Children being encouraged to use multiple exclamation marks!!!!!

[lecce]

Ds (Y1) was writing a little story at home today. He wrote a sentence about a whale eating the wrong kind of prey, or something (totally obsessed with Blue Planet at the moment) and then solemnly added a row of exclamation marks. Now I must admit I kind of shouted (not angrily, but maybe loudly) something along the lines of, "Ds, what on earth are they for?! One will do!" He looked crestfallen and said that his teacher had told them that the more you add, the more drama it adds to the writing. My own feelings on the matter are, well, the opposite.

My views may be coloured by the fact that I am a secondary school English teacher and and have read rather too many mediocre pieces of work entitled 'My English Story!!!!!' or 'Essay!!!!!'

Do I need to switch off my teacher-head and accept that this is a valid way of encouraging six year-olds to use a variety of punctuation, and ds will abandon the habit in good time, or can I find a way to tactfully discourage him, without seeming to undermine the teacher?

No!!! How could you?!!

Throughout history we've lost all kinds of punctuation marks. It might become perfectly acceptable to use multiple marks soon. The fact that the essays that you've read are mediocre I'm sure has little to do with how they were punctuated and more to do with how they were researched and reasoned. If I'm right then it makes more sense to talk to your son, at the appropriate time, about research and reasoning than punctuation.

What next, triple question marks???

No, you are not being unreasonable! I'm a year 2 teacher and insist on just the one exclamation mark! I'd have a word ;)

I see this in the mangas my dd reads.

No, Learnandsay, let me assure you that poorly-used punctuation is a huge problem with much of the writing I mark. Research and reasoning are not hugely relevant to the English curriculum at KS3 & 4 (especially not the research) and lack of understanding of punctuation has a massive impact on pupils' ability to communicate the results of their researchand reasoning effectively.

If it becomes acceptable to use a row of exclamation marks at a time, I will fight it with every bone in my pedantic old body!

I really seethe when I see multiple exclamation marks. It smacks of hyberbole.

To me it is the written equivalent of someone telling you a joke and repeatedly nudging you and asking if you "get it" five times until you hate the joke.

It is also lazy as it implies that using five exclamation marks saves you having to find the exact right word.

I am being completely, unapologetically serious when I say I would raise this at parents' evening.

The teacher is effectively saying that "I was so shocked!!!!!!!!!!! is as effective as "I was so shocked my mouth fell open", and thus reducing the need to use the full gamut of a good vocabulary.

Just exclamation marks? At least he's consistent, and so far avoiding the questclamation!?!?!

See, I like the questclamation (and love the name for it - not seen it before) - there is one in my OP. I think it's great for conveying surprise and disbelief and, in fact, I went on a literacy course recently, and it was listed as a way of showing sarcasm, I think. Wouldn't like a ow of them, though. A row is never needed.

Only ever use one and only ever if a person is exclaiming. It's not a "I'm being slightly humorous" mark. What next? Will they be asking pupils to "?!"
Grrrrr.

Isn't part of the problem concerned with motive? Half of the mission is writing what you want to write: Then my pants fell of!!!!!!

And the other half is catering for what your readership wants to read, (in this case the teacher.) I'd be looking at both halves. You can't expect primary school teachers to have Tommy Cooper's sense of delivery. But, if their teacher is no fan of modern punctuation abuse, the children can get used to writing in more formal terms for her, even if they use more modern methods elsewhere.

Is it actually against any rules of punctuation to use more than one exclamation mark or a mix of question marks and exclamation marks??!!!??!! (). If not, then you are being a pedantic old fart. The number of exclamations clearly does have an effect on the meaning - it can be interpreted as sarcastic, excessively demanding, over-excited, breathless... but it does not convey the same meaning as no exclamation mark or only one exclamation mark. Complaining you should use more words to convey this rather than exclamation marks is like asking whether it's ever really necessary to play a piece of music at ff volume, when the notes and one f should be enough to convey what you want.... How very bah humbug of you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, OK, I admit to wanting to rebel against teachers of my past who appeared to think the use of an exclamation mark was only really permissible if you were warning someone they were about to plummet to their death. Multiple exclamation marks can indeed be very irritating. But only when others do it. Mine are perfectly acceptable.

you may use 2 or 3 if they replace words in cartoons.
nowhere else.

eg, !! or!!! =

rabbit that's not fair, there's a huge difference between f and ff

!!!

Terry Pratchett says using 5 exclamation marks is a sign of insanity, and I agree with him.

I am a pedantic old fart. One is enough.

pointythings - you are right. Using more than 5, on the other hand, is perfectly sensible and should be vigorously encouraged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, they don't have a mad-eyes smiley. Will 2 biscuits do?

I think too many exclamation marks is a sign that you can't express yourself through words, so have overuse punctuation and thus look like an excitable 10 year old when you write.

How did you guess my age???!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm telling my Mum!!!!!!!!!!

My DF is 65 and adds lots at the end of EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE (I'm not exaggerating). It totally loses all clout and does read as if a teenager wrote it. He adds nothing by using them whatsoever because he isn't exclaiming all the bloody time. I find it incredibly annoying. Probably more so because I know he isn't as stupid as his writing makes him appear. I suppose the fact that I mark academic writing predisposes me to judge this as a frivolous use of punctuation but nevertheless it's a bit like crying wolf.

Hold on a minute, I object. The previous poster has complained that a DF (whatever one of those is) appears to be stupid on account of bad punctuation. I can't understand the charge, because surely it's the message which conveys intelligence (or any other need or virtue) not its fluctuation.

But learnandsay, too many exclamation marks reads as if you are shouting everything excitedly. If you spoke like that in real life people wouldn't take you seriously.