College Essay Writing Tips: Let’s Talk Periods (and Commas and Quotation Marks)

I can’t say this enough: periods and commas go INSIDE the quotation mark. Always.

I’ll repeat that for folks in the back. Commas? Inside the quotation marks. Periods? Same.

I don’t care if the punctuation is in the middle of the sentence or at the end, the little dots and the little squiggles go inside “these guys.” (See what I did there?)

Let’s say you’re going to quote Shakespeare. “Romeo, oh Romeo. Wherefore art thou comma goeth, anyway? I know I must put it somewhere,” muttered Juliet. (See? Inside.)

Whether you’re talking about Taylor Swift’s “The Outside,” or the Friends episode “The One Where Joey Moves Out,” the comma goes INSIDE the quotes. 

That’s it. End of story. Period.

PS - Also, “high school” is two words.