Paper Intro Paragraph

Proper comma use is very important in your work. If you think about it, a comma can save your life. It means the difference between “Let’s eat Marc” and “Let’s eat, Marc”. One of the statements would end in an enjoyable night out with a friend, and the other with cannibalism. Commas not only help keep from getting caught in an awkward situation, but they also help break up otherwise long sentences. Could you imagine a world like this that had no commas periods or parenthesis? All of the sentences would look like the previous one and be very confusing to read. There are some times though in my writing where I am not fully sure of myself if I need a comma or not. Sometimes you see it before the word “but” because you are writing an extension of the statement, but other times you wouldn’t use it, like in front of “and” in most cases.

Ben Yagoda, from the NY Times, had much to say on the subject. He clarifies a certain situation in which the comma is mistakenly used. “If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times. I’m referring to a student’s writing a sentence like: I went to see the movie, “Midnight in Paris” with my friend, Jessie. There is a comma after “movie,” after “friend” and, sometimes, comma after “Paris” as well. None are correct — unless “Midnight in Paris” is the only movie in the world and Jessie is the writer’s only friend. Otherwise, the punctuation should be: I went to see the movie “Midnight in Paris” with my friend Jessie.”

Jane Straus, author of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, makes some of the less debatable uses for the comma easier to understand. In one instance in her website, she points out a common spot for comma splices where a semi-colon would be better suited for use. “A comma splice is an error caused by joining two strong clauses with only a comma instead of separating the clauses with a conjunction, a semicolon, or a period. A run-on sentence, which is incorrect, is created by joining two strong clauses without any punctuation.”

There is much debate if when and where a comma is appropriate for use, but everyone agrees that it is important to use one.

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/the-most-comma-mistakes/