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Last updated on
7 July, 2010

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One-Week Seminar

Commas: The Tricky Little Dot
with Shawna Schenk

REGISTRATION:

COST, LENGTH, PREREQUISITES:

Writers like to decorate their papers with commas. Some writers just put in commas where it feels right, sounds right, or looks right. Commas are not decorative objects. This course will teach writers to use commas when it is right.

No prerequisites.

ONE WEEK SEMINAR: $46. Click here to register

For questions about this seminar, email Shawna Schenk

There are seven general rules regarding the proper placement of the comma. This seminar will be focused upon the student understanding these rules and then applying this understanding by constructing and editing sentences.

PLANNED HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Students will fill out a comma chart which will be submitted on the last day of the seminar. Optional practice exercises, games, and helpful links may be used to practice the explained concepts.

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Students will spend approximately three hours on this seminar.

Horrified by the common writer’s belief that commas can go anywhere, Shawna Schenk has fought this punctuation battle for years in countless writing classrooms throughout the country. She has taught various levels and sections of remedial English, traditional composition, and creative/expressive writing at two-year colleges and four-year universities. Currently, along with teaching on ground, she can be found preaching punctuation through facilitating writing courses online at the University of Phoenix and Kaplan University.

Although she believes the comma is a tiny, tricky dot, she also knows that when used correctly, this powerful punctuation can transform writing (and that is just what she has shown (emerging and experienced) writers throughout the years).

To teach is to know, and to know is to do. Shawna Schenk has also had a number of works published in various genres including creative non-fiction, environmental non-fiction, poetry, and children’s literature (and in each publication, her punctuation use has been impeccable).