Sometimes, punctuation can be a bit tricky. You know by now how to punctuate the ends of sentences and when to use a period, question mark, or exclamation point. However, you may be unsure about how to punctuate within a sentence and ask questions such as these: Do I need a comma here? Does this apostrophe go before or after the s? When should I use a semicolon? How do I use quotation marks correctly?

These questions and similar ones about punctuation might baffle you. This is why you need to use strategies for editing to help you discover errors in your writing. At the end of this lesson, you will be challenged to apply editing strategies to proofread an essay. First, you will mark where to insert em dashes, and as you read the essay again, you will mark where to insert commas. You will continue this process to indicate where to insert quotations marks and finally apostrophes.

Writing correctly and presenting yourself positively is important. There will be times when a reader only has a piece that you've written by which to judge you. In this lesson, you will review some of the more troubling punctuation rules and practice applying these rules within sentences.