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Flowersun2013 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Confusing punctuation
The following is the opening sentence of "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.
"The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child. "
I found the punctuation very confusing to me, especially the part "but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be." I have never seen a comma enclosing the word "as" which is not a phrase. What are the uses of these commas? To me, they just make the sentence harder to read than simply saying "but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as on Christmas Eve in an old house a strange tale should essentially be."
"The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child. "
I found the punctuation very confusing to me, especially the part "but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be." I have never seen a comma enclosing the word "as" which is not a phrase. What are the uses of these commas? To me, they just make the sentence harder to read than simply saying "but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as on Christmas Eve in an old house a strange tale should essentially be."
Top answer
The comma is not setting off the conjunction "as". " This phrase (and its commas) can be removed from the sentence without altering the essential meaning. Note: This was written during Victorian times, when sentences were verbose and full of colorful flourishes.
- The comma is not setting off the conjunction "as".
- " This phrase (and its commas) can be removed from the sentence without altering the essential meaning.
- Note: This was written during Victorian times, when sentences were verbose and full of colorful flourishes.
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2 Answers
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The comma is not setting off the conjunction "as". Instead it is setting off the non-restrictive phrase "on Christmas Eve in an old house." This phrase (and its commas) can be removed from the sentence without altering the essential meaning.
Note: This was written during Victorian times, when sentences were verbose and full of colorful flourishes.
Note: This was written during Victorian times, when sentences were verbose and full of colorful flourishes.
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