Purpose: More than anything this assignment is an effort to de-mystify Standard American English Punctuation. Often there is created in many a student a fear of making a mistake using punctuation. The fear is based on the idea that a punctuation mark comes with a strict, inflexible set of rules. Punctuation should, instead, be seen as tools to more effectively communicate meaning (or, for some, to more effectively confuse meaning). This assignment should show that punctuation marks can be easily understood and used as the communication tools that they are.
Approach: The approach is rather simple. Every student in the class will be put in a group with two other students. Each student in that group will be responsible for one concept or symbol from the lists below. That student, with the help and assistance of his/her groupmates, will explain/teach/demonstrate that symbol and its associated concept and its use or misuse to the class (We are also going to try to avoid repetition as much as possible so speak up early if something is unusually interesting to you). You may take any approach that you like, from quizzes to writing assignments. This is a chance to get to know punctuation marks and your classmates a bit better.
Learning Objectives:
· Understand Standard American English Punctuation Marks
· Demystify Punctuation Mark use
· Encourage Group Collaboration
The comma The semicolon
The colon The apostrophe
Quotation marks The period
The question mark The exclamation point
The dash Parentheses
Brackets The ellipsis mark
The slash Capitalization
Italics (underlining) The hyphen