Commas Yay!
Okay another punctuation mark that I continually botch is the comma.
So now I meditate on MLA's use of the comma.
3.2.2. Commas
a. Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, or yet) joining independent clauses in a sentence.
Congress passed the bill, and the president signed it into law.
The poem is ironic, for the poet’s meaning contrasts with her words.
But the comma may be omitted when the sentence is short and the connection between the clauses is not open to misreading if unpunctuated.
Wallace sings and Armstrong plays cornet.
b. Use commas to separate words, phrases, and clauses in a series.
Words
Boccaccio’s tales have inspired plays, films, operas, and paintings.
Phrases
Alfred the Great established a system of fortified towns, reorganized the military forces, and built a fleet of warships.
Clauses
In the Great Depression, millions lost their jobs, businesses failed, and charitable institutions closed their doors.
But use semicolons when items in a series have internal commas.
Pollsters focused their efforts on Columbus, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; and Saint Louis, Missouri.
Critics praise the novel’s unaffected, unadorned style. (The adjectives unaffected and unadorned each modify style.)
A famous photo shows Marianne Moore in a black tricornered hat. (The adjective black modifies tricornered hat.)
d. Use commas to set off a parenthetical comment, or an aside, if it is brief and closely related to the rest of the sentence.
The Tudors, for example, ruled for over a century.
e. Use commas to set off a nonrestrictive modifier—that is, a modifier that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. A nonrestrictive modifier, unlike a restrictive one, could be dropped without changing the main sense of the sentence. Modifiers in the following three categories are either nonrestrictive or restrictive.
Clauses That Begin with Who, Whom, Whose, Which, and That
c. Use a comma between coordinate adjectives—that is, adjectives that separately modify the same noun.
Critics praise the novel’s unaffected, unadorned style. (The adjectives unaffected and unadorned each modify style.)
A famous photo shows Marianne Moore in a black tricornered hat. (The adjective black modifies tricornered hat.)
d. Use commas to set off a parenthetical comment, or an aside, if it is brief and closely related to the rest of the sentence.
The Tudors, for example, ruled for over a century.
e. Use commas to set off a nonrestrictive modifier—that is, a modifier that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. A nonrestrictive modifier, unlike a restrictive one, could be dropped without changing the main sense of the sentence. Modifiers in the following three categories are either nonrestrictive or restrictive.
Words in Apposition
Nonrestrictive
Isabel Allende, the Chilean novelist, will appear at the arts forum tonight.
The theme song of the campaign, “Happy Days Are Here Again,” is indelibly associated with the Great Depression.
The Crying Lot of 49, Pynchon's shortest novel, was published in 1965.
Pynchon's shortest novel The Crying Lot of 49 was published in 1965.
The color of the costume, blue, acquires symbolic meaning in the story.
The theme song of the campaign, “Happy Days Are Here Again,” is indelibly associated with the Great Depression.
The Crying Lot of 49, Pynchon's shortest novel, was published in 1965.
Restrictive
The Chilean novelist Isabel Allende will appear at the arts forum tonight.
The campaign song “Happy Days Are Here Again” is indelibly associated with the Great Depression.
The color blue acquires symbolic meaning in the story.
The campaign song “Happy Days Are Here Again” is indelibly associated with the Great Depression.
Clauses That Begin with Who, Whom, Whose, Which, and That
Nonrestrictive
Scientists, who must observe standards of objectivity in their work, can contribute usefully to public-policy debates.
Restrictive
Scientists who receive the Nobel Prize sometimes contribute usefully to public-policy debates.
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