“The Seventh Sense” Response

In the excerpt for Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, titled, “The Seventh Sense,” it is all about how the punctuation and how it is something that needs to be stressed more in the world today. Truss’s argument is that punctuation is just as vital to the English language as the actual arrangement of the words themselves. She claims that too many times today people do not have a problem if things are not punctuated properly. They just go about their daily business not worried about it at all, and from her point of view that drives her nuts (Truss, 3).

In my opinion, I’m one that is on the fence about the issue when it comes to punctuation. I personally think that punctuation is an issue that more people need to take responsibility for in their lives. After all, Truss is completely right that punctuation is just as important to writing and communication as the words themselves. The way that it is described in the excerpt was that punctuation marks are like the “traffic signals of language” (Truss, 7). I believe that this was like the perfect description for it because it is what dictates what sentences should mean, and when to stop, pause, and go on when reading a piece of writing. It really is important, however, I do think there is a point where some people like Truss can go overboard on the whole punctuation issue. I do not believe that it is something that we need to spend every waking moment of the day stressing over punctuation errors in writing, especially if it is so minor that the meaning of the writing is still clear. That is my opinion on the issue of punctuation.

Works Cited

Truss, Lynne. “The Seventh Sense.” Eats, Shoot, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. N.p.: Gotham, 2004. 1-34. Print.