Discourse Communities Paper Final English 1101 Ryan Long

8/13/2019 Discourse Communities Paper Final English 1101 Ryan Long

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Ryan Long

Jessie Carty

English 1101-042

October 28,2013

The Mystery of the Use of a Comma

Why is it that after so many years of schooling and practice that people still do not know

the proper way to use commas? They are so often over used and thrown into academic writings

very carelessly.The question to ask here is, why do people use them so frequently and

improperly? If you think that you are the only one that struggles with the proper use of commas

then you are sadly mistaken because the proper use of a comma is one that eludes us all.

The thing that causes most people to use commas incorrectly is that they think that every

time a pause is needed, that they will just throw in a comma. The use of commas also comes into

play when writers end up writing run on sentences and feel that if they throw a comma into the

sentence that it will make everything better. In reality all this does is lead to papers that are very

poorly written; which contain an extreme over use of commas. Most writers know that they are

most likely using commas in the wrong fashion, but they do not feel like looking up the correct

way. The English language is one that becomes very difficult and very fuzzy to say the least

when it comes down to the structure of our sentences. There are too many exceptions, and even

what some people may call contradictions in our grammar to name them all. However, proper

comma usage can be done and is not completely impossible. Regardless of what you may think

at this very moment there is hope.


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It seems to be that the source of the majority of all comma problems originate it in the

fact that there are not purely just rules to follow when it comes to commas. Along with having

rules to follow there are also guidelines that are generally recommended for writers to follow

when it comes to using commas (Grammar Girl). This causes writers to doubt and even become

confused with the proper placement of a comma in a composition. Guidelines are just meant as

recommendations and are usually just a good rule of thumb to go by. However, commas are

already tricky to begin with so it is easy to get guidelines confused with rules.

Commas have many proper uses however that are necessary to produce grammatically

correct sentences and papers. One of the correct uses of a comma is to separate items in a series

such as water, ice, or water vapor for example. The comma before or in this case, also known

as the Oxford comma, could be left out but when it comes to other items that could be actually

put together, a comma is necessary. However, without the use of the second comma the second

two items in the series will seem to run together to a reader. The use of this comma will always

help the reader to avoid confusion and is usually a good rule of thumb to go by.

Commas are also used to connect two independent clauses with the help of a small

conjunction. Conjunctions are words such as, and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so. These words usually

tend to have a comma that precedes them to show the start of the independent clause. The

comma can also sometimes come after a conjunction; however, this is very rare.

Introductory elements can also be followed by commas to create a pause in the reading.

An example of this would be, While driving down the road, I noticed I was driving 10 mph over

the speed limit. This comma is used to separate the introduction statement and the rest of


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sentence. This comma is one that can also be removed it does not bring confusion to the sentence

or hesitation to the reader. For the most part commas can often be done without; however, their

main purpose is to allow the writing to have a better flow or clarity.

Another area that a lot of people struggle with is when to use commas around quotes.

With the rules MLA format and other formats require, writers tend to forget their basic

knowledge regarding commas. If you introduce a quote such as, Tommy said, I dont feel too

good, then there will be a comma that goes before the quote. The problem seems to be when

the quote opens the sentence and deciding whether the comma goes after the quotation marks or

inside the quotation marks. The correct answer to this situation is inside. People tend to get

confused because if they were embedding a quote into their paper then they would cite the quote

by putting the punctuation after the page number such as this (p.98). However this is not the case

when it comes to quotes in the beginning of a sentence. The correct way to do this would be, I

dont feel toogood,Tommy said. Before MLA came along writers seemed to never make this

mistake, but now it seems to be the one thing that happens to be tripping them up.

Most of the errors with the proper use of commas come from the lack of knowledge in

the subject. However, if writers get out and do some research the proper uses of commas; they

can effectively cut down on at least half of their careless improper comma errors. The resources

are out there to help you understand the concepts; it will just take a small amount of time that

may not look that appealing to an average student or writer. I know that learning about commas

does not appeal to anyone, and if it does then chances are you are kind of weird, but I can tell

you that it will benefit your writing in all kinds of ways.


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As I was writing this paper I was worried about my usage of commas because I was

writing a paper about the proper use of them. After doing the research on commas I seem to have

a better understanding of when and how to use them. However, when it comes to sitting down in

front of a computer and writing a paper I forget all the rules and only see my long run on

sentences. Commas are a very difficult topic that requires a very high level of research and time

devoted to mastering them. I believe that even writers and even professors struggle with the

correct use of commas because the correct placement of a comma can be so vague at times. I can

say that my knowledge of commas has grown but I can also say that I do not feel at all

comfortable when I use them. For some reason the inventors of the English language created its

grammar in such a way that I do not believe that they even know how to use commas properly.


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Works Cited

"Rules for Comma Usage."Rules for Comma Usage. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

.

Strumpf, Michael. The Grammar Bible.New York, NY: Henry Holt and, LLC, 2004. Print.

"Where Do I Use Commas?" Quick and Dirty Tips. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.

Discourse Communities Paper Final English 1101 Ryan Long

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