Newsletter Mechanics Under a One-Page Style Sheet
A student edits the Robotics Club newsletter, which must follow a one-page style sheet: (1) use the serial comma, (2) spell out numbers under ten, (3) set off nonessential clauses and appositives with commas on both sides. The editor may fix mechanics but is not allowed to reword sentences. The draft reads: "The Robotics Club, which meets Tuesdays in Room 114 has 27 members. Members build drones, compete in regional tournaments and mentor middle school students. The clubs biggest event, the spring showcase draws 400 visitors." A club officer asks whether the third sentence really needs two more commas or whether that is over-punctuating.
1. Fix the punctuation of the first sentence and explain why the commas are required in pairs.
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Corrected: "The Robotics Club, which meets Tuesdays in Room 114**,** has 27 members."
The clause which meets Tuesdays in Room 114 is nonessential: it adds information about the club but does not identify which club is meant. (There is only one Robotics Club.) Nonessential elements must be enclosed - opened and closed - with commas.
The draft has only the opening comma. That leaves the clause half-enclosed, which is arguably worse than no punctuation at all, because the reader cannot tell where the interruption ends. The pair of commas is the signal "step out of the sentence here, then step back in."
Style-sheet note: the number 27 stays as a numeral, since rule 2 only spells out numbers under ten.
2. Apply the style sheet to the second sentence. Identify every change and the rule behind it.
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Corrected: "Members build drones, compete in regional tournaments**,** and mentor middle-school students."
Two changes:
- Serial comma (rule 1). Three items are joined: build drones, compete in regional tournaments, mentor middle-school students. The sheet mandates a comma before the and. The draft omits it.
- Hyphen in the compound modifier. Middle-school modifies students as a unit; without the hyphen, a reader can momentarily parse "school students" as the noun. Note this is a spelling/mechanics decision, not a rewording - the hyphen does not change any word.
The list itself is parallel (verb + object in each item), so no structural repair is needed; only the punctuation and the compound modifier.
3. Fix the third sentence and answer the officer's question: does "the spring showcase" need commas on both sides?
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Corrected: "The club**'s biggest event, the spring showcase,** draws 400 visitors."
Three changes:
- Apostrophe. The clubs biggest event needs the possessive: the club's biggest event. The test is whether the phrase can be rephrased as "the biggest event of the club" - if so, it is possessive, not plural.
- Closing comma. The spring showcase is an appositive: it renames the club's biggest event. Appositives that do not identify (there is only one biggest event) are nonessential and must be set off on both sides, per rule 3.
On the officer's concern: this is not over-punctuation. The draft already opens the appositive with a comma; leaving it unclosed is the error. The pair of commas tells the reader that the sentence would still be complete and accurate without the phrase - which it would: "The club's biggest event draws 400 visitors."