There are no precise rules about punctuation (Fowler lays out some general advice (as best he can under the complex circumstances of English prose (he points out, for example, that we possess only four stops (the comma, the semicolon, the colon and the period (the question mark and exclamation point are not, strictly speaking, stops; they are indicators of tone (oddly enough, the Greeks employed the semicolon for their question mark (it produces a strange sensation to read a Greek sentence which is a straightforward question: Why weepest thou; (instead of Why weepest thou? (and, of course, there are parentheses (which are surely a kind of punctuation making this whole matter much more complicated by having to count up the left-handed parentheses …show more content…
The greatest danger in punctuation is for poetry. Here it is necessary to be as economical and parsimonious with commas and periods as with the words themselves, and any marks that seem to carry their own subtle meanings, like dashes and little rows of periods, even semicolons and question marks, should be left out altogether rather than inserted to clog up the thing with ambiguity. A single exclamation point in a poem, no matter what else the poem has to say, is enough to destroy the whole work.
The things I like best in T.S. Eliot's poetry, especially in the Four Quartets, are the semicolons. You cannot hear them, but they are there, laying out the connections between the images and the ideas. Sometimes you get a glimpse of a semicolon coming, a few lines farther on, and it is like climbing a steep path through woods and seeing a wooden bench just at a bend in the road ahead, a place where you can expect to sit for a moment, catching your
The most noticeable aspect of the structure of the entire poem is the lack of capital letters and periods. There is only one part in the entire forty lines, which is at the very end, and this intentional punctuation brings readers to question the speaker’s literacy. In fact, the speaker is very young, and the use of punctuation and hyphens brings to attention the speaker’s innocence, and because of that innocence, the
Poems are unique in that there are no set rules for how they are formatted (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Poems may rhyme, or not. They can be presented in a narrative or lyrical format. The use of proper punctuation can be omitted such as periods, commas, or question marks (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The use of punctuation or lack there of, brings into play the use of enjambment, which is another term for what is commonly known in poetry as run-on lines (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). If a poem is considered more proper and the author wants the reader to clearly understand how a line in the poem is read, the use of punctuation such as commas and periods are used to stress this point. This style is commonly known as end-stopped lines. (Kirszner
When there’s a comma, you ultimately pause and along with the “added emphasis of the line breaks” as referenced in the book it almost feels like the poet is purposely leaving you on a cliffhanger. It definitely keeps you wanting to read more to find out what
The sentences within both the dialogue and the the monologue usually end in a period, with quite a decent amount of commas in the sentences themselves. This does deviate at points, as there are question marks obviously for the sake of asking questions. Exclamation points are however extremely scarce in the book. “Mary Anne,” he whispered. “I can’t find her.” (O’Brien 95). Even when the characters are at points of high tension, O’Brien still uses periods. For a war story, this may seem rather strange at first glance, as the situation the characters are in is usually one of high action. When you think about this specific facet of the syntax of the book a little deeper, it makes sense that O’Brien would choose to use primarily periods. O’Brien’s punctuation and sentence structure both tie into what makes the book easily readable and enticing. By using a majority of short sentences with mainly periods, the flow of each of the war stories is consistent, and the suspense is maintained by unveiling the plot piece by piece. “Even in the dim light it was clear that the boy was in trouble. There were dark smudges under his eyes, the frayed edges of someone who hadn’t slept in awhile” (O’Brien 95). There is nothing particularly interesting about the structure or punctuation of these sentence, and yet, the content remains interesting because O’Brien is building up the plot to the next couple of lines.
... is shown moreover through these pauses. We also see that he places question marks at the end of sentences, which is another way he is showing us the uncertainty in the voice of society. Through his punctuation and word placement, we clearly see the voice of society in his poem, but in a way that tells us not to conform to it.
The novel's dialogue and monologue alike manage to relay the feel of natural speaking such as "I mean you'd be different in some way - I can't explain what I mean. " The contractions “you'd” and “can't”, since they are common in everyday language, establish a very common and simple tone. Stress on the first syllable of "different" reinforces the tone by demonstrating how typically they speak. He uses dashes for pauses and the signaling of associative digressions. Instead of signaling pauses, commas are used only where mechanically required.
Sullivan, E. J. (2004). Becoming influential: A guide for nurses. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall.
...oes hand in hand with the structure of the poem as well; bringing about a certain rhythm through punctuation and line breaks. It is this rhythm brings out the repetition and clash of elements especially with parentheses, which allows us to look at the element of starvation while considering the reaction of the press.
I before e except after c, avoid omitting serial commas, and never EVER let a participle dangle. Those who choose to write are perhaps too familiar with these specific rules. Some are tedious, some are almost impossible to remember, yet all help the author to create lucid writing so her point may be established. For poetry, the case is no different. There are various forms to choose from, versatile meters to pace the reader, and the ability to layer information to gradually make a point. Some forms can be generous in what they allow the author to do, and in William Wordsworth’s “Nuns Fret Not” the author admits that forms can be restricting in meter, rhyme, and length. That does not mean however that he’s immobile, Wordsworth is able to fine-tune the rules and by doing so, demonstrates his main statement: Limits don’t necessarily need to be viewed in a negative light; if used correctly, limits can be both challenging and provide comfort instead of misery.
During T. S. Eliot’s time many of his contemporaries including himself were in the custom of alluding to classic works of poetry. They incorporated references to notable texts like Dante. Eliot especially is a main perpetrator of alluding. Eliot has the ability create a picture for the reader and provide historical context to his works. A contemporary of Eliot, Pound, once said you should try to “be influenced by as many great artists as [they] can” (Pound 95). Eliot is following what Pound said by incorporating allusions in his works.
Throughout history, poets had experimented with different forms of figurative language. Figurative language allows a poet to express his or her meaning within a poem. The beauty of using the various forms of figurative language is the ability to convey deep meaning in a condensed fashion. There are many different figures of speech that a poet can use such as: simile, paradox, metaphor, alliteration, and anaphora. These examples only represent a fraction of the different forms, but are amongst the most well-known. The use of anaphora in a poem, by a poet, is one of the best ways to apply weight or emphasis on a particular segment. Not only does an anaphora place emphasis, but it can also aid in setting the tone, or over all “feel” a reader receives from a poem. Poets such as Walt Whitman, Conrad Aiken, and Frances Osgood provide poems that show how the use of anaphora can effect unity, feeling, and structure of a poem.
This creates very subtle emphases on words, giving a very different feel to the poem from what would be there if it was removed. The most common technique is enjambment; a line without any terminating punctuation at the end of the line, "running on" to the next, and creating an emphasis on the words at the end of the first and start of the second lines. This is used on the very first line: "[...] the ridge emerges massed and DUN / in the WILD PURPLE [...]" (emphasis mine) to create effect on the word "dun", which is a strong juxtaposition against the "wild purple" of the next line; this effect conveys the sense of chaos and contrast. This already strong effect is enhanced significantly by the emphasis the enjambment creates. The punctuation, however, can also create strong effects on its own, as in "Men jostle and climb to, meet the bristling fire." The comma in the middle of this line affects the rhythm of this line, creating a short pause, which almost causes suspense in that short instant, and mirrors the actual rhythm of what 's being described; this combination of multiple effects is used all throughout by Sassoon 's use of punctuation, and to great effect; it creates a very strong, lasting
Punctuation such as question marks and dashes are used to create pauses and allow readers to know that Owen is about to mention an important concept. The dash and question mark creates a mocking tone and then Owen explains and elaborates on the point
Everything in life requires some sort of discipline. Whether it is hitting a baseball, learning to sew, playing a musical instrument, making good grades or brushing your teeth, it all comes down to a matter of discipline. The dictionary defines punctuation as: Acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed, prompt. Under the rigid and disciplined structure of military life, there is no margin for error. Procrastination or being late may cost lives on the battlefield.
Grammar and punctuation is another importance in academic writing. Having inappropriate punctuation, grammar and spelling will cause other staff nurses to have a difficult time to analyse your notes and documents. Proper punc...