Questions for Discussion and Journaling
Read “Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool” and answer the following questions.
1.
What conceptions about writing is Dawkins challenging?
2.
Dawkins claims that “manuals of style and college handbooks have it all wrong when it comes to punctuation” (para. 1). How so? Make a list of the things Dawkins says handbooks get wrong. (We’ll take the easy one: “Good writers don’t punctuate that way.”)
3.
Explain the principle of “raising and lowering.” What does it have to do with, and how does it impact, your choice of punctuation?
4.
Why does Dawkins call his way of thinking about punctuation rhetorical? You might return to Covino and Joliffe or Grant-Davie to help you with this question.
5.
What do you know about punctuation now that you didn’t know before reading Dawkins?
6.
How do you usually think about punctuation when you write—do you worry about it, fixate on it, or mostly ignore it? Has reading Dawkins done anything to change your thinking about it?