Sometimes...to make a point....

Panda punctuation: Eats, Shoots & Leaves book

 

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots & leaves."

It's available on Amazon.com and also abebooks.com. Go get a copy.

This is also my defense of the Oxford comma. But in this case, the first comma is wrong and should not have been included.

Crafty commas cause commotions in creative classrooms

In a commotion over a comma? I agree that the comma is a VERY hard thing to understand, but try and be calm about it. (Just ask Grandpa, who has now realized that he's been invited for dinner instead of finding himself AS dinner.)
Try these rules (and spare the old man's life and your error in meal choice!)

Between words or word groups in a series
  Example: Medical supplies, food, blankets, and clothing were rushed to the flood area.

To separate parts of a compound sentence
 Example: Many homes were flooded, and owners had to be rescued by police. (You can make two sentences: the comma helps split them apart.)

  To separate a direct quote from the rest of a sentence.
  Example: “We’re going home,” said Nick. She answered, “No, I’m staying.”

  When you speak to someone, use a comma to set apart their name.
  Example:  “Alicia, please come and help me.” 

 IF YOU BEGIN A SENTENCE WITH “Yes,” “No,” “Well,” “Oh,”…..

1.  “Yes, I want to get better grades!” “No, I did not forget!”
2.  “Well, I’ll just try it again.”
3.   “Oh, I did my work yesterday.”

     * The “Oxford” Comma

 Used with three items:
Example:  “Peter, Paul, and Mary were a folk group during the 1960s.”
 *(This often appears as “Peter, Paul and Mary.”)
  (But this is the reason for the Oxford comma: otherwise, how do we separate the 2^nd and 3^rd members or items?)

 Transition phrases get help from commas

1.  Example: Generally, one can see a transition phrase followed by a comma.
2.  Example: Moreover, they are at the head of a sentence.
3.   Example: However, there’s always someone who forgets them!
4. Example: Therefore, use them with a comma!
5. Example:  In fact, they work much like transitions.
6. Example: On the other hand, they lend a big hand to a sentence.
7. Example: For that matter, they handle the work of a smaller phrase.
8. Example: All things considered, they are useful.

 BIG intro phrases get commas

1. Example: As far as I’m concerned, it’s just about obvious that a comma makes a difference.
2. Example: In spite of the best intentions, students still argue and fuss that they don’t understand them.
3. Example: After all the presentations are done, I’m sure everyone grasps the idea—or else.

If two or more adjectives describe or modify the same noun, make sure they work separately if appropriate:

1.   “He was a bashful, sleepy kid.”
2.   “The eager, radiant princess kissed the slimy, vile frog.”

  (Each adjective works by itself)

  Other uses of commas
In addresses, to separate smaller from larger units: Washington, D.C.
 Albertville, Alabama

 Date (if day/month/year is used. NO if only month-year):
 June 14, 2006, was a very good day for a wedding.

Calling all standards!

On the 2nd-from-bottom image, I now learned that I've been using "i.e." wrong: I meant to use "e.g.." which means "for example." Okay, how am I going to remember that?! Well, I use mnemomics ("neh-mohn-ics" to remember things--so I'll remember that "i.e." is an EGGS-ample."

Punctuation marks and their uses

Perilous Points of Punctuation:  

Try http://chompchomp.com for online punctuation drills for kids (and adults who are learning English grammar)
 
•    Double dash --
•    Two hyphens put together
•    Stops action in sentence
•    Makes the reader stop for a moment
•    Creates a break in the flow of ideas to help focus on each thought.
•    It’s hard to believe—but it works—no matter how strange it seems—because the facts—bizarre as they are—confirm I’m right.
 
Brackets and parentheses
•    Use the parenthesis (parentheses is plural) to show how an idea is hidden (or otherwise not up-front)
•    (It’s hiding an idea in the sentence) that the reader “hears” in his or her mind as they read.
•    But if someone is quoted, “Then it’s obvious {for all intents and purposes} that a bracket does the job.”
•    “At times, a misquote uses {sic} to show something missing or misspelled.”
 
Slash away!
•    The slash works as an “either/or” component in punctuation.
•    It serves the purpose to say “him/her” or “he/she” or “this/that” in a sentence.
 
Ellipsis dots…just fade away…
•    Ellipsis dots show words missing from a quote, speech, or an interruption.
•    Use three dots…in the middle of the quote
•    Use FOUR at the end of a sentence (one is really the ending period mark), as well as the ending quotation mark.
•    “Friends…associates…colleagues…let me tell you a story….”
 
The colon
•    The colon announces something important: “Here’s the most-wanted list.”
•    To make a statement: “This grade will get your attention.”
•    To say “such as” and use a punctuation mark instead.
•    To set off a long quotation from the rest of the text.
•    Salutations (To whom it may concern:) or (Dear Aunt Helen:)
•    Time (7:20 p.m.)
•    Biblical citations (John 3:16)

The semi-colon; a break in a sentence without a comma

* Use them to break up a thought without using a conjunction: 

    ** for, and, nor, but, or, yet

•         (The semi-colon replaces both the conjunction itself and the comma that followed)

I often use semi-colons in places where I want a break in a thought process; it helps me (and I hope, the reader) to get closer to an idea

Double-Dash: stops you in your thoughts like hitting the pause button on a remote

• I like double-dash (it looks like --) because it makes you stop reading and think about something. For instance--it's quite noticeable--when you come across them because they grab your attention--and then you can continue.

(Use a parenthesis to hide a thought as though someone was reading your mind but not aloud)

• (I always said a parenthesis looks like you're cupping your hands to speak quietly so no one else hears you except the person you want to know something)

The variation to the parenthesis is the bracket. Brackets are squared and look like [ ]. 

1. To explain further, correct, or comment within a direct quotation: ...
2. To alter part of a word, indicating necessary changes from its original form: ...
3. To replace parentheses within parentheses

I use brackets in example #1 when I write: "It's easier to hide things [in a bracket] when you're quoting something."

The hyphen mark. THIS one is tough to explain. The closest I can try is "Two things that aren't anywhere alike but connected." I'm using this source because the Purdue University OWL program is really good for academics, grammar rules, and writing. 

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/hyphen_use.html