Those of you who took the first course in
the specialization may remember that we devote a certain time each
week to learning how to more effectively use punctuation. We treat things like expertly
using commas and semicolons as a form of professionalism, particularly
when it comes to formal writing. If you'd like to review any of the topics we covered, simply click on
the links on the upcoming slide. Pay special attention to the one
on coordinating conjunctions because those conjunctions are what we are
going to continue to learn about today. We left off our discussion of coordinating
conjunctions with the following fact. Skilled writers regularly deviate from the
convention that you have two independent clauses connected by a
coordinating conjunction, a comma goes before
the coordinating conjunction. Here is an example. It comes from Rabbit Redux by John Updike, the person we said liked
the writing process so much, he would have created
labels on ketchup bottles if that had been the only
writing job he could get. The main character in the book, Harry
"Rabbit" Angstrom is explaining to his son what it's like to reach middle age and
come to grips with how what you think you can do athletically is a lot
different from what you can actually do. "It's a funny feeling... when you get old.
The brain sends out the order and the body looks the other way." According to the convention,
a comma should go before "and," but Updike leaves it out. Not because
he's ignorant and unprofessional. He is one of the most precise and
erudite writers of the 20th century. He leaves the comma out because he can. Conventions about punctuation are not
ironclad laws of the universe. You don't always have to follow them, particularly if you can show in
the surrounding sentences that you are exceptionally careful
with how you use language. Deliberate deviations
from convention are fine, so long as your readers know you
are in fact being deliberate. But accidental deviations, deviations
that leave people wondering whether you are even aware of the conventions, those are the ones we'll want to address.