Punctuation Chapter

      I survived the punctuation chapter pretty well.  I thought I knew more than I did as I was reading chapter eight, and I am realizing the mistakes that I have made in the past.   I think that this class is a real eye-opener and it will be good to learn and brush up on some of the rules.  I think the one rule that stresses me out the most is the comma rule. I tend to use more commas than I should at times.  One of the biggest mistakes that I have seen over and over again is with separating items in a series. Before the "and" with the last item listed, I have always put a comma.  For instance with red, white and blue. I have always thought you were supposed to put a comma after the "white" which  according to AP style, you are not.  With using semicolons, I have always just avoided them in the past and just put periods to be safe. I understand joining two independent clauses together, but it is setting off the parts of a series that also contain commas that sometimes confuses me.   After reading the chapter, the supplemental reading, and the AP style book, I still feel like I need them as a crutch to get through writing.  I am definitely more conscientious about my writing more recently as I have been learning all of these rules.  It has been a very long since I have taken a basic English class, so this is also a very good review with all the parts of speech that I have forgotten over the years. This is a needed class for me and I hope I can continue to study and retain all that I am learning.