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Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks - Education - Nairaland

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How Our Teens And Youths Are Damaging Their Spelling Skills And Punctuation / The Power Of Punctuation / Never Underestimate The Power of Punctuation. (2) (3) (4)

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Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by Hidentity(m): 2:41pm On May 15, 2015
I came across this intellectually stimulating story a couple of days back during a research process. Whether is fiction or not, I am not so sure. However, I hold that it does not affect the message:

A frustrated man had gone to the pub (beer parlour) to cast all his worries away with bottles of beer. After several hours of numbing his senses with alcohol, the man now drunken, became raucous that the bartender was forced to evict him so as not to scare away other patrons. The man was so angered by the action of the bartender that after the door was shut on him, he unzipped his fly and sprayed the door with his urine, which he called ‘toxic streams’. He then turned around and did the unspeakable – he vilified the Crown. Picking up a stick, he wrote in the sand by the roadside the following words in bold letters for any who cared to read: CURSED BE THE QUEEN

Immediately, the constable who had been observing his show of shame pounced on him, cuffed him, pulled out his crime-scene tape and cordoned off the evidence of blasphemy, which he covered with a tarp and dragged the man to the police station. After a few days, the
man was charged to court and the magistrate who was bound to lean towards the Crown in the district was
assigned to hear the case. On that day, the courthouse was packed to the full with locals who had come to witness how the community nuisance was finally going to be put behind bars and they would again know what it felt like to have peace.

The counsel drafted from the District Attorney’s office to lead the prosecution was a decorated lawyer with a reputation for obtaining maximum sentences for all unlucky defendants he cross-examined in court. He had this icy look that was menacing enough to send a chill down the spine of the Devil himself. But on this day, his record was to be broken. Not because he didn’t do his work well (in fact by the time he was through dazzling all that was present, the man was sobbing like a baby) but because the defence counsel did a better job. While the prosecution had several lawyers, that more room had to be created for them from the observers’ seats, the defence had only one lawyer sitting lonely in his corner. When it was his time, the defence counsel arose and approached the sobbing man and gave him a handkerchief to dry his face. The whole room erupted with boos as the magistrate banged his gavel to quiet them. As the man dried his face he looked up and was shocked for this was his first meeting with his lawyer; it was the English teacher who taught him in elementary school, but had gone on to study law after the man left for high school. The lawyer straightened his tie, looked at the magistrate and said, “Your Lordship, my client did not have the time to finish his sentence before the constable jumped on him.” The room suddenly went dead silent as all eyes focused on the counsel. The magistrate removed his spectacles, cleaned it and replaced it to strain at the lawyer as if he was a gnat and then he said, “Counsel, I fear you are treading on slippery grounds, but do you care to explain?” “Gladly my Lord,” responded the lawyer, “If he had completed his sentence he would have ended it with a full stop. I know this so well, because I taught him the punctuation marks in elementary school. If only My Lord can be so benevolent to allow this man, who stands accused this day, to go back to the scene and complete what he was writing.”

At that moment, all eyes turned to the magistrate and all ears inclined to hear his words. “Alright then” he acquiesced after a few moments, “Two bailiffs shall accompany you and the defendant to the locus criminis (scene of the crime) so that he can finish his sentence and so that I can finish my sentencing too. This court is adjourned for thirty minutes.” Before he could finish his sentence the whole court emptied out as everyone rushed to the crime scene to see how the man would finish his writing. As the man walked to the scene in handcuffs and flanked by the bailiffs, his old teacher whispered some words into his ears; at first, consternation was written all over his face but it soon gave way to a confident smile as he trudged on towards his unfinished sentence. As the crowd pushed to have a look at the goings-on, the tarpaulin was pulled back and a stick given to the man to write, probably, the last sentence of his life. The man then looked at the counsel, who gave him a gentle nod and he bent down to carefully write in his most handsome handwriting the following letters: 'S ENEMIES.

“No, no”, was the noise that rent the crowd, for they knew their wish was going to be denied. Quickly, the bailiffs spirited the man away to court and locked the doors to protect him from the crowd. When the magistrate
reappeared he asked one of the bailiffs what the man had written and straightway his face fell. He could not sentence a man for cursing the queen’s enemies and so he struck out the case.
Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by CountDracula(m): 2:46pm On May 15, 2015
I'm guessin ure mentionin these names so ur topic wil get to front page... It will NEVER get there!
Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by otipoju(m): 2:46pm On May 15, 2015
Creative way of teaching the importance of punctuation in writing. Niceone there

Its obvious I dint learn from the story
Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by Hidentity(m): 2:49pm On May 15, 2015
CountDracula:
I'm guessin ure mentionin these names so ur topic wil get to front page... It will NEVER get there!
Yes, you are very right. I did not care if the initial ones do. But I think that people can learn from this. Thanks for being so observant, I wish you were like this to the issues that affect your life the most.

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Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by Xslaze3xd(m): 2:51pm On May 15, 2015
lolzzzzzx..... Sounds Funny to me
Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by CountDracula(m): 2:51pm On May 15, 2015
Hidentity:

Yes, you are very right. I did not care if the initial ones do. But I think that people can learn from this. Thanks for being so observant, I wish you were like this to the issues that affect your life the most.
If ure tryin to insult me, ure nt very intelligent
Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by psucc(m): 4:21pm On May 15, 2015
That's a powerful to - Punctuation.
Op I enjoyed you writeup.

1 Like

Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by papindinho(m): 8:47pm On May 16, 2015
Lawyers!

1 Like

Re: Cursed Be The Queen- The Power Of Punctuation Marks by Edwardhead(m): 2:54pm On May 17, 2015
That's very good write up




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