.
.Copyright, Terry Gibson, BA, MEd
|
.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Swan's Practical English Usage, published by Oxford is the 1995 text that serves as reference. It is recent but will be replaced within
the next few years as we get more and more muddled.
. . . . . .Both British and American Forms are updated. e.g. dialog, US
.
.
These pages are the explanations I would have given
if I were able to sit beside you, answering questions.
This poem shows the use of commas in free verse, a form very popular today. [ Many today prefer to use line-breaks alone, with no punctuation whatsoever. It is a personal choice of course, but do consider how much meaning is lost without using the devices available for our use.]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . GrefsBUT what is enjambment? First, it is not new. Many of Shakespeare's sonnets (he died in 1616) have at least one, and as many as five enjambments--I know because I wrote a term paper on this phenomenon.
What is it? It is a poetic device which releases the strict form from a need to end every line in formal poetry. No longer was a comma or period needed there. Look at the example. Only seven of the lines end. Eight of the lines keep on reading without a pause into the next line.The use of coloured lines shows two verses, with lines almost entirely without ending.
Note: Capital letters are gone too, except where a new sentence begins.Please do not confuse it with the totally loose form with no sentences at all, where only line lengths matter and many meanings may be found--or few. Breaking the rigidity has reached its logical conclusion there. I prefer to consider enjambments to be fully self-disciplined.
Read the poem again to see how its meaning is clarified, by commas.--Terry
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . PUNCTUATION REVIEW
Commas are used to separate items in a list.
In US, prefer "this, this, this, and that."
.. .
Common sense commas: What does it mean?
He bought bread, milk, cookies, ham, and mustard.
Each of those could be bought individually.
Note, the comma before 'and' is omitted in UK, except where meaning demands it, below. [Swan, 455(1) ]
She bought cheese, canned tomato sauce, and pork . and beans. Canned pork and beans is not bought . . . separately as pork, and beans.
.About commas in verse.
They also subdivide the parts of long sentences
to allow us to catch a breath, perhaps to show
when two or more groups of words it dispenses,
like shaft of brightest light, it differs from shadow.
Avoid overuse.In lines of poetry, they are used sometimes in midline as above, but at the ends of lines only where a pause is needed. Every line does not need to be punctuated even in formal sonnets (Check any random Old Poet's or Shakespearean poem!)
And not in enjambment, where without a break, two or more lines run together without pausing.
Example of Enjambment:
(a reaction to a friend's poem.)In removing all the commas, this poem gives no help in meaning, which will change as you stop in different places while reading. Many prefer to write this way, leaving interpretation entirely up to the reader. I has the appearance
of being entirely made of enjambments--do not stop at the
end of any line!
Others may have been taught to put either a period or comma
at the end of every line, and a capital at the start of each line.
Checking my old College Survey of English Literature, 1951, every poem from 1200 to 1950 did indeed capitalize every line.
This is 2008 however, relaxing that requirement, placing capitals as we would for sentences, not leaving them out altogether for reasons of meaning. It is no surprise that EVERY poet used enjambment,
Chaucer 1300's, Ben Jonson, 1512-1637
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( "As giving it a hope that there
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....It would not withered be." )
most of them had two or more in every poem. We will too.Copy the following poem, put commas and periods where you think they belong to make sense. When done, check yours.
Her Pain, a Response
Taking her poem as an isolated item
I see lines of irregular lengths a total
lack of the usual signposts of meaning
punctuation capitals... the usual things
And then the words each one needed
each one carrying more meaning
than it was made for because of the
crowd of loaded words around them
Their accumulated grief overwhelms
to a point that has ruptured into the void
beyond my experience and left me
panting in its wordless reality It bleeds
It bleeds bloodlessly exhales airlessly
and follows me invisibly no matter where
I might try to hide tearlessly
And they weren't even my own©Terry Gibson 2006..
Choose one of the assignments directly above and submit with one other (both together) to Homeworks box in Allpoetry.
There are two reasons for placing this poem here again:
One: Read it to let the ideas emerge more clearly because the
commas and other punctuation separate it into thought-groups.
Two: the colour coding shows how enjambment works, and in
the process, further clarifies the intended meanings. Note there are no commas within them. Then compare it with what you did.
Can you see why, if there is a difference? (Leeway exists.)
Example of Enjambment:
(a reaction to a friend's poem.)
Her Pain, a Response
Taking her poem as an isolated item,
I see lines of irregular lengths, a total
lack of the usual signposts of meaning,
punctuation, capitals... the usual things.
And then, the words, each one needed,
each one carrying more meaning
than it was made for, because of the
crowd of loaded words around them.
Their accumulated grief overwhelms
to a point that has ruptured into the void
beyond my experience and left me
panting in its wordless reality. It bleeds.
It bleeds bloodlessly, exhales airlessly,
and follows me invisibly no matter where
I might try to hide, tearlessly--
And they weren't even my own!©Terry Gibson 2006..
.
.x
... . . . . . . . . . . . . Grefs. .A number of unpunctuated paragraphs follow.
The use of quotation marks was given in Course A1, so an abbreviated version is here. If in doubt click Course A1 at the top, and then return here for assignments for Course B1.
.
.
.
His impatience was plain: "Aren't you ready yet?"
"I hear you," she muttered.
"No way! Move it."
I wish it weren't so, she thought.Note: a thought is not quoted.
The ". . . ," Quotation marks contain all other punctuation.
......Indented means moved at least 5 spaces in from the margin. Other than the first line of each paragraph, .all other lines start as usual at the margin. ( dent = .tooth, bitten out .)
Check out any published novel; there is no blank line between paragraphs. (In html, hold Shift, then Enter to get a single space. Enter alone is double spaced.)
.
Pasted below from Course A1 as reference.
. . . . 4
......."We never ran into this while Gwen was with us," Sonya said. Harry had been the last to speak. Now it is Sonya. New paragraph.
.
.. . . . 5
....... "Exactly," Dina agreed. As a long-term employee, Dina had seen people come and go. "Gwen Green was on top of everything that went on here; nothing and nobody could get past her high standards."
The speaker did not change so it all fits in the same paragraph.
Also, it prevents "orphan speeches," where it would be confusing not to know who is speaking.
.
|
.
I hope you enjoyed Course B1. It was shorter than A1, but only because similar punctuation was used. This will continue to be the case in future.
--Terry
.
.
We recomend that you call up CourseB-1 in Allpoetry
when at least five parts have opened it for credits.
and work the assignments THERE to make the work easier to submit.
Please submit answers at once to AP Class box directly.We have had trouble receiving graded works in the submit-box in AP Class toward the trophy.
By being graded in the box, they cannot be lost!For full feedback, please also IM your E-mail address to DeeCrepit. Feedback will be sent to you there.
Your five best assignments are now the minimum for a trophy. There have been eight parts in each of the courses from the start. That means the pressure is off as you do the advanced #7 and #8 worth a percentage of 50 bonus points each, dependent on your results.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back to Top or onward to Part B2
. . . . . . . .. . Copyright: Tiled wallpaper drawn by Terry Gibson 1996