Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Advanced
Title details for Semicolon by Cecelia Watson - Available

Semicolon

by Cecelia Watson
ebook
Read a sample Read a sample
"Delightful, enlightening . . . The twisty history of the hybrid divider perfectly embodies the transience of language." —Vulture
The semicolon. Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell detest it. Herman Melville, Henry James, and Rebecca Solnit love it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?
In Semicolon, Cecelia Watson charts the rise and fall of this infamous punctuation mark, which for years was the trendiest one in the world of letters. But in the nineteenth century, as grammar books became all the rage, the rules of how we use language became both stricter and more confusing, with the semicolon a prime victim. Taking us on a breezy journey through a range of examples—from Milton's manuscripts to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letters from Birmingham Jail" to Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep—Watson reveals how traditional grammar rules make us less successful at communicating with each other than we'd think. Even the most die-hard grammar fanatics would be better served by tossing the rule books and learning a better way to engage with language.
Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don't need guides at all, and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.
"What? Sit on the beach reading about punctuation? Yes, when it's as fun, rangy, and witty as this." —The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Big Summer Books"
"A scholarly treatise on a sophisticated device that has contributed eloquence and mystery to Western civilization . . . Delightful." —The New Yorker
Expand title description text
Publisher: HarperCollins

Kindle Book

  • Release date: November 21, 2023

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780062853073
  • Release date: November 21, 2023

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780062853073
  • File size: 10715 KB
  • Release date: November 21, 2023
Loading
Loading

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Writing Language Arts Literary Criticism Nonfiction

Languages

English

"Delightful, enlightening . . . The twisty history of the hybrid divider perfectly embodies the transience of language." —Vulture
The semicolon. Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell detest it. Herman Melville, Henry James, and Rebecca Solnit love it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?
In Semicolon, Cecelia Watson charts the rise and fall of this infamous punctuation mark, which for years was the trendiest one in the world of letters. But in the nineteenth century, as grammar books became all the rage, the rules of how we use language became both stricter and more confusing, with the semicolon a prime victim. Taking us on a breezy journey through a range of examples—from Milton's manuscripts to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letters from Birmingham Jail" to Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep—Watson reveals how traditional grammar rules make us less successful at communicating with each other than we'd think. Even the most die-hard grammar fanatics would be better served by tossing the rule books and learning a better way to engage with language.
Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don't need guides at all, and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.
"What? Sit on the beach reading about punctuation? Yes, when it's as fun, rangy, and witty as this." —The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Big Summer Books"
"A scholarly treatise on a sophisticated device that has contributed eloquence and mystery to Western civilization . . . Delightful." —The New Yorker
Expand title description text
Writing Language Arts Literary Criticism Nonfiction