The Seventh Sense

The term punctuation can be defined as "a courtesy designed to help readers understand a story without stumbling." Is this really all that punctuation is? A courtesy? I don't think so. Text with poor, or no punctuation can be misleading and hard to follow. Look at this example from Eats, Shoots and Leaves: "A woman, without her man, is nothing. A woman: without her, man is nothing." This made me realize how vital correct punctuation is to one's writing. Just as Language allows us to present ourselves in a certain light, so punctuation gives us the same ability in written work.