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n(U.S.)
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nIt’sna day to comment on commas, exaggerate! with exclamation points, andnsmile (with… semi-satisfaction) over semi-colons. It’s a day to question quotation marks and–quite possibly–quote some great questions.
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nPunctuationnexists to help readers understand whatever they are trying to read.nThe help us quickly understand ideas below the level of written ornprinted words. To get an idea of how much harder it might be to readnif there were no such thing as punctuation, check out this paragraph:
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nnDid you get the signature you need tongo on the field trip the teacher asked Karen Yes I did Okay I neednthe paper to turn in with the school principal Okay Wait I cant findnit Oh dear the teacher said Look again if you cant find it you wontnbe able to go I would hate to leave you behind Karen took everythingnout of her backpack and even looked through her textbooks andnnotebook She couldnt find the signed permission slip anywhere She wasnvery upset She wished shed listened a little bit better her mom who was always telling her to keep track of her stuff and to be more organized n
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nCelebrate!nn
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nnToday you have a great excuse to addnfrosting, raisins, berries, chocolate chips, nuts, or other sweetngoodness to your food – in the form of punctuation marks, ofncourse! Make cupcakes or cookies, and decorate each with a differentnpunctuation mark. Or how about pancakes with blueberry punctuationnmarks?
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nFor dinner, make it a pepperoni punctuation pizza!
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nLearn or practice!
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nnHere is a website dedicated tonteaching how to use punctuation marks.
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nWhatndo you think?
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nnWith texting and speedy writing onninternet-based websites such as Facebook, Google Plus, and blogncomments, people are using less and less punctuation. Some peoplendeliberately skip using apostrophes and quotation marks while textingnor writing comments on Facebook because they accidentally hit “Enter”nwhile trying to use those nearby keys or buttons. Even in morenprofessional writing that is edited and published, such as newspapernor magazine articles and books, there is a move to streamlining textnand using less punctuation.
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nnIs this a good thing? What do younthink?
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nnHere is the website of thenNational Punctuation Day people.
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