I had a teacher once who graded an essay of mine, and he added at least 10 commas to the text. They were all grammatically correct but I remember thinking they made the page look crowded. I liked my way better even though the punctuation wasn't perfect. In writing this essay I was careful about my use of them, but even so, my usage was critiqued by two other people. I will probably keep most of the commas, since my genre is a formal one, but it was striking to me how excessive they seemed to the two people who commented. I hope my comma karma is good.
Original
On the contrary, without knowledge and understanding between people, entire nations can fail.
Revision
On the contrary, without knowledge and understanding between people entire nations can fail.
The semicolon
I think I knew about putting semicolons in a series where other punctuation is used. The idea is a little like the use of the bracket inside parentheses. You have to be able to tell what is what. Otherwise the use of the semicolon is fairly simple and I use it a lot. It's two main ideas that could be separated by a period and still be correct. I use it as a style choice.
Original
Many long-standing institutions in the modern world are crumbling. Civic, political, religious, and educational agencies do not hold the degree of respect that they once did. Scandal, corruption, and incompetence within these entities have repelled a great many of the population, who have turned inward toward themselves and their inner circles, narrowing their world-views and losing sight of what is happening elsewhere. This alienation among social groups has divided people, disaffected them and made them wary toward what is not familiar. It is the climate for mistrust, misunderstanding, and endless conflict.
Revision
Of all the losses that a society can sustain, it is the loss of its people’s trust that can do the most devastating damage. Trust, once lost, can never be fully regained; one betrayal is enough to destroy what was once freely given. The corruption and incompetence that is rampant in once-respected public institutions like photojournalism have repelled many; they have turned inward toward their inner circles, shutting themselves off to what is happening elsewhere. This alienation among social groups has divided people, disaffected them and made them wary toward what is not familiar. It is the climate for mistrust, misunderstanding, and endless conflict.
End punctuation
It was surprising to me that some kinds of questions don't require a question mark, like a formal request. I didn't know that it's also okay to use them in a series of questions about the same thing. The exclamation point rules seem like they're more about context then about incorrect grammar. It's not exactly wrong to use them in more than one sentence at a time, but it makes the text itself look less forceful.
There were no revisions that changed end punctuation. I've changed the structure of some sentences, but this only meant that the mark came after a different word. The theory behind the marks didn't change.
Other punctuation marks
I don't use a lot of dashes because I seem to use them wrong. I usually use parentheses instead. A lot of teachers have slammed my use of ellipses too but I still use them a lot. Slashes seem like they should be used mostly in non-fiction since there are less jarring ways to express "and or".
I made no use of any other punctuation marks like dashes or ellipses. It would not have been appropriate to the genre I used.
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