Mr. Incognito

The Setup

The prospect of beginning a unit or mini-unit on punctuation thrills few students. One entry point into this mundane topic is to show the kids how little they really understand the nature and function of punctuation.

The teacher begins class with this simple, direct question: "What punctuation mark is the most heavily used in English?" She then fields answers. Everyone will have one and most of them will pick the comma or period as their answer of choice.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, says the teacher, with growing mock-exasperation.

After the usual gang of suspects has been rounded up ó the comma, the period, the semicolon ó and disposed with, students move into the lesser-used marks.

"Quotation marks!" someone suddenly yells. The teacher rolls her eyes.

"Brackets!" "Yeah, right," the teacher responds with heavy sarcasm: "Brackets are used all the time. I'll bet I even used them today."

Soon the kids are out of guesses. They think they've been tricked. In a way, they have but not really.

The teacher gives a hint: "Think hard: it's on a computer keyboard."

More guesses (Tilde! Percent sign! Parentheses!) but no right answers.

Aha

Finally, a better clue: "It's the most obvious key on the keyboard."

Thinking, then: "The spacebar?" a student will say, hesitantly.

"Well, not the spaceBAR."

"The space!"

"That's right."

"But that's not a punctuation mark," a chorus of voices protest.

"Wanna bet," says the teacher. At this point she holds up a copy of an early New Testament manuscript. "This is how ancient classical writings were punctuated: with no spaces."

It astonishes students to realize spaces have not always been used.

Enrichment

At this point you might want to field a debate on whether or not capitalization qualifies as punctuation (it does). Ask students if a keyboard has a key dedicated for that purpose (it has two in most case: the Shift and the Caps lock).

You can further the discussion by asking students if they know of any new punctuation marks that have arisen in recent years. Many have, thanks to computers: the entire set of emoticons (those sideways combinations of existing marks that add up to a message. Example: ; ^ ) is a winking smiley face.) In fact, point out that the smiley face itself has become a new handwritten mark. Ask if any of them have a font that can do smiley faces. Now ask how the smiley is used (It has several uses. One is just to indicate an upbeat tone. Another is to indicate an ironic, or wry, tone.)

Finally, ask them if there is any gender preference to punctuation marks. Usually students will say that females are more apt to use exclamation points, and punctuation in general. Some males will brag that they don't use any.

The Aha! moment has reached its peak. Ask the students to try to define punctuation. Conclude by having them write down this definition: "Punctuation is the use of standard marks and signs in writing in order to clarify meaning." Make the following sub-points about this definition.

1. "Standard." Unless the marks are standardized, only a few would understand them. These standards are constantly evolving and subject to change.
2. "Signs." Capitalization is not a mark but it is a sign. Ask students whether the space is a mark or a sign. The answer is: it's both. But, it's an empty mark, much as in math one can have an empty set.
3. "In writing." Spoken language does not carry punctuation per se. It does, however, have punctuation equivalents in the form of nonverbal cues (raising voice, using hand gestures, etc.).
4. "In order to clarify meaning." Over-punctuating is just as improper as under-punctuating.

Presently English is undergoing a trend toward simplification in punctuation. Commas are now recommended to be used only when they clarify meaning. Semicolons are often not used at all because people generally distrust them. Internet chat and email usage is both simplifying usage and complicating it. Many emailers no longer capitalize, spell correctly, or use much punctuation at all. On the other hand, the use of emoticons and other cryptic devices (such as the use of initializations like ROFL for "rolling on the floor laughing") keep newbies wondering what is being communicated.

Followup

Give the kids an ungraded quiz. Each question requires them to tell how we presently punctuate the following:

1. Sarcasm (using quotation marks around a sarcastically stated word)
2. An interruption (usually with a dash or long dash --)
3. Trailing off (the ellipsis . . .)
4. Exceptions (usually an asterisk* with corresponding explanation at the bottom of the page)
5. Separation between minutes and seconds (the colon:, which also separates hours from minutes)
6. Volume (all capitals)
7. Increased volume (all capitals plus underlining)
8. Generic information which the reader will need to convert into specific data (the greater-than>, less-than signs<. Like this:
9. Siamese items, that is, two items brought together like a compound (the slash/, as in "The participant/fan is more involved than just one of the other.")
10. A change of scene, as in a book (usually just a blank line)

Activity Summary

1. Question and answer session concerning the Space.

2. Teacher-led discussion about the essense of what punctuation is.

3. Definition with explanation.

4. Ungraded quiz.