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Purdue OWL News
July 13, 2001

Welcome to the Purdue OWL News!

This is a weekly newsletter written by the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) staff that offers writing help and advice, and updates on what's new at Purdue's OWL and in the Purdue Writing Lab. We've relocated from Listbot to Topica, and we'd like to welcome all of our new and returning members.

Writing Question of the Week

Here's our writing question of the week, brought to you by the Online Writing Lab tutors at the Writing Lab. You can email the tutors at this form.

What are the grammatical rules that govern use of colons, semi-colons and commas? This is something that I always find myself guessing whenever I write. Can you help clarify this for me? Thanks.

This is a great question!. While we can't cover every single way to use commas, semi-colons, or colons due to space restrictions, we'll try to cover some of the more common rules in our answer.

Colons are used in the following situations:

In order to introduce one or more directly related ideas that follow a complete statement, such as a series of directions, a list, or a quotation or other comment illustrating or explaining the statement made in the preceding clause. (Example: The daily newspaper contains four sections: news, sports, entertainment, and classified ads.)

In a business letter greeting. (Example: Dear Dr. Harris: )

Between the hour and minutes in time notation. (Example: 8:30 p.m.)

Between chapter and verse in Biblical references. (Example: Genesis 1:18).

Semi-colons are used in the following situations:

to join related independent clauses into a single sentence. An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought; essentially, an independent clause is a sentence. (Example: I like this class; it is very interesting.).

To separate items in a series if the elements of the series already include commas. (Example: Members of the band include Harold Rostein, clarinetist; Tony Aluppo, tuba player; and Lee Jefferson, trumpeter.)

Commas are used in the following situations:

To separate independent clauses when they are joined by and, but, for, or, nor, so, or yet. (Example: The game was over, but the crowd refused to leave.)

After introductory dependent clauses, phrases, or words that come before the main clause. (Examples: While I was eating, the cat scratched at the door. A beautiful tabby, Zuzu was my favorite cat. However, he had a bad habit of scratching the sofa.)

To set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. These non-essential clauses, phrases, or words are also called appositives. (Example: That Tuesday, which happens to be my birthday, is the only day when I am available to meet.)

To separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series. (Example: The candidate promised to lower taxes, protect the environment, reduce crime, and end unemployment.)

To separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. (He was a difficult, stubborn child.)

To set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names. (Example: July 22, 1959, was a momentous day in his life.)

To shift between the main discourse and a quotation. (Example: "I was able," she answered, "to complete the assignment.")

Hopefully, those guidelines will prove helpful to you. We also have some handouts on OWL related to using colons, semi-colons, and commas.

Brief Overview of Punctuation: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_overvw.html

Using Commas: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_comma.html

Commas vs. Semi-colons: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commacomp.html

Commas with Essential and Non-essential Elements: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commaess.html

Proofreading for Commas: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commaproof.html

The OWL Help Nest

Many of our readers write to us with questions or requests for help with their writing. Readers also write to us with suggestions about how to help people learn more about writing. In this section of the newsletter, wešll try to bring together both the people looking for help and the people who can help them.

Each week wešll publish a request for advice or information. If you have information or advice about this topic, please write to us at owlnews@owl.english.purdue.edu. Please let us know if you want us to include your name and/or your email address when we publish your information or advice. The following week, wešll publish the best information and advice that we receive in the newsletter.

Our previous question was: What are some of your favorite ways to get started when you sit down to write? Do you have any good ideas for how to start brainstorming or to get inspired when there don't seem to be any ideas left in your head?

Ljudmila Hribar writes, "This is the way I think I taught a workmate: She was always asking me to help her with writing emails, and I used to sit beside her trying to help. Since I am better at typing I also typed. Once I sat down at the keyboard and decided to convince her she knew how to write but did not have enough confidence in her abilities. I wrote every single word she was saying me she wanted to tell her friend..... and the result was a wonderfully spontaneous letter. I convinced her that you have to write as if you were talking to the one at the other side. "

Thanks, Ljudmila! We also have some OWL handouts on starting to write at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_plan2.html and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_plan3.html

Our next question is: I'm teaching my first web-based composition class this fall. Does any one have any favorite writing links or resources for teaching online composition that they could recommend?

What's Happening On OWL

OWL Eye On... Our Updated Professional Writing Section

Our business writing staff has been working diligently all summer on revising some of our older professional writing handouts and on creating new handouts. We're pleased to announce that their hard work is now available on OWL. Kudos to all of them!

New handouts in the professional writing section:

Tailoring Your Resume for a Management Position: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_manresumes.html

Parallel Structure in Professional Writing: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_parallel.html

Tailoring Employment Documents For a Specific Audience: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_audiencetailor.html

Higher Order Concerns (HOCs) and Later Order Concerns (LOCs) for Business Writing: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_hocloc.html

Tone in Business Writing: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_tone.html

Revised handouts in the professional writing section (many of which include all-new content and examples):

Your Resume: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_yresindex.html

Sections of the Resume: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/sections/index.html

Letters Concerning Employment: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_letemploy.html

Reference Sheets: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_reference.html

Sample and Model Letters: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/#samples

Under Construction on OWL

Work continues on creating printer-friendly versions of our handouts. We'll be making both HTML and Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) versions of our handouts available starting this fall.

We're also adding more graphics to our handouts. Look for illustrated versions of our preposition handouts in the next few weeks.

Also, in response to popular demand, we are working on a handout related to writing email in the workplace. Stay tuned!

What's Happening In the Writing Lab

OWL Eye on ... Preparing for the Fall

As the start of another academic year creeps ever closer, we'd like to take this opportunity to remind teachers and students at Purdue of the many ways in which the Writing Lab can help you out.

For teachers planning their classes, we offer bookmarks and brochures with information about the Writing Lab and OWL. We'd be glad to give you as many as you'd like to distribute to your students. We also have many handouts on various writing topics that we can give you to distribute to your students. You can sign up to bring your students in for a tour of the Writing Lab, too! We also have our PowerPoint presentations available on CD-ROM for you to check out.

For students, we also have bookmarks, handouts, pencils, and handouts, plus reference books, software to help you study English, and a whole staff of tutors that will help you with any writing that you're working on.

Stop by and visit us! We're always glad to see you.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading our newsletter, and please email us any suggestions you might have! We really enjoy hearing from our readers. You can mail us at any time at owlnews@owl.english.purdue.edu. You can also email the OWL coordinator, Geoff Stacks, at coordinator@owl.english.purdue.edu and the webmaster, Erin Karper, at webmaster@owl.english.purdue.edu. (Erin and Geoff take turns writing the newsletter.)

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