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Writing Lab

Writing Lab. Commas with Sentence Tags, Conjunctive Adverbs, Parenthetical Elements, and Interrupters. Commas: Stoplights in the Traffic of your Writing.

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Writing Lab

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  1. Writing Lab Commas with Sentence Tags, Conjunctive Adverbs, Parenthetical Elements, and Interrupters

  2. Commas: Stoplights in the Traffic of your Writing • Punctuation marks such as commas are signposts used to construct and support the meaning of your writing. Commas serve as interrupters or signals to the reader to pause. • If those signposts are missing, your meaning is obstructed, and misunderstandings may lead to collisions of thought in the mind of your reader.

  3. The Dramatic Pause Theory • Do not place commas according to where you, the writer, would pause. • Instead, place commas according to the following guidelines, which signal the reader to pause.

  4. Sentence Tags • Use commas to separate sentence tags from the rest of the sentence. • He’s going to Rome in August, isn’t he? • It doesn’t have four legs, does it? • You skipped class today, didn’t you? • I had a car accident, that’s why.

  5. Parenthetical Elements and Interrupters • Use a comma to separate parenthetical words, phrases, or clauses from the rest of the sentence. • A parenthetical element—an interrupter—is a word or word group that often interrupts your sentence and may be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence.

  6. Parenthetical Elements and Interrupters cont. • Don’t forget to place commas before and after the interrupter! • Traffic signal management, on the whole, has been a problem on campus. • The SabaruJusty, it seems, is very much like the Ford Festiva. • The cafeteria menu, in fact, has a variety of items. • Barbara Jordan is, in my opinion, a prolific and eloquent orator. • We will, of course, honor Dr. Brown posthumously and present the award to his widow after the service.

  7. Conjunctive Adverbs • Common conjunctive adverbs include “however,” “therefore,” “thus,” “for example,” “moreover,” “nevertheless,” and “furthermore;” moreover, their purpose is to mark a shift or contrast in the sentence. • Use commas to separate them from the rest of the sentence: • You are, moreover, entirely correct in your statement. • Today, we cross the country in a few hours by plane; however, our ancestors spent months making the trip in covered wagons. • Thus, the Gothic novel has supernatural, ghostly, and mysterious themes.

  8. Let’s Practice! • We will therefore, have to operate. • The meeting on the whole went well. • He has, in fact been missing for three days. • The dog however lost its bone in the fight. • You missed your doctor’s appointment didn’t you? • As time passed furthermore Mike made many enemies. • I will of course complete the graduation requirements this spring semester.

  9. Practice Answers • We will, therefore, have to operate. • The meeting, on the whole, went well. • He has, in fact, been missing for three days. • The dog, however, lost its bone in the fight. • You missed your doctor’s appointment, didn’t you? • As time passed, furthermore, Mike made many enemies. • I will, of course, complete the graduation requirements this spring semester.

  10. That’s all, folks! • This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series • Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon • To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson

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