It’s National Punctuation Day?It’s National Punctuation Day.I mean – it’s NATIONAL PUNCTUATION DAY!(Of course, only a writer could so enthuse for such a day.)
As writer Russell Baker aptly put it, “When speaking aloud, you punctuate constantly – with body language. Your listener hears commas, dashes, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks as you shout, whisper, pause, wave your arms, roll your eyes, wrinkle your brow. In writing, punctuation plays the role of body language. It helps readers hear the way you want to be heard.”“How might I celebrate,” you ask, “what National Punctuation Day founder Jeff Rubin calls ‘a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the very-mysterious ellipsis’?”
Well…I recommend the following actions: first visit the website Jeff Rubin created; admire each and every pictured punctuation mark and give it its proper due; next take this test to check your command of commas/apostrophes; laugh heartily while you read Lynne Truss’ EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES (Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference); and finally, consider completing my Wednesday Writing Workout which offers writers a chance to re-purpose the 14 standard marks of punctuation in English grammar to create original emoticons all their own. [See below.]Enjoy!
Esther Hershenhorn
P.S.While doing All Things Punctuation, don’t forget to celebrate your inner exclamation mark! J P.P.S.And for sure, don’t forget to enter our Book Giveaway to win a copy of Barbara Krasner’s picture book biography of Golda Meir - GOLDIE TAKES A STAND: GOLDA MEIR’S FIRST CRUSADE.The deadline is September 26. * * * * * * * * * *
Those Emotive Punctuation Marks!
I M J 2 B writing about emoticons – punctuation marks RE-purposed to instantly connote an emotion when communicating electronically.
Think: little sideways smiley faces. :)
The word “emoticon” blends “emotion” and “icon.” An emoticon allows for a quick expression of feeling when the communication is electronic.How might YOU (!) combine and re-arrange any and all of the 14 marks of punctuation below to create an original emoticon?
? ! ’ . , “ ” - _ [ ] ( ) … / : ;
Feel free to use keyboard letters, spacing options and numbers too. Turn them upside down and sideways!
Think outside the []. JPlay.
Experiment.In other words, have fun!
Think, too, of any and all emotions/situations – Joy, Distress, Anger, Confusion, e.g.
If you need inspiration, click here to see more examples.And be sure to share them with our TeachingAuthors readers so we can use them to help them catch on.
:) TXTNG :(
Did you know
that long ago
the Greeks gave us our vowels –
our A and E and I and O
and Y (that sometimes) howls?
Yay! :)
But…
OMG!
How :( I M
2 c what txtng’s wrought!
When now I tweet
words short n sweet
I X the vowels
Greeks brought!
* * * * *
10 Q April Halprin Wayland and CarmelaMartino and Jill Esbaum, our group blog’s “usual” Poetry Friday posters, for allowing me to
take this Friday slot and thus continue the celebration of Sleeping Bear Press’
release of my new baby board book soon to arrive in stores everywhere, TXTNG MAMA TXTNG BABY.
FYI: Our week-long celebration
includes a Book Giveaway of TWO signed copies of this perfect baby gift of a
book. Click HERE
for the details and be sure to enter by next Tuesday, August 13.
I wrote in Monday’s post how my grandson inspired TXTNG MAMA
TXTNG BABY whilst he was in utero.
My Baby Antennae had been (understandably) working overtime. All I saw – everywhere I looked – were Mamas
thumbing their hand-held devices and nearby, babies finger-swiping the same.
Texting Mamas…
Texting
Babies…
What’s up
with THAT? I wondered.
To answer the above
question, and the millions that followed, I spent a whole lot of time (cer10ly longer
than my grandson’s gestation!) researching Texting and Technology as well as their impact on Babies and
Toddlers.
I needed to know: just what is
text?”
There were definitions
aplenty but linguist David Crystal’s TXTNGThe Gr8 Db8 (Oxford University, 2009) allowed the writer in me to understand this language – and – its
features, several of which I shared in my Wednesday Writing Workout.
And is texting really killing writing?
There were opinions
aplenty.
Fortunately, I came
upon Columbia University linguist Dr. John McWhorter’s TED Talk – “Txtng is
killing language. JK!!”
McWhorter considers
texting “a whole new way of writing,” fingered speech that allows us to write
the way we speak, an expansion of a young person’s linguistic repertoire.
Noting texting’s loose
structure, McWhorter remarks, “No one thinks about capital letters or
punctuation when one texts, but then again, do you think about those things
when you talk?”
Click HERE to listen to Dr. McWhorter's TED Talk. Enjoy
and learn!
I needed to explore and
experience 2day’s Babies’ and Toddlers’ Techy-Techy World, the Digital World in
which these smallest of humans live and breath and laugh and learn, not to
mention, swipe and tap and thumb.
Every day brought A New
Something with A New Action, A New Opportunity, a New Possibility for digital
natives, both parent and child.
Hanna Rosin’s
comprehensive article “The Touch-Screen Generation” in the April 2013 issue of THE
ATLANTIC magazine grounded, informed and enlightened me.
Click HERE to check it
out for yourself, making sure you leave time for the Readers Comments.
Finally, I needed to read
and understand the research.
I explored the website, read the studies and findings
and understood instantly the requisite human touch Touch Technology demands when it comes to babies and
toddlers and technology.
Click HERE to read their newest posting on imaginary play with
technology.
I M still on the hunt
for anything and everything that is remotely related to babies, toddlers,
texting and technology.
I clip, I
cut-and-paste, I purchase, I stockpile.
Wednesday, the Chicago
Tribune brought news of smart watches.
Later that afternoon, I discovered the
BabyBook Onesie at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Zen and Now Gift Shop.
Who knows WHAT might
juice my Writer’s Muse next week, next month, next year?
4 now, I M Byond :) I was able 2
use this newest of languages 2 cr8 TXTNG
MAMA TXTNG BABY and bring my grandson’s Digital World to the ultimate
hand-held device: the baby board book.
10 Q for letting me share.
And Happy Poetry
Friday!
Esther Hershenhorn
Welcome 2 2day’s Wednesday Writing Workout, a Txtng
Mini-lesson of sorts– and – our continuing TeachingAuthor
celebration of my new baby board book soon to arrive in stores everywhere, TXTNG MAMA TXTNG BABY.
Remember: our celebration includes a Book Giveaway of TWO
signed copies of this perfect baby gift of a book, so click HERE for the details and be sure to
enter by next Tuesday, August 13.
As
I wrote in Monday’s post, it is a
Techy-Techy World for 2day’s Babies.
But
while researching Texting’s history and the gazillion pros and cons that
surround this newest means of expression, I was surprised to learn from
linguist David Crystal, author of TXTNG The gr8 db8 (Oxford University, 2009) that
(1)
texting’s been around a mighty long time and
(2) most popular beliefs about
texting are incorrect, or at least, debatable.
“Its
graphic distinctiveness is not a totally new phenomenon,” Crystal writes. “Nor is its use restricted to the young
generation. There is increasing evidence
that it helps rather than hinders literacy.
And only a very tiny part of the language uses its distinctive
orthography.”
According
to Crystal, “Texting has added a new dimension to language use, indeed, but its
long-term impact on the already existing varieties of language is likely to be
negligible. It is not a bad thing.”
Crystal
identifies several distinctive features of texting, many of which suggest novelty but children’s
literature proves otherwise.
For
instance, logograms, which use “single
letters, numerals and typographic symbols to represent words, parts of words,
or even – as in the case of x and z – noises associated with actions.”
Think
b, 2, @, x for kiss.
And
William Steig’s C D B, first
published by Simon & Schuster in 1968!
And Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s WUMBERS (Chronicle Books, 2012).
I
especially Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s and illustrator Tom Lichtenheld’s
dedication:
“We
dedic8 this book 2 William Steig, the cr8or of CDB! (cer10ly the inspiration for this book) and so many other cla6.”
In
logograms, the pronunciation is what matters, not the visual shape.
Think
: )
(smile)
Think
: (
(frown)
An
initialism is “the reduction of
words to their initial letters.
Think
NATO and BBC. (They are often called acronyms.)
But
also think BFF, OMG, GF.
And
Lauren Myracle’s ttfn.
Other
features include omitted letters (bunsn
brnr, txtng, msg), nonstandard spellings
(cuz, thanx, ya), shortenings (doc,
gov, mob) and genuine novelties (IMHO/in
my humble opinion).
What
gr8 fn I had imagining Mama’s n Baby’s conversation, using a variety of text
features 2 cr8 a book which seems to have some very nice (language) company. The teacher in me also liked learning the names of Texting's features.
I hope you did too!
Esther
Hershenhorn
A-txtng
U shall go!
Choose
any 2 characters – real, imagined, animal, human, and get them talking, or
rather, TXTNG (!) on their smart phones and/or tablets.
What’s
the situation?
What’s
the problem?
What’s
the setting?
What’s
the time?
Are
the 2 characters Happy? Sad? Confused? Angry? Hopeful? Plotting? Nasty? Kind?
Are
they young or old or middle-aged?
How
does each come at his or her hand-held device?
Word choice, expressions, phrasing, rhythms - and this case, spellings - connote VOICE!
Think
about your beginning – the inciting incident of sorts that gets the conversation
rolling, your middle, your end.
Remember
what dialogue does for a story: i.e.
(1) informs the reader
(2) advances the story
(3) reveals character
And
don’t forget to use a variety of text features!
this is very interesting, Esther! 10 Q for sharing!
The book looks adorable! And I hadn't thought of texting as a whole new way of writing! Interesting!
Congratulations on your book release! What a timely topic. :-)
So cute! I must admit that it took me some time to figure out what "10 Q" meant, but I did it! 10 Q 4 sharing, LOL! =)
You are changing the way I think about texting! I may have to give it a try (one of these days)! : )
10 Q
I admit that I like texting, but I hate texting language. But mostly because I don't understand it. I am amazed by the amount of research that can go in to creating a baby board book. Who knew? Thanks for opening my eyes to a new way of thinking.
What an honor to share TXTNG MAMA TXTNG BABY with the Kidlitosphere's Poets!
10 Q 2 all who took the time 2 comment.
I spent the day playing connect-the-links, discovering YOUR blogs!