text Terminal. (You can find an excursus on this choice of publishing practice here.)

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Learning Support on Using a Comma with Age, City of Residence, and Political Party Affiliation

Here is a learning support on using a comma with age, city of residence, and political party affiliation. This is the eleventh in a series of fifteen posts in which a long passage from a leading punctuation manual is presented seriatim under their major headings from the book. (You can find an excursus on this choice of publishing practice here.)

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.