Argues that composition teachers should accept as little blame as possible for students' errors in using the apostrophe, that a large chunk of the blame should be assigned to workbooks with oversimple rules, and that basic writers have more important things to worry about. (RS)

Suggestions are made for creative class activities that help students become more familiar with punctuation marks and their use. (JD)

This article is in the form of a letter from a hypothetical former student on her first job in word processing, looking back at her educational experience and how it helped her. She shares her thoughts with her instructor and comments on areas that she feels could have been emphasized more. Grammar/punctuation, proofreading,…

A disturbing deterioration has been noticed recently in the editing of history books. They have mistakes in grammar, word usage, style, and punctuation. Specific examples are provided. (RM)

Contends that the genitive apostrophe is losing its grammatical significance and its utility and will eventually be dropped. (DD)

Suggests the use of toys to help children learn to use prepositions. Also describes a group activity in which children work together to punctuate a piece of writing. (TJ)

Presents a functional description of punctuation as a delimiter of words, sentences, and paragraphs, and as a semantic and extralinguistic indicator. (AM)

A daily dictation period provides continuous reinforcement of spelling and writing mechanics for elementary school students. (DD)

Outlines some of the major differences in the use of punctuation between French and English, discussing such items as the period, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, and quotation marks. (MSE)

Traces the development of punctuation and the understanding of its role over the centuries. Throughout its existence, punctuation has played the dual role of recording prosodic contours and syntactic structure. Past research and discussion has not provided a coherent picture. A model of punctuation based on systematic observation is needed. (175…

Suggests a system for teaching punctuation, in which the independent clause is recognized as the fundamental building block of all language. Maintains that punctuation is not based on rules but on principles governing the relationship between one independent clause and the next. (TB)

In this paper, the author explains the simplification of a theory of punctuation for college-level instruction. He describes a systematization of the punctuation marks that has pedagogical possibilities. He concludes by stressing that the notion of a hierarchy of punctuation marks is not a difficult one for college students; after all, the…

Article emphasized the need for using humor in the classroom and how it can serve the teacher by helping with his instruction of subjects sometimes difficult to teach. (RK)

An analysis of the punctuation of the eighth edition Library of Congress Subject Headings reveals that the hyphen, coma and parentheses are most often used. Examples of these and the use of the apostrophe, dash, and period are discussed. (Author/MBR)