SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

The Life-Saving Comma

It's harder than it looks to communicate with other people. How does one move a thought from one's own brain to another's brain? Since the human species unfortunately has been denied telepathic abilities, we have been forced to develop other means of communication. The two main ways are speech and writing.

Speech is good for communicating with people in the same room, since it can be reinforced by gestures, body language, and other non-verbal cues. As well, a speaker can monitor his listeners' comprehension and agreement, adding more complete explanations and argumentation as needed. However, speech becomes less effective as the audience becomes more distant and, in many cases, it is simply not possible as a means of communication.

Enter written communication. This method can be used to communicate with far-away audiences, but it lacks the ability to augment the written words and respond to audience feedback in real time. As a result, it is very important for authors to carefully craft their writing to make sure it conveys their intended meaning to the readers. One of the tools that writers have developed to assist in this task is the humble comma. By indicating where the author would have paused had he been speaking, it partially overcomes one of the drawbacks of written communication. 

It is common for modern educators to downplay the importance of commas, along with the other punctuation tools, but they do so at their peril. Or, more accurately, at the peril of their students.