Books, arts and culture
Prospero
Punctuation and shame
When to use an exclamation mark!
Dec 15th 2010, 6:04 by E.B. | NEW YORK
FEW writers know when to employ an exclamation point. It is a tricky bit of punctuation, frankly. I rue its appearance in e-mails, as it raises the bar of enthusiasm to a level that is quite difficult to match without feeling silly. The problem is that they are either used guilelessly or with great self-consciousness. Russian novelists are magnificent with exclamation marks. Fashion journalists use them like gaudy accessories on an already questionable outfit. I hate exclamation marks, usually, except in those rare moments when they are revelatory.
I was reminded of the sticky nature of that most exclamatory mark upon reading an editorial by Lee Siegel in the New York Observer. Last week he wrote about a recent brouhaha at New York's 92nd Street Y, where an on-stage interview with Steve Martin resulted in howls of protest from those who wanted to hear less about art and more about his on-screen shenanigans with Goldie Hawn. Ticket-buyers sulked and claimed that they were misled. The uptown venue responded with profuse apologies and refunds. Mr Martin, a devoted art collector whose new novel considers the art world, didn't realise his public worthiness was so tethered to punchlines. All parties emerged huffy and embittered.
Enter Mr Siegel:
Messrs. Solomon and Martin, welcome to the age of the Internet! Welcome to the new participatory culture, where the paying audience determines the content of its cultural experience, not elitist gatekeepers and their flunkies. The passive discontent of the spectator has given way to the active control of the consumer. Aux armes, customers!
Aren't we so crass—we the customers—for our Tweeting, bleating ways? And have you noticed what consumer control has done to the news media? Oh dear! This is where the exclamation point shines: a scenario in which everyone is meant to feel a bit shamed. Like sarcasm, a well-deployed exclamation mark holds a mirror up to our ideas so that we can see how dumb we really are.
It bears mentioning that the Observer was wise to give Mr Siegel some weekly space this year for his gruff rants about the precarious state of American politics/the Great American Novel/the American man/America's media, etc. He's a wizard of macho outrage with a dash of wryness (and a gulp of rye). Now all that op-ed page needs is some readers.
About Prospero
Named for the hero of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", an expert in the power of books and the arts, this blog features literary insight and cultural commentary from our correspondents, and includes our coverage of the art market.
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You worry over much maybe!
Exclamation marks are very useful to soften and warm statements in e-mails; they look a lot less threatening with an exclamation mark on them.
@willstewart,
It certainly is less threatening when one can identify the sender as a probable moron.
The ironic exclamation point is utterly indispensable to the online satirist.
Prospero says:
"Oh dear! This is where the exclamation point shines: a scenario in which everyone is meant to feel a bit shamed. Like sarcasm, a well-deployed exclamation mark holds a mirror up to our ideas so that we can see how dumb we really are."
True words, but I find this very dubious point. If your main point is that exclamation mark is excellent for its use for sarcasm, does it not imply that it is some kind of relic of times past where it still could be used as a serious stylistic device, and now only relevant to parody that same seriousness? I agree that it is wonderful use of the mark, but for a post titled "When to use an exclamation mark!" it seems rather disappointing to find you talking about its use in humour, and not the intended uses, namely to mark exclamations. Sure, the misuse of the mark is a plague, and sure again, you can use it as a humorous device, but there are other, perhaps more appropriate uses for it.
As seen in the last paragraph, the period is the best punctuation for a dagger, although Mencken and Bierce got good service from the semi-colon.
Absolutely!
And, in this new Twitter age, smiley faces have become almost as ubiquitous! :)
A well-deployed smattering of single exclamation points I can live with. It is the increasing prevalence of multiple exclamation points at once (!!!) that most causes me to worry about the mental balance of some of my correspondents.
Shirohi wrote:
"If your main point is that exclamation mark is excellent for its use for sarcasm, does it not imply that it is some kind of relic of times past where it still could be used as a serious stylistic device, and now only relevant to parody that same seriousness?"
I am not implying that the exclamation mark has value only in the service of parody. There are still plenty of perfectly reasonable, straightforward and grammatically correct ways to use this punctuation. Of course there are! Though in their most earnest incarnations they can seem a bit like jazz-hands on a dance routine, they remain useful tools for expressing warmth in otherwise anodyne e-mails. But as deliberate manifestations of enthusiasm, they can be unwieldy. Like emoticons (those dreary things), exclamation marks imply that the writer can’t convey enough zeal in words alone.
Humour and exclamation marks meet on one of two levels: either a low, obvious one (Take my wife...please!), or a wry, ironic one (Wife! Please! Hotcha!). If one wishes to express real outrage or frustration, the exclamation mark is useless. A rebuke from someone who has lost his temper is nearly worthless. If revenge is best served cold, then disappointment is best conveyed with a chilling statement and a deafening end-stop.
The exclamation mark used by both Russian novelists and parodists is essentially one and the same. These marks express a sort of naiveté, observed by a wiser soul. Though exclamation marks can be used effectively in other ways, I put forth that this is their most noble purpose.
Excellent stuff, everyone made a big fuss earlier this year about Tony Blair's liberal sprinkling of exclamation marks in his autobiography.
PS: You spelled "outfit" wrong in this sentence...
"Fashion journalists use them like gaudy accessories on an already questionable outft."
Best regards
@write_well_
"If revenge is best served cold, then disappointment is best conveyed with a chilling statement and a deafening end-stop." This is a diagnostically female declaration. For the other half of the species, disappointment (like revenge, perplexion and affection) is best conveyed by turning the sound up on the game and sullenly eating a meatloaf.
Funny! Funny! All the comments are so funny!! Now turn the sound down and gleefully share the gravy!!