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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

The Writing Center College Hour Workshop Series presents "Myths and Mysteries of Punctuation: Quotation Marks, Dashes, and Ellipses"


Wednesday, October 29, 2008
12:00 – 12:45 p.m.
Brighton Campus
Room 9-128

Presenter:  Patrick Callan, English/Philosophy

Damon Campus
Room 4057
Presenter:  Matthew Fox, Transitional Studies

Have you ever been writing a report, an essay, or a short story and wondered, “Should I or shouldn’t I use quotation marks here?”  Are you totally clear about whether or not quotation marks are used only for direct quotations, or are they sometimes used for indirect ones too?  Do you know, for sure, or do you sometimes feel you are guessing at whether quotation marks belong inside or outside commas, periods, or other punctuation marks?  Have you ever been uncertain about whether you should – or shouldn’t –- use a dash in a sentence, and spent a while rewriting your sentence to avoid having to find out?  What do you do if you want to end your sentence, your story, or your essay with an ellipsis, but you think it looks weird and you’re just not sure?

Through a mini-presentation and hands-on workshop, attendees will examine these mysterious, misunderstood, and misused forms of punctuation, and will gain clarity, confidence, and command of them in their writing.  Hope to see you there!

 Mission Statement

The Writing Center’s purpose is to guide students through the writing process and to provide support for faculty who assign written work.  Tutoring sessions at the Center are interactive discussions that encourage students to make informed decisions about their writing.  The outcome of tutoring should be that the writer, not necessarily a specific piece of writing, will be changed.  Tutors will not write, re-write, or line-edit any portion of a student’s paper. Rather, they will assist with pre-writing, drafting, researching, revising, and editing.  Most importantly, the Center aims to build students’ confidence and improve their writing skills.

Patricia Kennedy, Director
Academic Support Services
10/27/2008