College Composition

College Composition Study Guide

No idea is emphasized more than any other in these sentences. These two sentences can be combined into one sentence and the emphasis clarified. • The two politicians, who were both running for office, discussed their plans to improve the economy while guests on the talk show. This emphasizes the topic discussed over the other elements in the first sample. 2.3 Punctuation Punctuation marks are used to organize writing. They are clues to the reader regarding the meaning of words and how they relate to each other. There are many rules for punctuation in Standard Written English. However, there are a few rules you will want to know for the exam. Key Punctuation Rules Individual words: • Items in a series: A series of similar words are separated by commas. o The books every student should have are a dictionary, thesaurus, and atlas. o The kitten is tiny, furry, and gray. • Distinguishing the plural from the possessive: The possessive form uses an apostrophe before the –s. The plural form adds an –s with no apostrophe. o The kitten’s fur is gray. o The books are valuable.  The placement of the apostrophe when a word is plural can be confusing. • Note: Different rules exist for forming the plural of compound words.  If both words are of equal importance, the –s is added to the second word. • Station wagons • Washing machines  If one word is more important than the other, the –s is added to the more important word. • Brothers-in-law • Attorneys general • Designating a contraction: Add an apostrophe in the position the missing letter would have fallen. o Contractions are informal usage. Standard Written English discourages their use. • Interrupting words: Use a comma to separate a word from the rest of the sentence. o The boat sank in the night, however, the crew was on shore. • Boys means more than one boy. • Boys’ means belongs to the boys. o You’re means you are o Can’t means can not

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