Periods, exclamation marks, and question marks - Graduate Writing Center

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Periods, Exclamation Points, and Question Marks


Oh my!

Use a period to

  • signal the end of an idea; just make sure it is a complete idea
  • punctuate sentences and bulleted/numbered lists; just make sure they are complete sentences and bulleted/numbered lists
  • end abbreviated words (Dr. for Doctor, St. for Street)
  • separate lowercase abbreviated letters (e.g., p., pp., et al.)
  • ensure you are correctly applying a citation style’s format

Periods relative to quotation marks:

  • Periods appear within quotation marks: He heard her sing “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”         

Question marks relative to other punctuation:

  • Question marks appear inside quotation marks, parentheses, or brackets only when part of the quoted or parenthetical material:
    • He asked, “Do you believe in ghosts?”
    • That dog (or is it a wolf?) is gonna be huge!
  • Question marks appear outside quotation marks when the question is not part of the sentence: Did he really ask me if “I believed in ghosts”?
    • Why didn’t he ask for the time off until today (Tuesday)?
    • “What do you suppose he had in mind,” inquired Newman, “when he said, ‘You are all greater fools than I thought’?”

Use an exclamation point

  • sparingly. Do not use an exclamation point in academic writing unless it already exists in a quotation.

Exclamation points relative to other punctuation

  • Exclamation points appear inside quotation marks, parentheses, or brackets when part of the quoted material:
    • He sang the Beatles’ “Help!” more than any other song.
    • The article “Midway!” posed some thoughtful points.

Periods, Exclamation Points, and Question Marks Links

A–Z content heading

Writing Topics A–Z


This index links to the most relevant page for each item. Please email us at writingcenter@nps.edu if we're missing something!

A–Z content menu

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

A

abbreviations

abstracts

academic writing

acronyms

active voice

adjectives, compound

advisor, selecting and working with

AI

apostrophes

appointment with GWC coaches, how to schedule

argument

article usage

artificial intelligence

assignments, understanding them

audience

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B

body paragraphs

booking an appointment with a GWC coach

brackets, square

brainstorming

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C

capitalization

citations

charts

ChatGPT

citation software

citation styles

clauses

clarity

clustering

coaching, about

coaching, how to schedule

colons

comma splices

commas, FANBOYS

commas, introductory

commas, list

commas, nonessential / nonrestrictive information

commas, Oxford

commas, serial

common knowledge

commonly confused words

compare-and-contrast papers

compound adjectives / modifiers

concision

conclusions

conference presentations

conjunctive adverbs

coordinating conjunctions

copyright and fair use

critical thinking

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D

dangling modifiers

dashes

dependent clauses

dependent marker words

display equations

distance learning

double submission of coursework

drafting

Dudley Knox Library

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E

editing your own work

editing: outside editors

em dash

en dash

equations

exclamation points

executive summary

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F

FANBOYS

FAQs

figures

first person, use of in academic writing

footnotes

fragments

free-writing

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G

generative artificial intelligence (AI)

gerunds

grammar

graphics

graphs

group writing

GWC appointment, how to schedule

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H

homophones

Honor Code, NPS

human subjects research

hyphens

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I

ibid.

incomplete sentences

independent clauses

Institutional Review Board

interviews, conducting

introductions

IRB

iThenticate

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J

Joining the Academic Conversation

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L

LaTeX

library liaisons

lists, syntax of

literature reviews

logic and analysis

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M

M dash

making a GWC appointment

mathematics

memos

methodology

modifiers, compound

modifiers, misplaced

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N

N dash

nominalizations

note-taking

noun clusters

numbers

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O

organization

outlining

Oxford comma

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P

paragraph development

parallelism

paraphrasing

parentheses

parts of speech

passive voice

periods

persuasion

phrases vs. clauses

plagiarism, how to avoid

plagiarism-detection software

plain language

polishing

prepositional phrases

prepositions

pronouns, clarity with

pronouns, grammar of

proofreading

publishing

punctuation

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Q

questionnaires, administering

questions

quotation marks

quoting

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R

Reading with Intent I

Reading with Intent II

redundancies

reference software

reflection papers

research

research guides, discipline-specific

research questions

restrictive vs. nonrestrictive information

reusing papers

reverse outlining

revision

roadmaps

run-on sentences

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S

scheduling a GWC appointment

self-citing

semicolons

sentence fragments

serial comma

signal phrases

significance

so what?

source blending

sources, engaging with / critiquing

sources, evaluating the reliability of

sources, citing

spelling

standard essay structure

STEM / technical writing

Strategic Reading I

Strategic Reading II

style

subject–verb agreement

subjects, grammatical

subordinating conjunctions

summarizing

surveys, administering

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T

tables

teams, writing in

technical writing

tense

that vs. which

thesis advisor, selecting and working with

thesis process overview

Thesis Processing Office (TPO)

thesis proposals: common elements

thesis statements

thesis writing

this, that, these, those

tone, professional

topic sentences

transitions

types of papers

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U

United States or U.S.?

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V

verbs and verb tense

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W

which vs. that

why write?

writer’s block

writing in groups / teams

writing process

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Z

Zotero

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