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X. Punctuation (Chapters 48-54) |
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Asides, or comments made in passing, are frequent features of academic writing.
As in ordinary speech, though, they can be made in a number of different ways:
whispered, added as an afterthought or extraneous comment, or even shouted. The
punctuation you use to mark the aside makes a big difference in how readers will
take the comment. Asides can be marked with pairs of commas, dashes, or parentheses.
You may be most familiar with parentheses: 1. Even though I can't afford it (at least, not right now), I desperately want that car. Parentheses are thought of as the most "aside," the most quiet statement you can make. Unlike commas or dashes, parentheses can even imply to a reader that what's inside them can be skipped over. Still, the marks themselves draw the eye far more than a simple set of commas would. It's an odd contradiction, but the very parentheses that code—or try to code—the statement they contain as one that requires little attention also leap off the page and catch a reader's attention. Commas are also commonly used for asides, though sometimes that's simply not possible. For instance, the above sentence would be difficult to understand if the parentheses were replaced with commas: 2. Even though I can't afford it, at least, not right now, I desperately want that car. Because of the commas already in the parenthetical statement, adding more makes the reader wonder if "not right now, I desperately want that car." But in sentences that aren't already thick with commas, marking an aside with commas puts it in an informational voice with normal emphasis: 3. The Skipper, who was always outside the arcade, saw me coming and ambled over. Can you see the different shade of meaning that parentheses would convey? 4. The Skipper (who was always outside the arcade) saw me coming and ambled over. The commas bring more of a levelness, or naturalness, to the extra information in the aside than the parentheses do. And using dashes to mark the aside would make an even greater difference. Dashes force readers into a fairly long pause, really emphasizing the fact that they're reading an aside: 5. The Skipper—who was always outside the arcade—saw me coming and ambled over. You can also hear the forcefulness of the dashes in the first sentence we tried: 6. Even though I can't afford it—at least, not right now—I desperately want that car. Notice how (like the parentheses) the dashes help you avoid a jumble of commas. Dashes—or parentheses—would also get you out of a comma jam if you wanted to list a series of items in an aside: 7. We had the regular for breakfast (toast, bananas, and a cream soda) and then headed back to bed. Or, 8. We had the regular for breakfast—toast, bananas, and a cream soda—and then headed back to bed. Again, notice how the dashes, as compared with the parentheses, make the disgusting
recipe between them harder to ignore. When you choose how to mark your asides,
be sure to consider the level of emphasis you want the aside to have, and choose
your punctuation accordingly. |
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