The Best Punctuation Book: A Comprehensive Guide for Every Writer, Editor, Student, and Businessperson, Period by June Casagrande is essential for anyone interested in either professional or academic writing.
It is not meant only for those in academics. Anyone who has to do any writing for their profession or hobby can find it useful.
Nonetheless, if you are a university student in the process of writing your research paper or thesis, you will find the book handy. The book is a definitive guide on how to use just about every punctuation mark commonly used in academic writing.
Its value lies in its versatility and meticulousness. In this book review, we will discuss why we like the book, how you can benefit from it, and how to use it.
Taking all styles into account
The book is thorough and written in a manner accessible for both the beginning scholar. More than that, the author understands just how bewildering punctuation usage can be, especially considering the specificities and subtleties of style.
Reading the book reminds us of exactly the difficulty and confusion that beginning or even experienced scholars face when dealing with punctuation. These difficulties are compounded when we consider that many scholars use English as a second or even third language.
The book explains various punctuation rules in three different styles for its punctuation rules:
The book-editing style (B)
News media and business writing style (N)
Science style (S)
and the Academic style (A)
The book-editing style is recommended for authors who deal in fiction, nonfiction, and popular magazines. It relies heavily on the Chicago Manual of Style or CMoS. The news media and business writing style relies on the style implemented by the Associate Press Stylebook and Webster’s New World College Dictionary.
By contrast, the science style follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Lastly, the academic style is recommended for college papers and articles and is based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
How the Best Punctuation Book is structured
The book, as we mentioned earlier, covers almost every punctuation mark and takes care to delineate the differences between the four various styles that it outlines. In addition to this, the book is divided into two main sections. The first is called “Part 1. Guidelines.” The second is called “Part II Punctuation A to Z.”
Part I includes an exhaustive list of common punctuation marks used in writing. On the other hand, Part II serves as a kind of glossary and reference section.
Here is an example of how it does so. The following is an entry describing the use of commas:
(B) (S) (A) When the final item in the series of words or phrases is preceded by a coordinating conjunction, especially and, insert a serial comma before the conjunction.
They play football, basketball, and soccer.
(N) When the final item in the series of words or phrases is preceded by a coordinating conjunction, especially and, do not insert a serial comma before the conjunction.
They play football, basketball and soccer.
Example 1. Using a serial comma.
This entry shows how the author clearly describes differences in the usage of the serial comma between styles B, S, and A and N with clear examples. Here is another example regarding the spacing of em dashes:
(B) (S) (A) Do not use a space on either side of the em dash
This way she talks—like she’s giving a lecture—it’s insufferable.
(N) Place one space on either side of the em dash.
This way she talks — like she’s giving a lecture — it’s insufferable.
Example 2. Em dash spacing.
Most writers would be unaware that there’s a difference between how one should space em dashes in an article meant for a magazine versus one meant for a book. So, this book is a useful reference for your academic writing.
An excellent resource
We recommend this book because its approach is ideal for the versatile life of a scholar. Scholars don’t always only write for stuffy academic journals. Maybe, you’re part of a lab that just made a useful discovery that the news media is interested in.
Well, if your adviser gives you the task of writing a press release, then you should follow the conventions of the news style of writing instead of the common academic style you use for a scientific journal. So, The Best Punctuation Book helps you mind your manners based on the audience you write for.
The book is also easier to use in conjunction with other resources. For example, multimedia-based resources that include videos and blogs. This includes our blog here at EminentEdit.
For ideas on other tools to boost your academic writing, including punctuation, check out my previous LinkedIn article: 7 Useful Academic Writing Resources. As a matter of fact, The best Punctuation Book is featured there!
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, August 23). The Best Punctuation Book, Period. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/the-best-punctuation-book |
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