Punctuating Essays and Letters

There are a few special points to be considered in writing essays, reports and articles, and in writing letters. We will consider these points here. There is in practice a good deal of variation in these matters, and the usages I recommend here are those which are common and generally acceptable. You may find, however, that your teacher, your university tutor, your business firm or your publisher insists upon some different usages from those I describe here.

If so, you should, of course, conform to those requirements. Note that printed books and popular magazines sometimes depart from the normal usages in order to make their pages look attractive or eye-catching; you should leave such decisions to designers and layout editors, and not try to imitate them yourself.



Copyright © Larry Trask, 1997

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