Punctuation | Page 8

ditto mark.
DE VINNE, THEODORE LOW. Historic Printing Types. New York,
1886. ----The Invention of Printing. Francis Hart & Co., New York,
1878. ----Plain Printing Types. Oswald Publishing Co., New York,
1914.
French printers use the dash in printing dialogue as a partial substitute
for quotation marks. Quotation marks are placed at the beginning and
end of the dialogue and a dash precedes each speech. This form is used
even if the dialogue is extended over many pages.
Rules for the Use of the Dash
1. To mark abrupt changes in sentiment and in construction.
Have you ever heard--but how should you hear?
2. To mark pauses and repetitions used for dramatic or rhetorical
effect.
They make a desert, and call it--peace. Thou, great Anna, whom three
states obey, Who sometimes counsel takes--and sometimes tea.
3. To express in one sentence great contrariety of action or emotion or
to increase the speed of the discourse by a succession of snappy
phrases.
She starts--she moves--she seems to feel The thrill of life along her
keel.

In this connection DeVinne gives the following excellent example from
Sterne:
Nature instantly ebbed again;--the film returned to its place;--the pulse
fluttered,--stopped,--went on,--throbbed,--stopped
again,--moved,--stopped,--Shall I go on?--No.
Attention may be called to Sterne's use of the semicolon and the comma
with the dash, a use now obsolete except in rare cases.
4. To separate the repetition or different amplifications of the same
statement.
The infinite importance of what he has to do--the goading conviction
that it must be done--the dreadful combination in his mind of both the
necessity and the incapacity--the despair of crowding the concerns of
an age into a moment--the impossibility of beginning a repentance
which should have been completed--of setting about a peace which
should have been concluded--of suing for a pardon which should have
been obtained--all these complicated concerns intolerably augment the
sufferings of the victims.
5. At the end of a series of phrases which depend upon a concluding
clause.
Railroads and steamships, factories and warehouses, wealth and
luxury--these are not civilization.
6. When a sentence is abruptly terminated.
If I thought he said it I would--
7. To precede expressions which are added to an apparently completed
sentence, but which refer to some previous part of the sentence.
He wondered what the foreman would say--he had a way of saying the
unexpected.
8. To connect extreme dates in time indication.

The war of 1861--1865. The war of 1861-1865.
9. To define verse references in the Bible or page references in books.
Matt. v: 1--11. Matt. v: 1-11. See pp. 50--53. See pp. 50-53.
NOTE. In instances such as given in the two preceding rules the en
dash may sometimes serve if the em dash appears too conspicuous.
10. A dash preceded by a colon is sometimes used before a long
quotation forming a new paragraph. In other cases no point need
accompany the dash.
The dash is sometimes used as a substitute for commas. Writers on the
subject say that this use occurs when the connection between the
parenthetical clause and the context is closer than would be indicated
by commas. The distinction, if real, is difficult to see. It would be better
if none but the most experienced writers attempted the use of the dash
in this way.
Dashes are often used instead of marks of parenthesis. It is better to let
each mark do its own work.

THE PARENTHESIS
The parenthesis, commonly used in pairs, encloses expressions which
have no essential connection with the rest of the sentence, but are
important to its full comprehension. It is liable to be neglected by
writers because the dash is easier to make, and by printers because it is
generally thought to mar the beauty of the line. Its distinct uses,
however, should not be neglected.
Rules for the Use of the Parenthesis
1. To introduce into a sentence matter which is not essentially
connected with the rest of the sentence, but aids in making it clear.

Trouble began when the apprentice (who had been strictly forbidden to
do so) undertook to do some work on his own account.
This year (1914) saw the outbreak of a general war.
2. In reports of speeches to enclose the name of a person who has been
referred to, or to indicate expressions on the part of the audience.
The honorable gentleman who has just spoken (Mr. Lodge) has no
superior on this floor in his knowledge of international law.
(Applause.)
3. Parentheses enclosing interrogation points or exclamation points
are sometimes introduced into a sentence to cast doubt on a statement
or to express surprise or contempt.
He said that on the fifth of January (?) he was in New York.
This most excellent (!) gentleman.
4. Parentheses are used, generally in pairs, sometimes singly, to