Some punctuation marks prompt the reader to give a word or sentence more than usual emphasis. For example, a command with a period does not evoke the same emphatic response as the same command with an exclamation mark. ... A dash or colon has more emphatic force than a comma.
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/609/02
overuse of various emphatic devices like changes of font face and size, boldface, all-capitals, and so on in the text of an essay creates the impression of a writer relying on flashy effects instead of clear and precise writing to make a point. ... Punctuation Marks for Achieving Emphasis...
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/609/01/
These are the only lovely marks of punctuation, and of the two the period is ... They force the writer to express his ideas directly, ... The exclamation point is obviously too emphatic, too childish, for our sophisticated ways. Psychologically speaking, the decline of these two marks is the inverse of the semicolon epidemic.
www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/721833.html
Sadly, it is now clear that Abadan's huge oil fires were indeed punctuation marks in the tide of human events, for they heralded an unprecedented global downturn in per capita energy production —a downturn that has continued unbroken to this day.
www.mnforsustain.org/energy%20punctuation%20marks%20mor... www.mnforsustain.org/energy%20punctuation%20marks%20morrison.htm
With desktop publishing, you can control the quality of punctuation marks to produce professional looking, more readable text like professional typesetters used to do. ... Use exclamation points sparingly. They indicate emphatic or emotional statements; ... The report included information on (1) the task force meetings,
www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/punctuation.html www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/punctuation.html
Examples Help! Punctuation Marks! Visit this free resource for definitions and examples of Punctuation Marks. Definition, example and information about Punctuation Marks. ... Nevertheless, several of the punctuation marks serve to bring out the rhetorical force of expression. The principal marks of punctuation are:
www.examples-help.org.uk/punctuation/punctuation-marks.... www.examples-help.org.uk/punctuation/punctuation-marks.htm
The dash is mostly used to denote an unexpected or emphatic pause, of variable length; but sometimes it is a sign of faltering, or of the irregular stops of one who hesitates in speaking: as, ... End Marks · Commas · Apostrophes · Quotations · Other Common Punctuation Marks · Less Common Typographical Marks...
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/English_in_Use/Other_Common_Punct... en.wikibooks.org/wiki/English_in_Use/Other_Common_Punctuation_Marks
This is an example of the first (notice the punctuation goes outside, because we're still part ... to force the language into the categories is to put the cart before the &c. A good, modern, technical grammar will give you some more insight into how the language really works. [Entry added 21 Dec. 2004; revised 19 Aug. 2006.]
andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/p.html
mark a pause that says to the reader: What follows is more emphatic than if .... A hyphen: The words so joined have prac- tically the force of a single word ...
www.jstor.org/stable/370594
The various punctuation marks perform four functions: ... A colon has the same separating force as a period. It thus brings ... If used regularly in place of commas, colons, and semicolons, it loses all its distinctiveness and becomes a sloppy substitute for conventional punctuation. At its best the dash is a lively, emphatic mark.
www.sti.nasa.gov/sp7084/ch3.html