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Punctuation and Quotation Marks

Punctuation and Quotation Marks. Part 22 of the Legal Methods Lecture Series By Deborah Gordon. Different Categories of Punctuation. Periods and commas; Colons and semicolons; and Exclamation points and question marks. Periods & Commas.

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Punctuation and Quotation Marks

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  1. Punctuation and Quotation Marks Part 22 of the Legal Methods Lecture Series By Deborah Gordon

  2. Different Categories of Punctuation • Periods and commas; • Colons and semicolons; and • Exclamation points and question marks.

  3. Periods & Commas • General Rule: always put periods and commas inside quotation marks. • Examples: • Blanche Dubois said, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” • “Success,” Sir Winston Churchill stated, “is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” • To show that a landlord has violated the ADA, a disabled tenant must demonstrate that the requested accommodation was “reasonable” and “necessary.”

  4. Periods & Commas: a minor exception • Rule Exception: put periods and commas outside quotation marks if a parenthetical reference follows: • Mayor Smith, criticizing the City Council’s reaction to his new budget proposal, writes, “the former approach was to spend without thinking” (24).

  5. Colons & Semicolons • Rule: place colons and semicolons outside closed quotation marks: • Examples: • President Obama characterized the Federal stimulus package as a much needed “jumpstart for the economy”; other politicians disagreed. • Health experts have emphasized two elements in what they call a “path to wellness”: proper nutrition and regular exercise.

  6. Question Marks & Exclamation Points • Rule: Place a question mark or exclamation point within closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the quotation itself. • Examples: • Annie asked, "Do you need any help?“ • Noah exclaimed, “I love the Patriots!”

  7. Question Marks & Exclamation Points • Rule: place question marks and exclamation points outside the closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the whole sentence: • Examples: • Does Professor Samuel always say to her students, "You must try harder"? • No one but William Shakespeare could write, “All the world’s a stage”!

  8. Punctuation and Quotation Marks Summarized • Periods & Commas: inside quotation marks • Colons & Semicolons: outside quotation marks • Question marks & exclamation points: depends

  9. Sources • Bryan A. Garner, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style (2d ed.) §§ 1.32, 1.35 (c) • The Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL), http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

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