Construct: How semicolons, hyphens, and other punctuation marks are actually useful
tools people don't know about.
Construct At Its' Most Visible: -When sentences do not form together to construct a
single sentence, it becomes broken down into multiple
sentences that serves to support the single idea of the
sentence to the broader paragraph.
Who Keeps It Alive: -Those who follow the rules of punctuation, but are fully aware they
are not rules, but guidelines that should still be taken seriously.
-Lawyers
-Lawmakers
-Writers
-Accounting Workers
-Social Workers
-Teachers
Influence Ways Of Thinking: -It makes the sentence specific; making two sentences that
share the same point without having to pad one long
sentence.
Write In Specific Ways: -It arrives at a point as effectively as possible.
-It reaches to the idea of the paragraph more quickly.
-Empathize sentences that are needed to make the point of a
paragraph stronger.
Conceptions About "Good" Writing: -It punctuates meanings, not overall ideas.
Search Terms: -"Rules"
-"Sentence structure"
-"Punctuation mark"
-"Independent Clauses"
-"Separation"
-"Emphasis"
Brainstorming Questions: -What is good use of that sort of punctuation?
-Where did I learn this sort of materiel?
-What happens if you use that sort of punctuation the wrong
way?
-How does that kind of punctuation expand the form of a piece
of writing?
-Can you still go to a certain point without using that sort of
punctuation?
Research Ideas: -Find sentences that heavily use commas and study what happens when
you remove then and replace them with semicolons, hyphens, and
other punctuation.
-Conduct research in library to see if various opinions on that kind of
punctuation is seen by various authors.
-Discuss punctuation with teachers and what happens on when they
see that kind of punctuation in student's writings
Research Material (as of now): "Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool", pg. 139,
Writing About Writing
3 other sources.
Goals: -Why don't we see people use this kind of punctuation? Is it because of a lack a
knowledge, or experience?
-What exactly is the fundamental difference between a semicolon, a common,
or a hyphen?
-Can you construct sentences without depending on commas, semicolons, etc.?
-How long does a sentence truly need to be to reach to a point? Does this kind
of punctuation reach that point more efficiently?
Hi Chase,
ReplyDeleteSomething's going on with the formatting here. But I'm going to try my best to respond. What you seem to be deailing with here is the construct of punctuation rules and how these rules often stifle writers' ability and predisposition to actually use punctuation marks in meaningful ways. Rather, writers are so afraid of breaking the rules that they don't mess with punctuation much at all. The Dawkins piece is a good start as far as research. You might also want to look at some grammar guidebooks to get at some of the arbitrary punctuation rules that mislead or stifle writers. You could quote specific rules about specific punctuation marks, and then try to complicate or challenge those rules by showing how they could be broken to bring new and different meanings to sentences.
I want you to keep an open mind with this project. See where your research takes you. I think your search terms are really good. You might also include "independent clause" or "dependent clause." Good work!