1. COMMA RULES See page 846 in Elements of Writing

2. C OMMA V OCABULARY Clause : A group of words that contains a verb and its subject and is used as part of a sentence. Conjunctions : joins words or groups of words Examples: and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet Independent clauses : Also called a main clause: expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself as a sentence. Nonessential clauses : Also called nonrestrictive: adds information not necessary to the main idea in the sentence and is set off by commas Nonessential participial phrases : Consists of a participle and all of the words related to the participle Nodding his head, …. Florence Griffith Joyner, often called Flo Jo, … Participle: a verb form that is used as an adjective Waving, the campers boarded the bus Singing lessons Appositive : A noun or pronoun placed beside another noun or pronoun to identify or explain it. Appositive phrases : Consists of an appositive and its modifiers

3. P UNCTUATION CAN CHANGE THE ENTIRE MEANING OF A SENTENCE. A woman, without her man, is nothing. A woman: without her, man is nothing.

4. C OMMAS CAN MAKE PANDAS BEHAVE POORLY … 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 and, sure enough, finds an explanation…

5. “ Panda. Large black-and- white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

6. C OMMA R ULE #1 – U SE COMMAS TO SEPARATE ITEMS IN A SERIES. (29 F )

7. I HAVE MY BINDERS, MY PENS, MY PENCILS, AND MY I P OD IN MY BACKPACK.

8. C OMMA R ULE #2 – U SE COMMAS TO SEPARATE TWO OR MORE ADJECTIVES PRECEDING A NOUN. (29 G )

9. C OMMA R ULE #3 – U SE COMMAS BEFORE CONJUNCTIONS WHEN THEY JOIN INDEPENDENT CLAUSES. (29 H )

10. C OMMA R ULE #4 – U SE COMMAS TO SET OFF NONESSENTIAL CLAUSES AND NONESSENTIAL PARTICIPIAL PHRASES. (29 I )

11. C OMMA R ULE #5 – U SE COMMAS AFTER CERTAIN INTRODUCTORY ELEMENTS. (29 J )

12. C OMMA R ULE #6 – U SE COMMAS TO SET OFF ELEMENTS THAT INTERRUPT THE SENTENCE. (29 K )

13. C OMMA R ULE #7 – U SE COMMAS IN CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL SITUATIONS. (29 L )

14. *S UGGESTION – D O NOT USE UNNECESSARY COMMAS. W HEN IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT. T HIS DOES NOT GRANT YOU IMMUNITY FROM USING COMMAS CORRECTLY !

15. A SSIGNMENT Read through Elements of Writing beginning on page 846, and find examples of each comma rule. Write three. Find the exceptions to the rules. Write three.