Evidence Based Writing

AP English Punctuation Debate

In  principio creavit Deus lexes Punctuatum. Or so, at least, we have been told in every English class since the fall of man. But this is not the case. In today’s fast-paced, evanescent society, punctuation’s role has been to restrict, not facilitate creativity; we have transformed, but the orthodox rules of punctuation refuse to. They remain quixotic reminders of the past rather than blueprints for the future.

The human condition is metamorphosis; we have always craved revolution, abandoning the hunt for farms, the farms for factories, the factories for suburbs; punctuation is among those societal constructs we too must forsake. Many punctuation marks have, frankly, gone “out of style”. Marks like the colon and the exclamation point do not have the same effect as they had before; today, they give readers a basic framework with which to interpret what the author is writing (Source D). Thus, the traditional rules of punctuation are similar to training wheels. They teach young, aspiring writers how to properly communicate with the world.  As Thomas and Austen show through their pieces, good writers have to learn the punctuation alphabet before they can start experimenting with its usage (Source B, D). But as a writer’s journey progresses, he becomes comfortable in steering his writing in a more personal direction. Writers should be allowed to take off their preliminary set of wheels in exchange for the freedom of exploring the uncharted territories of style and voice.

The greater impetus towards change over the past half a century, however, is technology, which has advanced at a resounding rate. And with this development of technology has arisen new modes of communication: social networking. As technology develops, traditions change. These traditions of strict, coherent punctuation are no longer deemed necessary in modern society; instead, new rules of punctuation arise. Hitchings believes that “language evolves in conjunction with culture, and change is not always a bad thing”. In fact, social media and technology have “produced new opportunities” (Source A). Half a decade ago, punctuation marks such as “@” or the “hashtag” (#) had very little meaning. After the creation of Twitter, however, these marks have become an integral part of modern communication, facilitating expression and mindfulness. Indeed, the “best tweeters demonstrate a keen awareness of their audience” (Source F). If a teenager is tweeting to their peers, he will use the trendy hashtag to express himself. If a poet, such as Andrea Gibson, is updating her fans, she will use traditional punctuation to “try out fragments of thought”. The punctuation a writer uses depends on who he is, whom he is addressing, and how he wants to express his thoughts. Even the Library of Congress Archives accept “tweets” as acceptable and integral to our current society, as is evidenced by their storage of these forms of communication for posterity. This goes to show that the rules of punctuation constantly undergo change; it would be unwise to follow old rules which do not apply anymore in modern society.