Punctuation: An Overlooked Subject

Even though society continues to change, it is essential to modify punctuation and its rules in order for the changing English language to convey the user's meaning in a coherent and distinct manner.

As society evolves in a similar fashion to the advancement in technology and communication, it is important to note that the punctuation rules that influence the reader's interpretations of a text will always remain important whether it be in past literary works or current literary works. In the cartoons, two identical sentences represent two utterly contrasting meanings (Source G). As shown, one little modification to the punctuation in a common declarative sentence disproportionately changes the author's original intent. From texts to statuses to articles, the rules of punctuation play a great role in a reader's interpretation of meaning. In Dolnick's article, Kurt Vonnegut accuses semicolons of "representing absolutely nothing;" however, they actually connect separate but complementary clauses together. In addition, Dolnick asserts that they are "vital tools in keeping ... the stream of thought" by communicating a meaning through an organized structure rather than a long list of vague, enigmatic statements (Source E). Dolnick did not realize that the rules had changed since the time that Vonnegut made that statement. From its original use as an unnecessary and optional punctuation mark, the semi-colon has evolved to have a meaning on its own; in fact, the usage of punctuation reveals the author's intentions in the text. Although rules are important in our world today, they will always change as man finds new rules and punctuation marks to accommodate his needs. Furthermore, rules establish a common ground for both the author and reader in order to comprehend the text. The world has evolved its communicative technology to include text messages, Facebook statuses, and Twitter tweets; tweets themselves are literary works that use punctuation to convey the user's meaning. With a 140 character limit,  "users are forced to be concise" (source F); consequently, users have developed a new method and rule that will allow them to convey the essence of their tweets in quick, succinct words: hash-tags. Although Twitter users may not  frequently use conventional punctuation marks like periods and semicolons in their tweets, they certainly use hash-tags (#) to provide a concise expansion of the author's thoughts. Just like how technology will always change from the old, inefficient wagons to the current, updated Lamborghini's, punctuation will always change to fit humankind's needs