![]() (The rule has the potential to introduce enough unnecessary pauses to your prose to make a shopping list read like something by Pinter.) Not because the OC itself is crucial, but because it contains the important lesson that grammar rules are not hard and fast, and can even be controversial.Indeed it is No 2, no less, in Strunk & White's "elementary rules" of usage: "In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last." To true believers in this maxim, a flag that you or I might regard as red, white and blue is in fact red, white, and blue. If you teach students that are beginning to use commas somewhat successfully (perhaps 4th or 5th graders), you might do a mini-inquiry into the Oxford comma with them. But… if you are writing to entertain, or you are writing creatively, or in a voice of your own, then you make decisions that fit best with the genre and voice you are writing for. They have to fulfill the requirements of their discipline in order to have their work taken seriously, to be published, and for consistency within their profession. In those cases, the writers don’t get to decide. Typically, academic and journalistic writing needs to follow a style manual required by the particular discipline. Who is my audience? Am I writing for an academic audience that will expect I conform to a certain style manual (APA, MLA, Oxford, or otherwise)? Will my audience be distracted from my point if I use the OC, or if I don’t use the OC? (By the way – if I am your audience, I absolutely will notice if you leave out the Oxford comma, and I’ll think, “Huh. When deciding on whether or not to use the Oxford comma, ask yourself, what’s the purpose of this writing? Do I need to eliminate all possibility of ambiguity? Is it even possible to read the sentence incorrectly without the OC? Will using the OC distract, cause more confusion, or clutter up the page? Does the Oxford comma add clarity, or organization to the sentence? Can I it consistently throughout my writing? Purpose, audience, and genre determine the decisions we make as writers, not a set of rules decided upon by a text book (at least, not all the time). When teaching grammar, we can teach students that the ultimate goal of writing is to communicate and be understood. ![]() These concepts guide the decisions that writers make, and there’s no need to keep that a secret from students. But in reality, every punctuation mark is equally as optional, equally up for debate, and can be used by a writer in whatever way best suits their purpose, audience, and genre. We (grammarians, teachers, writers) tend to think of the Oxford comma as an exception–as if all the other punctuation marks have been decided upon and set in stone. ![]() It’s a perfect symbol for just how flexible and ever-changing language can be. The Oxford comma is a gift to teachers of grammar if we use it this way. Instead, I love teaching students about the controversy, and giving them space to debate the OC’s merits and uses, and encourage them to decide for themselves. I truly do not believe it should be taught just one way or the other. ![]() ![]() As a writing teacher, I don’t have a strong opinion on whether or not my students use the Oxford comma. ![]()
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