Chapter Summary
Although the period and comma are the most frequently used marks of punctuation, other marks of punctuation have a purpose in sentence structure as well. These marks add variety and clarity to your sentences.

The rules for these other punctuation marks—the semicolon, the colon, the quotation mark, the apostrophe, the hyphen, and the dash—provide consistency and standardization in their use.

Other less frequently used marks of punctuation include italics (highlight words or identify titles of published material), ellipsis marks (indicate omissions), and asterisks (refer to footnotes or explanations). Brackets, which are used when parentheses are already present in a sentence or when an error is made by the person quoted, are seldom used in business writing.

Online Links

Communication Web Sites

Test Your Knowledge of Human Communication
http://www.cios.org/www/testme.htm

Western States Communication Association
http://www.csufresno.edu/comm/wscalink.htm

Presentations.com
http://www.presentations.com/

T + D (Training and Development) Magazine
http://www.astd.org/virtual_community/td_magazine/

Public Relations Society of America
http://www.prsa.org/

Society for Technical Communication
http://www.stc.org/

The Plain English Network
http://www.plainlanguage.gov/

Toastmasters International
http://www.toastmasters.org/

E-write
http://www.ewriteonline.com/test.html

Bonus Exercise

Objective: Use semicolons correctly.

1. Click on the communication sites above and search for an article discussing nonverbal communications. Print the article.
2. Working from the printout, choose two paragraphs and underline the semicolons. Above the semicolons, identify the reasons for the semicolon. Use the following codes:

• Ind (independent clauses not joined by a conjunction)
• Conj Adv (two clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb)
• E (before introductory expressions that introduce explanations, enumerations, or examples)
• S (separate items in a series if any of the items already contain commas)

3. Write a paragraph describing how you use nonverbal clues in interpreting communication. Use punctuation correctly.

eFlashcards
Review chapter terms and definitions with eFlashcards.

Crossword Puzzle
Sharpen your knowledge of chapter terms and concepts with an interactive crossword.

Practice Test
Test your understanding of the chapter material with a self-scoring Practice Test.

The interactive activities above require the Macromedia Shockwave plug-in for your browser. If you do not have this feature, you can download it now.

Back to Top