Punctuation … bah, who needs it!

Synopsis: For those who think proper punctuation is useless and unnecessary.

When called-on in English class to explain how an ellipsis ( … ) is used,

a high school student (with poor grades) confronts the teacher:

“What is the big deal about punctuation?

I can write anything without it,

and anyone can tell what I wrote.”

So, the teacher scribbled on the blackboard,

“A woman without her man is nothing,”

and asked the class to copy and punctuate it properly.

All the boys wrote,

“A woman without her man, is nothing.”

All the girls wrote,

“A woman … without her, man is nothing.”

Punctuation can be powerful, indeed!

Let's go eat granny!

Let's go eat, Granny!

🙄

Richard W. Jenkins

©2021

Author's Note

There are fourteen punctuation marks commonly used in English grammar:
the period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, semicolon,
colon, dash, hyphen, parentheses, brackets, braces,
apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis.
Following their correct usage will
make your writing easier to
read 'n more appealing.

I posted this mainly for interesting responses and feedback from my fellow poetesses, writers, and poets, and for a venue to express different points of view on this, often controversial, topic.
Feel free to comment under your own or anyone's review.

And remember, constructive critique is always welcome.😊

Reviews

[lightsong]

VERY powerful example!!! it shows how everything is turned upside down with simple use of punctuation, in Arabic they are important as in English, at a young age children at schools learn them and they lose grades if they forget them, as for poetry as I know one must respect the rules of English and the professional poetry, still Poetry is about creativity and creating with no boundaries, one may use them for a purpose and might not for another one, as for me I am still confused by them when I "poet" my poetry lol

[Richard🖌]

Your reviews are always wisdom-filled and serve delicious food for thought. 🥣

This one is no different in that sense; plus, you've added your own flavoring and spice to stir and tease our grammatical appetites to a taste of perfection.

What a blessing You* are! ⁓ Richard🖌

[lightsong]

It seems it's your commenting day, Good Luck ☺️

[Richard🖌]

Ghounwah,

Teaching requires so much time, it's difficult to read, review, and comment on reviews; there's little time left for creative writing, as-well.
So, best I take advantage of the free moments I'm enjoying today to at least comment on reviews … You understand, I know. : )

[lightsong]

Of course I do. Good Luck Always ☺️

[Richard🖌]

Thanks for the "Good Luck Always" wishes. : )

[Patricia Wedel]

A Man with a Woman is Trouble.
Who needs punctuation. gently, Pat

[Dave]

It's not fair that you are so far ahead of us in the dynamics of writing. I must be honest and say that I did appreciate your lesson. On the other hand, I tend to agree with Barleygirl. I tend to never, well hardly ever, get bogged down with all the finer points of writing. I feel it's more important to convey the feelings you wish to express.
Richard, it's always great to hear from you - take care - Dave

[K writes]

Thank you for pointing this out, Good to know.
I have been knocked by others for using it.
Love this....

[Richard🖌]

Thanks for the review.

[Gee]

Got to saying my writing ain't the best and my punctuation is worse :)
A nice demo sir

[Richard🖌]

We can all stand to improve 🤓

Thanks for the read and praise, Gee! ⁓ Richard🖌

[barleygirl]

Nicely demonstrated. Always the teacher, my friend. However, I do not agree, when it comes to poetry. I'm more of the idea that less is more. Also true of prose, but certain punctuation is very necessary as you have effectively demo'ed. Here's hoping you have a devilish Halloween weekend (((HUGS)))

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I agree, Margie. When it comes to poetry, less punctuation allows more leeway for different interpretations...which makes poetry such an interesting genre.
Richard creates some good pondering and discussion with this post.
j.