Comments on: Answer Via Harbrace

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:02:00 +0000

I think in general, Devon’s way is best for AP, l. shepherd. It’s perfectly acceptable, and it’s two complete thoughts, so why not make them two sentences? The semicolon is the “sexy” way of doing it. :))

By: L. Shepherd

L. Shepherd — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:44:00 +0000

That’s probably correct for MLA, since there are multiple commas in the sentence. In AP I would use a comma, though I could be wrong. The semicolon just doesn’t look right for AP. The outside the comma thing is correct for both, I believe.

By: Irreverent Freelancer

Irreverent Freelancer — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Ahh, so they went for the semicolon after “judge” instead. It looks correct to me, but it’s old school for sure in my eyes. I would have opted for punctuating it the way Devon suggested.

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:00:00 +0000

That’s what I suspected, Devon. The style books are so different, it’s no wonder “mistakes” make it into print. My other style book – Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers, Ninth Edition – says nothing about where to put the semicolon in a quote like that, except it does repeat the rule of keeping it outside any quotation marks.

I read ‘Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies’ by June Casagrande, which points out the variations among style books and grammarians. It’s a fun read. 🙂

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:28:00 +0000

Strunk & White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE is my Bible, which is why I made the choice I did.

To me, a semi-colon creates a different rhythm than a period. Actually, I really like the way it changes the pace of the sentence there. If you use the punctuation to create rhythm in dialogue, it makes a huge difference in breath and cadence.

But Strunk and White would kick my behind around the block for doing it that way! ;)