Department of Punctuation: Exclamation Points

I can sum up the problem that most people have with the exclamation point in one short sentence: They use them. That's right. That's the problem. Most often when an exclamation point is used, it is unnecessary.

In an academic paper, exclamation points are inappropriate. In fact, in most writing, even in personal letters, one almost never needs an exclamation point.

I have seen letters written by even well-educated people in which exclamation points are used liberally. The exclamation point means that you are extremely excited and maybe even shouting. If people talked like they write, with all of the exclamation points, they'd be out of breath and have a sore throat.

Also, never use multiple exclamation points. I once got an email that started like this,

"Dear Dr. Walston!! How are you today!?"

Seriously, can addressing a person and asking how he is doing be that exciting? I thought to myself, this person is headed for an emotional burn out. I'm not in favor of mood-altering drugs, but this guy needs some Valium. (By the way, not only should you never use double—or triple, or quadruple, etc.—quotations marks, you should never combine it with other ending punctuation as in the sentence above. Never do this -> !?)

Patricia T. O'Conner says,

The exclamation point is like the horn in your car—use it only when you have to. A chorus of exclamation points says two things about your writing: First, you're not confident that what you're saying is important, so you need bells and whistles to get attention. Second, you don't know a really startling idea when you see one (Woe Is I, p. 142).

Exclamation Points (aka, exclamation marks):
Rule: Don't over use exclamation points.

Too many writers pepper their writings with exclamation points. In fact, exclamation points are generally not appropriate in academic writing at all. Here's why: Exclamation marks typically show some sort of emotional outburst. What is the difference between these two example sentences:

"The Bible is the most truthful book ever written!"
"The Bible is the most truthful book ever written."

The first sentence is loaded with emotion and opinion.
The second sentence is a simple statement of fact.

In writing academic papers, your job is to "state and defend." So, you might make the statement, "The Bible is the most truthful book ever written," and then you would go on to defend—or prove—that statement.

Here is another one:
"Jesus is Lord!"
"Jesus is Lord."

The first sentence belongs in your preaching, and the second one belongs in your academic term paper.

Another thing that the exclamation mark might indicate is amazement. Example: "After all that undeniable evidence, the atheist still did not capitulate!"

However, it is not your job as an academic writer to express your emotion or amazement . When you do that, you are telling your reader how he is supposed to feel about something. And, that's not your job either.

State and Defend
Your job is to state your position. For example you might write: "Jesus is Lord." Then you are to give the evidence for your claim. So, your job is simply to state and defend.

I cannot tell you the number of student papers that I have read in which students made all sorts of assertions without defending them. One student once asserted that,

"Most Christian scholars today are more concerned with the approval of men than the approval of God!"

"Most"? I thought to myself, "Wow. That's a big assertion." I could tell where this man was emotionally just by the exclamation point at the end of his assertion.

When I asked him how he intended to defend or prove his statement, he became very irritated and said, simply:

"It's just fact! I don't have to defend it! And anyone who doesn't believe it, doesn't believe God!"

This, my friends, is the worst kind of writing and argumentation. To make emotional claims or assertions without providing the evidence for and a defense of those claims or assertions is to retreat into the worst kind of religiosity. It is to tell people not to think but to simply believe. And, the object of their "blind faith" is not even something as grand as the Bible. It is calling people to a blind faith in anything that you assert or claim. And, I don't have to tell you, but I will anyway, you are not God.

God Provided Proof
The only person who has a right to demand blind faith is God alone. And, what is amazing to me is that even God did not see fit to do that. God has provided many facts and proofs for who He is and for us to have faith in His unique Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, if God Himself—who does not need to provide proof—did provide proof, then we certainly must provide our readers proof as well.

And, if you have done your job well of stating and defending—without the emotional, exclamation-point baggage—your reader will exclaim, "Jesus is Lord!"

Free Class:
For those of you who might be interested: I have produced a lecture series on audio with notes. I cover the basics of good writing, grammar, punctuation, and more. I've had people with Master's degrees and PhDs go through these lectures, and some of them told me that they learned more on this subject from my lectures and notes than they had from all of their previous education combined. You can listen to the lectures for free and downlaod the lecture notes as PDFa files (for free) at CES Writing Protocols Lectures.