"Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire"; The second, silver, which this promise carries, "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves"; This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt, "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.” How shall I know if I do choose the right? If Portia. The one of them contains my picture, prince: you choose that, then I am yours withal. Morocco. Some god direct my judgment! see; I will survey the inscriptions back again. What says this leaden casket? Let me "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath." Must give: for what? for lead? hazard for lead? This casket threatens. Men that hazard all Do it in hope of fair advantages: A golden mind stoops not to show of dross; I'll then nor give nor hazard aught for lead. What says the silver with her virgin hue? "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves." And weigh thy value with an even hand: -Ibid. Morocco. Let's see once more this saying graved in gold; "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire." One of these three contains her heavenly picture. İs't like that lead contains her? "Twere damnation To think so base a thought: it were too gross To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. Was set in worse than gold. They have in England -Ibid., I, vii. CHAPTER XI PUNCTUATION They tell a story in Germany of the principal of a high school who entered a classroom when the teacher of English was giving a lesson in punctuation, and particularly on the use of the comma. The principal did not believe in this kind of instruction and told the teacher so, who, after the principal had gone, wrote these words on the blackboard: The teacher says the principal is a fool. When the principal saw the teacher again he was very angry and said, "What do you mean by calling me a fool?" and the principal wrote the sentence on the blackboard. The teacher replied, "Oh, yes, that's what I wrote; but you said, Mr. Principal, that commas didn't make any difference, so I paid no attention to them; but if you had not objected I should have written the sentence like this: The teacher, says the principal, is a fool!" From this little story one can learn how important even a comma may be. True, carelessness in the use of the comma will not always make as much difference as it did in the story, but if you are to interpret the printed page accurately you must bear in mind that those who write use marks of punctuation with great care, and their object is to help us get the meaning with as little effort as possible—at least as far as punctuation can help. Note, too, what a great difference the commas make in our vocal expression. It is not a question of pausing either, for whether you pause or not after "teacher" and after "principal," unless you see that the commas indicate that the phrase "says the principal" is subordinate you will give the wrong impression to your listener. Now read aloud these two sentences: Playing children are happy. Playing, children are happy. Here again you see how great a difference in the meaning is made by the comma, and how naturally your vocal expression changes according to the presence or absence of the comma. Another very interesting example is: I received another letter, from New York, yesterday. If you take out the commas, does it make any difference? If you think it does, then read the sentence aloud, showing two interpretations. That sentence is taken from a long correspondence between two firms, which threatened at one time to lead to a serious business complication. It would take too long to explain the circumstances, but as an exercise invent conditions. wherein the omission of the commas might make a great deal of trouble in certain business negotiations. The exercise is far more worth while than the simplicity of the task seems to indicate. In the next passage how great a difference is made in the sense and the vocal expression because of the commas: On this shelf put books and magazines published in 1910. On this shelf put books, and magazines published in 1910. Punctuation points are to assist the reader to understand the writer's meaning. In studying composition, students learn something of punctuation, but experience forces me to believe that most of them fall far short of mastering even the simplest principles. Consequently when it comes to interpreting the printed page, the punctuation is often ignored or entirely misunderstood. One overlooks the fact that writers, and especially those whose work is called literature, employ punctuation with greatest care and discrimination to overlook it is often to fail to get the meaning. INTERPRETATION OF THE COMMA In the introductory paragraphs I called your attention to the important part a comma could play in a simple sentence. Now note how the comma helps you to get the meaning rather more quickly and with greater certainty than you could if it were omitted. Punctuation points are frequently so used. To repeat: first, they prevent misinterpretation; secondly, they help us to get the interpretation more quickly. |