Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

The exclamation point
End punctuation
Punctuation

Use an exclamation point after a word group or sentence to express exceptional feeling or to provide special emphasis.

When Gloria entered the room, I switched on the lights, and we all yelled, “Surprise!”

NOTE: Do not overuse the exclamation point. Let your words be emphatic and specific so that they do not need an exclamation point.

EXERCISE 39-1

Add appropriate end punctuation in the following paragraph.

Although I am generally rational, I am superstitious I never walk under ladders or put shoes on the table If I spill the salt, I go into frenzied calisthenics picking up the grains and tossing them over my left shoulder As a result of these curious activities, I’ve always wondered whether knowing the roots of superstitions would quell my irrational responses Superstition has it, for example, that one should never place a hat on the bed This superstition arises from a time when head lice were common and placing a guest’s hat on the bed stood a good chance of spreading lice through the host’s bed Doesn’t this make good sense And doesn’t it stand to reason that, if I know that my guests don’t have lice, I shouldn’t care where their hats go Of course it does It is fair to ask, then, whether I have changed my ways and place hats on beds Are you kidding I wouldn’t put a hat on a bed if my life depended on it