Punctuation for the End of the Thought

Selected Rules for the Period, Question Mark, Semicolon, and Dash

This is a LIVE course with Margie.

September 11 - 24


PUNCTUATION FOR THE END OF THE THOUGHT (8 clock hours - 0.8 CEUs)

You may only miss one (1) live session in order to receive credit for this class. Missed sessions must be watched and summarized in writing.

When a thought ends, there are so many choices. Often you need a period or a question mark, but even this takes thought sometimes. Then there is the semicolon, which is very correct in certain sentences, depending on what follows. Then there is the dash – even the ellipsis at times. Join us to look at those occasions where we must make the choice.


Sunday, September 11, 12:00-2:00 PDT

Saturday, September 17, 9:00-11:00 PDT

Sunday, September 18, 12:00-2:00 PDT

Saturday, September 24, 9:00-11:00 PDT




Your Instructor


Margie Wakeman Wells
Margie Wakeman Wells

Margie Wakeman Wells is a lifetime credentialed teacher in the state of California and is certified as a CRI. She is in her sixth decade of teaching -- with 40 of those years in the field of court reporting. As a reporting instructor, she has taught from the theory level through the exit speeds as well as all manner of English courses – both on campus in a bricks and mortar school and online.

She has presented, under the auspices of NCRA and state court reporting organizations, over 300 seminars for reporters on English-related topics as well as seminars for teachers and students.

Court Reporting: Bad Grammar/Good Punctuation, her best-selling reference text, and the workbook that accompanies it are available at margieholdscourt.com. In addition, she has published Word Pares, Pears, Pairs, a reference work of 2,000 word pairs with definitions, examples, and idioms for the words, and is currently writing a grammar text. She has also written a drill book series for improving accuracy: Practice Really DOES Make Perfect.

Margie operates “Margie Holds Class,” her online school, for both live and recorded classes and writes her blog, “All Things English,” at margieholdscourt.com. Margie currently serves as the Education Liaison for the California Court Reporters Association.

Margie has two grown sons and lives with her husband, Bill, in Culver City, California.


Course Curriculum


  The Course
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  Exercises
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  Module 1: Language Basics: General Terminology
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  Module 2: Language Basics: The Parts of Speech
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  Module 3: Language Basics: Sentence, Fragment, Run-on
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  Module 4: Language Basics: Sentence Analysis
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  Module 5: Language Basics: Locating the Subject and the Verb
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  Module 6: Language Basics: The Verbals
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  Module 7: Language Basics: The Connecting Words
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  Module 8: Language Basics: The Elements of the Language
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  Module 9: Comma Basics
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  Module 10: The Period
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  Module 11: The Polite Request
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  Module 12: Yes and No
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  Module 13: The Fragment
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  Module 14: The Question Mark
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  Module 15: The Indirect Question
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  Module 16: Some Problem Areas
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  Module 17: The Tag Clause
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  Module 18: Miscellaneous
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  Module 19: The Colon
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  Module 20: The Dash
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  Module 21: The Summary Dash
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  Module 22: The Conjunctive Adverb
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  Module 23: The Word "So"
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  Module 24: The Semicolon in Compound Construction
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