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Parenthetical Aside

(or is it?)

By Harper Lewis Published 5 months ago Updated 5 months ago 1 min read
Parenthetical Aside
Photo by Khoiru Abdan on Unsplash

There’s a misunderstanding

concerning basic grammar.

I am not a subordinate clause.

Your adjectives don’t change the nouns any more than my adverbs change the verbs.

Subject complements do not flatter objects.

If the reader doesn’t understand what you’re referring to, leave a footnote.

Some ideas do not belong in parentheses. They are not superfluous and should not be partitioned away.

Careful with your quotation marks—if I didn’t say it, I won’t wear them.

If the subject and verb do not agree, the sentence cannot move forward.

Once it’s in print, editing ends.

If you leave an ellipsis with three dots, you’re expected to come back and complete the thought. Otherwise, have the courtesy of leaving the fourth dot, the period, letting the reader know the sentence is over.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Author note: Look under the surface to catch the real meaning. This is not about grammar and punctuation. They’re the frame.

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About the Creator

Harper Lewis

Intrusive rhyme bothers me, except as a weapon.

Intertextuality is my passion.

Formalist/ New Critical are my guiding theories.

My words are mine, not a robot’s.

MA English literature, CofC

Medium

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    Written by Harper Lewis