Punctuation, Mechanics, and Usage

When used correctly, punctuation and mechanics can help to make writing clear and readable. At the very least, poor usage makes the writer appear unprofessional; at worst, it impedes meaning. This  workshop addresses all the most troubling marks of punctuation and mechanics, including the appropriate use of the comma in a wide variety of sentence constructions. Offer all the topics below in a one-day interactive seminar, or choose from among these topics for a shorter session.

• When is it appropriate to use a comma before and?
• When can commas be used with conjunctions such as however, furthermore, and also?
• When do we use a comma with dates? With month-day-year dates? With day-month-year dates?
• When do we use commas to separate more than one adjective modifying the same noun?
• How do we know when to place commas around dependent clauses, including those that begin with which and that?
• When do commas help prevent a misreading?
• How should we punctuate with quotation marks and parentheses?
• How do we punctuate and capitalize the items in vertical lists?
• Does a colon always have to precede a vertical list?
• How do a hyphen, an en dash, and an em dash differ?
• Italics, underscoring, quotation marks—which should we use when citing reports, book titles, newspapers, articles, or songs?
• How do we use apostrophes correctly, especially with words ending in s, x, ch, sh, and z?
• Are semicolons more like commas or periods?
• How do colons differ from semicolons?
• What are ellipses and how are they used?