whats an apostrophe?

Question

my teacher asked me to say the significance of apostrophe in book, but she said it meant a side note not (') what does she mean?

Answer 1

As taken from Dictionary.com, the direct definition of an Apostrophe is:

Apostrophe - The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition.

Essentially, an Apostrophe is when the character or writer addresses something which cannot respond, such as an inanimate object. It's like high schoolers sitting in class telling the bell to ring to let them out -- they're speaking to an inanimate object as if it were alive.

An example of the Apostrophe:

"Apostrophe
A figure of speech wherein the speaker speaks directly to something nonhuman. In these lines from John Donne's poem "The Sun Rising" the poet scolds the sun for interrupting his nighttime activities:

Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through
windows, and through curtains call on us?"

Sources listed :)

Answer 2

1.
a·pos·tro·phe1 (ə-pŏs'trə-fē)
n.
The superscript sign (') used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations.

[French, from Late Latin apostrophus, from Greek apostrophos, from apostrephein, to turn away : apo-, apo- + strephein, to turn.]
2.
apostrophic ap'os·troph'ic (ăp'ə-strŏf'ĭk) adj.
a·pos·tro·phe2 (ə-pŏs'trə-fē)
n.
The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition.

[Late Latin apostrophē, from Greek, from apostrephein, to turn away. See apostrophe1.]

apostrophic ap'os·troph'ic (ăp'ə-strŏf'ĭk) adj.
3.
apostrophe, figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as though present. The term is derived from a Greek word meaning “a turning away,” and this sense is maintained when a narrative or dramatic thread is broken in order to digress by speaking directly to someone not there, e.g., “Envy, be silent and attend!”—Alexander Pope, “On a Certain Lady at Court.”

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4.
Grammar
Directory > Words > Grammar apostrophe (uh-pos-truh-fee)

A mark (') used with a noun or pronoun to indicate possession (“the student's comment,” “the people's choice”) or in a contraction to show where letters have been left out (isn't, don't,

5.
Poetry Glossary
Directory > Arts > Poetry Glossary Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which an address is made to an absent person or a personified thing rhetorically.

6.
Word Tutor
Directory > Words > Word Tutor apostrophe

IN BRIEF: A punctuation mark (') used to show that other letters have been left out. A punctuation mark used to show possessive form.

7.There is a link belom, Please consult thos as well.

Answer 3

It looks like a raised comma but it stands for exempt letters in a word.

Answer 4

the sign ('), as used: to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o'er for over, or pronounced, as in gov't for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in man's; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols. It is also used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations.

Answer 5

*maybe an astrisc by mistake *

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe_%28rhetoric%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetic_apostrophe

I don't know if this is exactly what she was looking for, but it might help.