Swarat Chaudhuri
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2004 9:01 am
Post subject: Comma before coordinating conjunctions |
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Greetings, everyone. Thank you for taking time to read and answer my
(lame) questions.
First, can someone point me to an official ("official") resource
discussing the use of the comma in compound sentences? I am
specifically interested in sentences that look like
"It was eleven at night and I had had nine beers since sundown."
In other words, sentences comprising two independent clauses. The
question is, do we need a comma before the "and"? Several lame-o
webpages seem to say the comma is indeed necessary, but I feel (1) it
would impede the flow of the writing, and (2) I remember authors who
have used such sentences with abandon. What positions do the style
manuals take on this matter?
Question two: is it ever permissible in creative writing to omit
commas in lists? Suppose I am writing in a "fast" voice, following a
stream of consciousness almost-- what are the ways in which the
following sentence is wrong:
"When I think of New York I think hustle bustle bumble, I think mad
taxi drivers and suits always on the go, I think starving art students
and infinite texture."
I would imagine that this could be acceptable in fiction but
unacceptable in non-fiction. Can anyone point to fiction writers who
have used such sentences?
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:30 pm
Post subject: Re: Comma before coordinating conjunctions |
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On 7 Sep 2004 20:01:09 -0700, Swarat Chaudhuri <swarat_c@lycos.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "It was eleven at night and I had had nine beers since sundown."
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That sentence is perfectly clear without a comma, though a comma after
"and" is acceptable. If you read it aloud and want to pause slightly
after the "and", add the comma.
| Quote: | What positions do the style manuals take on this matter?
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As you have no doubt discovered, you can find style manuals with
disparate rules, and each will claim authority.
| Quote: | Question two: is it ever permissible in creative writing to omit
commas in lists?
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In creative writing, you can omit anything you wish. If you want other
people to read and understand it, though, you will have to be more
careful with what you omit than if you were just writing in your
journal. And if you're writing for publication, your editor will
probably add anything you omitted. :)
| Quote: | "When I think of New York I think hustle bustle bumble, I think mad
taxi drivers and suits always on the go, I think starving art
students and infinite texture."
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That paints a pretty good picture.
| Quote: | I would imagine that this could be acceptable in fiction but
unacceptable in non-fiction.
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I think the above sentence would be fine in an autobiography or a
magazine article.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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