So, this got very well recieved, I see! That's good, glad to know that my work and teaching and notes and all that actually caught some attention. I have replied to most people in reviews, those that I haven't, please send me a pm to tell me! I check some of my emails on my iPod and I can't ever be bothered to type a three thousand character long message on an iPod. Autocorrect is horrible on that thing.

AnYtHiNgBuTtYpIcAl asked in a review about commas, so I have decided to write a chapter to help others if they have trouble understanding what commas are about and what the point of them are.

Lesson #2; Purpose of Commas

"I have a problem with commas. I'm not quite sure what the point of them is, or why or when to use them."

You watch as a grin arises from Mr Kirkland's face. Taking the chalk again, Kirkland writes a few sentences down. As he was doing this, he was talking and explaining; "Commas are very essential when writing a story. They are used for when you take a breath, otherwise if a person was reading a sentence aloud, they would most likely die from loss of air, or at least go very blue in the face."

Well, that makes sense to you, doesn't it?

Kirkland finally pulls himself from the board with a number of written sentences. He takes the whip and points it to the sentence; 'What is it, Alfred?'

"Now, commas in speech are usually used when addressing somebody. Such as this sentence, where I've written down that I'm talking to Alfred, not about Alfred, I have a comma before his name, because I'm adding an extra note. That is what commas are mainly for, when you're adding another note and keeping the sentence going because it's still connected somehow. It's more effective than using 'and' all the time, isn't it?"

"I also used it again there, did you hear?" You can, just about, so you nod. Kirkland doesn't seem convinced, since your nod was hesitant. "I'm not so sure you did. Well, let me try again for you." Kirkland began writing another sentence down; 'It's a lovely day outside, isn't it?' Kirkland put the chalk down and snapped the whip on the board to further point the rather obvious sentence. At least, it seemed obvious to you, at any rate.

"Now, this is the most common use of a comma. When you're talking to someone, you often ask a question after a statement, such as this. Or maybe you ask 'isn't that right?' It's the same. You must always put a comma there, as it's an added thing and not completely part of the sentence. It'd sound rather strange if you said the whole thing without taking a breath, now wouldn't it?" You nod, because it did. Imagining a person coming up to you and saying "It's a lovely day outside isn't it?" really quickly without a breath before 'isn't it' sounded stupid.

Mr Kirkland noticed most of the nods and smiled, happy with the result. "Now, you have to remember that a long sentence with a lot of commas isn't necessarily wrong, but it does have to have a certain rhythm and mood. For example, if you were to look in the mind of a madman, there might not even be commas used because those thoughts are moving so fast you can't understand most of what is being said. That makes sense. Now take the mind of a frightened person, now a frightened person can still make sense, but it'll still be at a fast pace and a bit difficult to keep track, but not impossible. A lot of commas can be used when listening to the mind of a frightened or excited person, because they're taking little breaths in the middle of speaking. Sometimes, a frightened person's thoughts might take a while to process, or if they are stunned, either pauses, which are the three full stops together, or just full stops in places let you know that their thoughts are taking a while to gather, or their speech isn't that good and has to keep pausing or taking a big breath each time they speak" (Darth Vadar from Star Wars and Harkat Mulds from Saga of Darren Shan are good examples.)

"This is the basic nutshell; a full stop means a big breath, you actually stop for a second or two to take a breath and start a new sentence about something different, a comma is used for short breaths, a second or less, and you continue onward with the sentence or about something related, at any rate, and finally a sentence with no full stops or commas means that you're speaking very quickly and not taking a breath whilst reading this out aloud. Does that make any better sense?" The whole class seems to nod, so you think, as Kirkland smiles and nods back. "Excellent. I hope that helps to make your story seem even a bit better. Who else wants to ask a question?"

A random stranger that you've never seen before, you don't even know whether it's a boy or a girl, but by the voice it sounded like a girl, raised her hand; "I've got a question, Mr Kirkland, please?"

Mr Kirkland pointed the whip towards the girl; "Yes, what is it you ask?"

Coming next is something more specific to Hetalia, but also can be important in other fandoms, just mostly in Hetalia. The Importance of Historically Accurate Stories.

After that will hopefully be tips on characterisation and possibly with it, "Why Mary Sues are big no-no's." Along with pros and cons of OCs. This'll take a while and I might hide in a cave or something to research it and try to give the best I can on this subject, since it's a bit touchy.

Leave a review if you've any questions. How about let's start with a "Dear Mr Kirkland,"? :P because HoshiUta did and it sounded amazing. LOL C'mon dudes, ask Mr Kirkland anything you desire and he shall answer to the best of his abilities. I promise he won't whip you (much) :D

~Blackie