Punctuation in Formal Writing Guide _ Quick Reference Guide by Permacharts

This 6-panle laminated guide is part of the "Award-Winning Professors Series. "I've been thinking about punctuation and its endless rules, but it's so boring that I find myself falling asleep in a nonce." Punctuation can also be frustrating in the extreme - even mysterious. The "punct" in "punctuation" means "point." So what's the point, and where do you aim it? You lose marks for setting a comma before an "and" in one sentence, and then you are told to use one before the "and", as in this sentence. Why? What difference does it make? When is semicolon proper and when is it, simply, wrong? How do you determine whether an apostrophe goes before or after a final "s," or whether an apostrophe is even necessary? Who makes these rules, anyway?