Do you think writing needs rules like punctuation?
Why or why not?
2007-12-30 10:59:42 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Primary & Secondary Education
"A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"'Why?' asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over this shoulder.
"'I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'
"The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'"
This was on the back of the book by Lynne Truss titled "Eats, Shoots & Leaves". It's a delightful book that explains why punctuation is so vital. It even tells of a war that was fought (not fictional!) because a comma was misplaced in a letter totally changing the meaning! There's also a comical example that first is a love letter, then with only the punctuation changed it becomes a break-up letter.
So you tell me, is proper punctuation important? I think so!
2007-12-30 11:18:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think there should be some punctuation to help convey the meaning/tone or whatever, (wasn't there that book called "Eats, shoots, and leaves?") but it shouldn't be the main point of writing.
There should also definately be some kind of standard (and logical) spellings of words so people can read more easily.
2007-12-30 11:35:59 · answer #2 · answered by !!! 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If your writing for other people and you want people do understand it, I think punctuation and grammar and everything are a good idea. But for writing creatively, rules are useless.
2007-12-30 11:31:38 · answer #3 · answered by Heather 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Centuries of experience with the written word have taught us that we need standards of punctuation to make the statement clear.
2007-12-30 11:10:12 · answer #4 · answered by hamrrfan 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well writing is not one of my strong subjects, but I believe it is vital to have rules to writing. Without rules, there is no thought in that. You can simply put ideas and random words together. You won't be able to read anything and understand it.
2007-12-30 11:04:33 · answer #5 · answered by Math Wizard 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
wedontneednostinkinrules
*****
Tina: great answer!
2007-12-30 11:10:41 · answer #6 · answered by argawarga 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋