4/8/2024 0 Comments The dash poem narratedWoolf’s purpose in using different types of punctuation here may be to create a map for the reader. But what I like is how all the inner punctuation-semicolons, parentheses, dashes-is used to build new asides within asides, with the marks varying for texture. There’s obviously a lot going on in this sentence, of which the humble em dashes are only a small part. Yes, we’re still mainly talking about em dashes and not semicolons apologies for any confusion. Sorry about springing that on you without warning. How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the early morning like the flap of a wave the kiss of a wave chill and sharp and yet (for a girl of eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling as she did, standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to happen looking at the flowers, at the trees with the smoke winding off them and the rooks rising, falling standing and looking until Peter Walsh said, “Musing among the vegetables?”-was that it?-“I prefer men to cauliflowers”-was that it? Example #3: The Dash at the Party with All Its Friends Also, this is an example of how the em dash can be used within dialogue with a naturalness that the semicolon typically can’t. Now, let’s acknowledge that it’s awesome how the em dash allows Gaitskill to create one long comprehensible sentence that doesn’t feel overwhelming. This way, both characters and reader can rest assured that yes, this is weird, and then get on with the story. If the above bit of dialogue had passed without comment, it might be distracting. Of course, the hesitancy could be the author’s, and the aside for the benefit of the reader. Saying that she “used to do that all the time for him” doesn’t actually explain anything, of course. The aside shows that she may be self-conscious about sharing this information. Giving your father neck massages while he makes casual misogynistic comments may not be what you would call a relatable experience. The person speaking seems aware that what she’s saying is weird. But this is another example of a practical use for the mid-sentence dash sandwich. Okay, yes, we can take a moment just to acknowledge that this is weird. Mary Gaitskill, from “Trying to Be” in Bad Behavior “Because once, when I was about twelve, I was in my father’s study rubbing his neck-I used to do that all the time for him-and there was this Playboy calendar over his desk and some babe was on it and I said to him, ‘Do you like her?’ and he said, ‘Sure I do,’ and I said, ‘Would you like to meet her?’ and he looked shocked and said, ‘No, she’s just a dumb broad.’” The em dash gives Brinkley the chance to show the names themselves without stopping the flow of the story. In the example above, it’s very concrete: The groups of three letters are tagged names on the wall of a bar. This can be a way of chucking something concrete into a more explanatory bit of writing (though the visual element is also strong in the last part of this sentence, obviously). The writer can plop down an example or visual-like this-in the middle of a description. This is a straightforward but captivating look at how an em dash can be used in a sentence to create an image for the reader. Jamel Brinkley, from “No More Than a Bubble” in A Lucky Man Here are some beautiful em dash examples from literature.Įach of the names had three letters-SER, EVE, RON, REL, MED-and the drips of paint made murky icicles of color. However, even when tasked with its regular occupations-that is, sandwiching text within a sentence as an aside, adding a parenthetical of sorts, or showing a cutting off of speech-the em dash opens up countless, dazzling possibilities for constructing sentences. (Passions have always run high when it comes to punctuation issues, it would seem.) Emily Dickinson used it as a kind of dividing mark in her poetry. James Joyce used it to set off dialogue because he had a particular antipathy for quotation marks. It’s pretty much agreed that there’s not really a wrong way to use an em dash-or rather, most ways in which people are naturally inclined to use it are acceptable. Some authors have employed the em dash non-traditionally to their own tastes. So there’s no better way to celebrate this fabulous mark than by looking at how writers have used it to enhance their crafts. And of course, some of the best em dash examples exist in the world of literature. Em dashes may be prone to overuse, but if you understand how beautiful the em dash can be, you won’t want to overuse it. The em dash, aka possibly the most adaptable and intuitive punctuation mark there is, gets a lot of love-and the occasional bit of hate.
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