Look at how this writer uses punctuation for effect.

Oh! but he was a tightfisted hand at the
grindstone, Scrooge! a
squeezing, wrenching,
grasping, scraping,
clutching, covetous old
sinner! Hard and sharp as
flint, from which no steel
had ever struck out
generous fire; secret, and
self-contained, and
solitary as an oyster.

An ‘explosive’
exclamation
mark after the
short ‘Oh’
expresses
outrage. The
writer is almost
lost for words.

Another
exclamation mark, in
the middle of a
sentence, draws
attention to name of
the outrageous
character.

A semi-colon is
used to
separate out
and balance out
descriptions
about two sides
of him.

A long list
punctuated by
commas, expresses
the depth of his
greed.

Now see if you can comment on the effects of any of
the punctuation in this passage.

True!—nervous—very, very
dreadfully nervous I had
been and am! but why will
you say that I am mad? The
disease had sharpened my
senses—not destroyed—
not dulled them.

What is the
effect of the
dashes? Think
about how
smoothly the
passage reads.
How would it
affect the text
if they were
not there?

What is the
effect of the
exclamation
marks? Where
do they come in
the sentence?
Why? How do
they affect the
tone of the
text?