do i put a comma between PASSAGES and SUCH AS?

Question

Passages such as “…to my God my heart did cry to strengthen me in my distress and not to leave me succorless” (Bradstreet line 5) illustrate that even though she dealt with pain at that particular time in her life, she still prayed for guidance.


should i change such as to like?

Answer 1

Actually, AlpineAlli has given you the only correct answer so far with an accurate grammatical reason.

The phrase introduced by "such as" is a restrictive modifier. Without it you would not know what kind of passages illustrate the point you are making about Bradstreet. The quotation does not just give you some additional information about the passages; it specifically identifies the kind of passages you mean.

Either "such as" or "like" would be grammatically accurate. (This is not using "like" instead of "as" as a subordinate conjunction. That's a different matter altogether.) However, I think that semantically "such as" is preferable. It indicates that the quoatation is an example of the kind of passages you are speaking of. "Like" would literally mean that you are referring to passages similar to this one.

Now, let me give you one other piece of advice as a long-time editor of critical essays like this one. You will do you reader a big favor if you do NOT include the quotation (and the parenthetical citation of a reference) in the middle of the sentence. It's not inaccurate, but it is a rather long, complex phrase separating the subject and the verb of the sentence. Something like this would be preferable: A number of passages in Bradstreet's poetry illustrate that, even though she dealt with pain at that particular time in her life, she still prayed for guidance; for example, ". . . to my God my heart did cry / To strengthen me in my distress / And not to leave me succorless." (Bradstreet line 5)

Or, perhaps even better: A number of passages in Bradstreet's poetry illustrate that, even though she dealt with pain at that particular time in her life, she still prayed for guidance. For example, in "The Burning of Our House," she avows, ". . . to my God my heart did cry / To strengthen me in my distress / And not to leave me succorless." (line 5)

Notice, too, the punctuation of the lines of poetry quoted within a prose passage. You should indicate line divisions and retain the capitalization from the original.

Answer 2

Passages, such as “…to my God my heart did cry to strengthen me in my distress and not to leave me succorless” (Bradstreet line 5), illustrate that even though she dealt with pain at that particular time in her life, she still prayed for guidance.

Add two commas to isolate the clause, such as how I did it above, to create a pausing/elaborting effect.

Answer 3

No comma--the comma would be appropriate if the sentence made sense without the "such as" part, but

Passages illustrate that ... doesn't make sense. The "such as" bit specifies the "passages", rather than adding extraneous information.

Answer 4

The phrase would read as:

Passages, such as, " . . . to my God my heart . . . "

Usually, a comma precedes a quoted phrase or sentence.

Here is additional information about the word 'as' and 'like.'

Like. Not to be used for the conjunction 'as.'

'Like' governs nouns and pronouns; before phrases and clauses the equivalent word is 'as.'

Here are some examples:

Wrong: We spent the evening like in the old days.
Right: We spent the evening as in the old days.
Wrong: Chloe smells good, like a baby should.
Right:Chloe smells good, as a baby should

For the student, perhaps the most useful thing to know about 'like' is that most carefully edited publications regard its use before phrases and clauses as simple error.

Answer 5

Guitarpicker56 gives you the only Correct answer to your question. But if your teacher does not know what is correct then you could probably slide by with what you have written. If it is for an English class then you'd better go with what he suggests otherwise; oh well...

Answer 6

No, leave it as is. It sounds more intelligent using 'such as ".

Answer 7

No comma.
Don't change.

Answer 8

~You can if you want to (as to both questions). You have my permission.

Answer 9

no comma
what for?

Answer 10

no u dont