<p>Commas – used for indicating a division in a sentence as in setting off a clause, phrases, words; especially when accompanied by a slight pause</p><p>Ex: Grey, hooded, long-sleeved sweatshirt</p><p>Ex: Pretty, sad </p><p>Semi-colons - use it to connect complete clauses (can stand on its own – meaning it has a subject and verb) and to indicate a close relationship between the clauses</p><p>Use it in place of a period to separate two sentences where the ‘and’ ‘because’ ‘for’ ‘but’ etc. has been left out</p><p>Ex: "I like to eat cows; they don't like to be eaten by me."</p><p>Capitalization – use it to start a new sentence; use it for proper nouns, important events or names (like Industrial Revolution)</p><p>Proper Works – </p><p>Anything that is substantial enough to make a sound when dropped (think books, DVDs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc) are underlined. Anything that is lighter in weight (think articles from magazines, short stories, poems, episodes from movies, etc) get “quotation” marks around the title. (It's the big and little trick. Big things and things that can stand on their own, like books, are underlined. Little things that are dependent or that come as part of a group, like chapters, are put into quotation marks.)</p><p>Don’t forget to properly capitalize the titles, as well. This is important, too. </p><p>Periods, Question Marks – </p><p>Periods: Always used at the end of a sentence</p><p>**Should be put inside a direct quote when the quote you are using incorporated into a full sentence: Ex: The sign changed from "Walk," to "Don't Walk," to "Walk" again within 30 seconds. She said, "Hurry up." She said, "He said, 'Hurry up.'"</p><p>**Question marks: The placement of question marks with quotes follows logic. If a question is in quotation marks, the question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks. Examples: She asked, "Will you still be my friend?"</p><p>Do you agree with the saying, "All's fair in love and war"? Here the question is outside the quote.</p><p>NOTE: Only one ending punctuation mark is used with quotation marks. Also, the stronger punctuation mark wins. Therefore, no period after war is used.</p><p>**Do not use quotation marks with quoted material that is more than three lines in length. This is important for your Junior Research Projects…in this case, you need to use a colon. Use the colon to introduce a direct quotation that is more than three lines in length. In this situation, leave a blank line above and below the quoted material. Single space the long quotation. Some style manuals say to indent one-half inch on both the left and right margins; others say to indent only on the left margin. Quotation marks are not used. Example: </p><p>The author of Touched, Jane Straus, wrote in the first chapter:</p><p>Georgia went back to her bed and stared at the intricate patterns of burned moth wings in the translucent glass of the overhead light. Her father was in “hyper mode” again where nothing could calm him down.</p><p>He’d been talking nonstop for a week about remodeling projects, following her around the house as she tried to escape his chatter. He was just about to crash, she knew.</p>