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

The slash
Other punctuation marks
Punctuation

Use the slash to separate two or three lines of poetry that have been run into your text. Add a space both before and after the slash.

In the opening lines of “Jordan,” George Herbert pokes gentle fun at popular poems of his time: “Who says that fictions only and false hair / Become a verse? Is there in truth no beauty?” (1—2).

Four or more lines of poetry should be handled as an indented quotation. (See 38a.)

The slash may occasionally be used to separate paired terms such as pass/fail and producer/director. Be sparing in this use of the slash. In particular, avoid the use of and/or, he/she, and his/her. Opt for more graceful and inclusive alternatives. (See 17e and 22a.)

EXERCISE 40-1

Edit the following sentences to correct errors in punctuation, focusing especially on appropriate use of the dash, parentheses, brackets, the ellipsis, and the slash. If a sentence is correct, write “correct” after it. Answers appear in the back of the book.

a. A client left his/her cell phone in our conference room after the meeting.

b. The films we made of Kilauea — on our trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — illustrate a typical spatter cone eruption.

c. Although he was confident in his course selections, Greg chose the pass/fail option for Chemistry 101.

d. Of three engineering fields, chemical, mechanical, and materials, Keegan chose materials engineering for its application to toy manufacturing.

e. The writer Chitra Divakaruni explained her work with other Indian American immigrants: “Many women who came to Maitri [a women’s support group in San Francisco] needed to know simple things like opening a bank account or getting citizenship. . . . Many women in Maitri spoke English, but their English was functional rather than emotional. They needed someone who understands their problems and speaks their language.”