Re: GEN: commas and quotations marks

[Jackie Church <WstWdMac@AOL.COM>]

Joni -

I don't think punctuation rules are ever "out-of-date."
( If I used an exclamation mark above, it should read like this:
"out-of-date"!  Explanation to follow. )
There may be some relaxing of rules for informal on-line communications such
as a listserv ;-)

When I was the publications director at a university, the news editor and I
would occasionally have to "fight the good fight" for AP style versus some of
the professors' MLA style, so I'm familiar with some of the differences.

As far as your concern about the punctuation going  inside or outside of
quotation marks, they go inside almost exclusively, except for a question or
exclamation mark that refers to the sentence as a whole and not the quoted
phrase.
For example:
Who was it that said, "I shall return"?
The  question mark (or an exclamation mark) goes outside  the quote marks
when it has nothing to do with the quotation, like above.
Semi-colons and colons are always placed outside, unless they are part of the
quote (unlikely situation).
But yes, the comma goes inside the quotation marks, just like a period.

This is what I was taught all through elementary school and through grad
school, in all the Macmillan and HB/HBJ and whoever-else's texts, including
my MLA guide from a couple of years back.   Can you put your hands on the
language or grammar texts being used in the school to see what they say?
(There have been some articles written about how some textbooks have
incorrect information in them, so you may want to check & collect a few used
in your school system. It might also be a good idea to have some higher-level
English grammar texts in your professional collection, so teachers will have
access to what will be taught in higher grades. You might even find a
discrepancy in rules there!)

Comma-use side note: The only issue we had to argue with AP style at the
university was the lack of a comma before the final "and"  in a series, such
as:  Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice were doing research in the library.  (Versus
the professors insistence that it be "Bob, Carol, Ted, and Alice" which was
MLA style.) The comma was dropped in AP style because the commas take the
place of the "and" in a series, unless the series was so complex that a final
comma was needed for clarity, such as: "The teams chosen were John and
Marsha, Ralph and Alice, and Bill and Hillary." (comma necessary after Alice.)

Hope this helps support your position!
Jackie

Jacqueline Church
MLS grad student  - Southern Conn State Univ.
Also, former elem reading tutor & univ. publications director
with secondary English certification
wstwdmac@aol.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to:
listserv@listserv.syr.edu   In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
4) SET LM_NET MAIL  * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.html
 See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors:
    http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=