BY NICHOLAS BRANDT
National Punctuation Day, the not-so well-known day every September where Americans celebrate the underappreciated parts of the English language: the ones that we use on a daily basis in every single sentence without even realizing it. Last week, English teachers at WCHS celebrated by wearing shirts dedicated to the promotion of proper usage of said punctuation marks.
“Using commas as periods bothers me immensely.” –Sarah Sanford
“I despise comma splices.” –Thomas Hyun
“Too many to write! But one is using a comma before “however” instead of a semi-colon.” –Lia Brugger
“Apostrophes—apostrophes everywhere.” –Amanda Vivas
“Should of instead of should have!” –Lucie Pelleriti
“One of my punctuation pet peeves is the use of the word “mines” to indicate that something belongs to you.” –Kim Whitten
“IT’S annoying when YOU’RE not using YOUR apostrophe in ITS place.” — Lisa Wong
Much like Pi Day for math teachers on March 14 to show the significance of circles and Mole Day on Oct. 23 to represent the ratio from moles to molecules, National Punctuation Day is when English teachers promote the importance of something pertaining to their subject every Sept. 24.
As the only current copy editor of Newsbytes Online, my biggest concern for posting stories is the proper style used for each article. Without such precautions taken from not only myself, but the rest of the staff as well, most stories on the website wouldn’t be as clear and easy to read as they are now. As redundant and boring as it sounds, I believe punctuation usage can make documents seem more professional and well-written even if the original work isn’t exactly as great as it was planned to be. It doesn’t seem as important at first, but if one considers that it helps organize letters of recommendation, official government documents, important emails, and more, the simplest of things can make all the difference.
With that, it is crucial to remember one thing: before you send in that report, letter, assignment, or anything else, double checking those periods and commas wouldn’t be a bad idea.
