Resource of the Week #144: A Handout on Punctuation

Hello again. Recently, while working on a project, I found a good handout on punctuation. This handout, which is from the Utah Valley University Writing Center, will be our current Resource of the Week.

Titled “Basic Punctuation”, this 4-page handout has a part on each main punctuation mark. It thus discusses commas, periods, question marks, exclamation points, semicolons, colons, hyphens, dashes, apostrophes, quotation marks, and parentheses.

For each punctuation mark, the handout lists proper uses. To help readers avoid common errors, sometimes the handout also says what not to do.

Almost every point is followed by one or more examples showing proper use of the punctuation. Some of the examples are slightly humorous.

The English in this handout is easy to read. In addition, the page design makes the content easy to follow.

The use of punctuation marks differs somewhat between countries—and sometimes even between publications in the same country. However, most of the advice in this handout is widely applicable.

If you’d like a quick review of punctuation, I recommend this handout. I also recommend sharing this handout with students or colleagues who might find it helpful.

Until the next post—

Barbara