!!!Exclamation Points!!!
Exclamation points are used to show an emotion in writing. This type of punctuation is
used to express extraordinary feeling or if the sentence deserves more emphasis. Although,
as easy as it is to use the exclamation point, it's just as easy to overuse it. With
overuse, there is no longer a great impact with the exclamation point and the point is
lost on the reader. Some caution must be taken when using this punctuation mark. The
exclamation point is like a birthday cake--it's there every once in a while and only for
highlighting the occasion.
For expressing special emphasis, an exclamation mark should be placed at the end of the
sentence:
When Sarah came home she found a note on the fridge from her husband that read:
"Dress formal and wear red. Tonight's the night all for you!"
When an exclamation point is used, it's usually there to support a sentence and to make
it forceful. Except, sometimes people use it when the sentence itself is emphatic enough,
and it does not need an exclamation point; this is over usage of the punctuation mark. For
example:
"In the fisherman's memory the fish lives on, increasing in length and weight with
each passing year, until at last it is big enough to shad a fishing boat!"(275).
The exclamation point needs to be changed to a period because the sentence is powerful
enough without the exclamation point.
Every now and then, a writer will place two exclamation points right after another. For
example:
"Whenever I see Steffi lunging forward to put away an overhead smash, it might as
well be me! She does it just the way that I would!" (275).
In this example, the first exclamation point needs to be changed to a period so that
the second exclamation point can be more dynamic and show the emotion that's being
expressed.
Application time!
Decide if the sentences below need an exclamation point, if the exclamation point needs
to be deleted, or if the punctuation is correct.
I. Sarah and Jamie, it's time to go!
II. Old wives tales that are told from generation to generation soon become all jumbled
up and distorted!
III. I got an "A" on my term paper.
IV. This is a difficult topic to write about! I don't even know where to start!
V. Whatever happened to sympathy from everybody! To think you could count on that
anymore!
VI. Not every person can do this job right.
VII. There's a snake in my bed!
VIII. The old man lived a heroic life, but in the end no one could remember what he had
done!
Works Cited
Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. 4th ed. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's,
1999.
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