Essay Writing Tips on Punctuation

Punctuation often seems to be of minor importance to us. However, if we try to imagine the text without any punctuation marks, we will soon realize how important it is for the correct understanding of our ideas.

Thus, in order to create a really powerful essay, use this checklist to ensure correct punctuation:

Use a question mark only at the end of a direct question; all indirect questions require a period at the end.

Exclamation points can serve to different purposes: they either indicate an emotionally colored sentence, or make it stand out for emphatic purposes; however, using too many exclamation points can produce an impression similar to the one as if you were shouting.

Hyphen is often used to link parts of compound words, but it is worth mentioning that not all compound words are hyphenated. In the modern American English hyphen tends to be used more and more seldom, so always check the correct form with a recent dictionary.

Use apostrophe for contractions, but pay attention to the correct placement, as it is usually used instead of the omitted vowel.

Use commas to join clauses of a compound sentence, to separate each item in a list when listing more than two items, to single out all forms of appositions, to single out the phrases in an unusual syntactic position and to set off all the parenthetic words and phrases.

Use commas to separate non-defining relative clauses, which can be omitted without destroying the meaning of the sentence.

Use commas to separate numbers of four and more digits, days, months and years in a date.

Use comma with inverted commas to separate quoted matter from the rest of the sentence.

Exercise 29. a) Browse through the Film School Progress Reports published in “Variety”. Its author, Michael Palumbo, called it “a cheat sheet of new offerings, facilities and staff at the nation’s top media programs”. Why? Give your explanation.

b) Choose the University and the programme you like. Surf the Internet to find the university and department web sites and brochures. While surfing make notes on:

• Academic Opportunities;

• Faculty structure;

• Degree programmes;

• International Admission;

• Affordability & Financial Aid;

• Research Opportunities

and other points that seem important personally to you.

c) Make a presentation of the University.

d) Write a Statement of Purpose observing the rules of writing and following the guidelines given above.

American Film Institute AFI has exponentially increased the number of scholarships, boosting financial aid as a recruiting tool. Just named James L. Brooks as its new artistic director, taking over for the late Frank Pierson.

Boston U. BU has recently completed the curriculum for a Cinema and Media Studies major, targeted at students who want to focus on the academic rather than production aspects of film.

Chapman-Dodge College of Film and Media Arts The school’s Chapman Filmed Entertainment initiative wrapped production on its first feature, “Trigger,” directed by 2010 alum Basel Owies for a spring release.

Columbia U. Expanded MFA program’s TV curriculum and added courses in new media producing. Also a $5 million screening room is under construction.

Emerson College The school’s new L.A. facility is underway, expected to open in fall 2014. The program will offer undergrad and post-bac courses enhanced by local internship programs.

Florida State U. Added a BA in animation and digital arts to its undergraduate production curriculum, welcoming visual effects producer Jonathan Stone as a faculty member.

Gnomon School of Visual Effects Launched one-week summer camps for L.A. high school students, giving 15- to 18-year-olds a chance for in-depth instruction and personalized studio time with industry pros.

Loyola Marymount U. LMU’s post-graduate Incubator Lab will partner with Film Independent, providing alums access to mentorship programs and production equipment facilities.

New York U. Last fall, the NYU Game Center welcomed the inaugural class for its new MFA in game design, featuring courses in programming, visual design and more. Undergrads have been able to minor in gaming since 2011.

Santa Fe U. of Art and Design Unveiled Camera in Every Hand strategy, which gives every incoming film student a professional-caliber Canon T4i digital SLR camera. Also launched an online film certificate program.

Syracuse U.: College of Visual and Performing Arts Enrollment in the L.A. program has swelled to 170. Two grad students were invited to study with Bernardo Bertolucci and Abbas Kiarostami at the Intl. Filmmaking Academy in Bologna, Italy.

UCLA This past year, UCLA/TFT launched two graduate MFA programs in acting and design, the first of their kind in the U.S. Also partnered with Participant Media to offer the Jake Eberts Fellowship for Social Impact Filmmaking.

U. of North Carolina School of the Arts Appointed Susan Ruskin, formerly president of production at Middle Fork, as the school’s dean, replacing Jordan Kerner. Ruskin had served as head of the producing faculty since 2009.

USC In June, USC unveiled its Interactive Media Building housing the Interactive Media and Games Division, which announced the addition of four minors in games: animation, audio, design and entrepreneurialism.

U. of Texas at Austin This fall, the school’s Radio-Television-Film department will launch the nation’s first 3D production curriculum, UT3D, which includes a lab funded by the Moody Foundation.