Punctuation is the set of non-alphabetical markings – including commas, colons, semi-colons, dashes, hyphens, apostrophes, quotation marks, and so forth – that aid grammar.

Commas: Not as a rule, but often commas should come in the places you stop to breathe when you read your prose aloud.

• When the theatres were closed [pause], Shakespeare turned from drama to verse. 

More importantly, you must learn and follow the rules of comma usage, which also means knowing when not to use commas.

Commas for Modification: For an independent clause, one (like this one) that clarifies meaning but can be dropped without disrupting the main sense of the sentence, use a pair of commas on either side (e.g., it would be possible to read, For an independent clause … use a pair of commas on either side). The first comma indicates the beginning of the modification, and the second indicates the end.

• Shakespeare, who did not receive a rigorous university training, surpassed all the “university wits.”

Commas for Compound Sentences: Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction to connect two independent clauses. Use commas for compound sentences, but not necessarily for complex sentences.

• Spenser was a poet of manners, but Milton was a poet of God.
• Spenser and Milton were both great poets.

Commas for Introductory Phrases: Use a comma to set off introductory phrases (usually prepositional, participial, or infinitive phrases), except when the introductory phrase is three words or less.

• Of all the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales, the Monk is my favorite.
• In the Tales Chaucer created a microcosm of English society.

Commas for Lists: Use a comma to separate three or more items in a simple series, including the last two items.

• Ben Jonson was a poet, playwright, critic, and courtier.

No Commas: Never use only one comma between a subject and its verb. Don't put a comma between the two nouns in a compound subject, nor the two verbs in a compound predicate, nor the two nouns in a compound object. Do not use commas to set off a dependent clause that is needed in order for the sentence to make sense (e.g. there is no comma in the current sentence after clause because that is needed for the sentence to make sense is a dependent clause). Usually there should not be a comma before the word “because.”

Semi-colons: Semi-colons should separate two independent clauses, i.e. either side of the semi-colon could be a complete sentence. Using a semicolon instead of a period signals a close relationship between the two complete but connected clauses. It is not correct to use a semicolon to separate an independent and dependent clause.

• Spenser’s career is modeled on Virgil’s; both moved from pastoral to epic.

Semi-Colons for Lists within Lists: Use semi-colons to separate lists within lists. Make sure all items in a series are of the same kind.

• John Milton wrote works of poetry, like Lycidas, Paradise Lost, and Paradise Regain’d; works of drama, like Comus and Samson Agonistes; and works of prose, like Of Education, Eikonoklastes, and The Readie and Easie Way.

Colons: Colons separate an independent clause from another clause (usually a dependent clause) that illustrates, extends, or amplifies the independent clause. That is, what comes before the colon should always be a complete sentence; what comes after the colon can be a fragment.

• The English canon is centered on four authors: Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton.

Dashes: A dash can be used as a hard comma, to subordinate a series of clauses or a complete sentence. It is not a rule, but I only use dashes in pairs, the first dash marking a break in the sentence – for digression, clarification, or amplification – the second marking the resumption of the sentence.

• Shakespeare’s plays – whether comedy, tragedy, history, or romance – are all funny in each its own way.

Hyphens: Hyphenate adjectival compounds. If the word “and” can be inserted between the adjectives in a compound, do not hyphenate; use a comma to separate them.

• Marlowe’s atheism is a well-known aspect of his biography.
• Marlowe’s atheism is well known.
• Marlowe’s atheism is an old, cherished aspect of his biography.

Apostrophes for Possession: To form the possessive of a singular noun, add ‘s.

• Hamlet sees his father’s ghost.

To form the possessive of a plural noun ending in s, add only an apostrophe.

• Hamlet does not foresee his actions’ consequences.

To form the possessive of an irregular plural noun that does not end in s, add ‘s.

• Polonius dominates his children’s lives.

To form the possessive of any singular proper noun (a name), add ‘s even if the name ends in s.

• Fortinbras’s army marches to Denmark.

To form the possessive of a plural proper noun (a name), add only an apostrophe.

• Shakespeare bookends the play with the Hamlets’ deaths.

Don’t use apostrophes on possessive pronouns.

• The English crown is greater than it’s its owner.

Capitalization: Don’t capitalize willy-nilly just because a concept is important (e.g. don’t capitalize words like truth or phrases like the modern age).

Italics: Italics and underlining mean the same thing, but most styles now prefer italics.

Italics for Titles: Use Italics for titles.

• Shakespeare wrote As You Like It before The Tempest.

Italics for Foreign Words: Use italics for foreign words.

• Milton’s verse is revered for a certain je ne sais quoi.

Italics for Terminology: Use italics to signal the introduction of a new term (which should then probably be defined). Once a term is defined, it is not placed in italics anymore.

• Spenser composed The Faerie Qveene with what I shall call a poetics of imperfection.

Italics for Emphasis: It is now somewhat passé, but you can use italics to indicate importance.

• Perhaps we should recognize that there are no normals.

Reverse Italics: In titles, words that would usually be italicized should be unitalicized.

• See Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Modern Culture.

Quotes for Shorter Titles: Use quotes for a short poem, i.e. one not printed in a separate volume (e.g. George Herbert’s poem “Mortification” is in his collection The Temple); a short story (e.g. Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”); an article or essay (e.g. Stanley Fish’s essay “Interpreting the Variorum” is in his book Is there a Text in This Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities); a song title (e.g. Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row” is on his album Highway 61 Revisited); and an episode of a television or radio show (e.g. the episode of The Simpsons titled “Bart the Daredevil”).

Scare Quotes: Use quotation marks to indicate that someone is using a term inappropriately or that a term is up for debate.

• Who exactly is included in “us normals,” to use Gofman’s term?