Anton Shepelev - Ardith Hinton  writes:

> Ardith Hinton:
>
> AH> Hmm.  Peter Taylor may have considered it acceptable to
> AH> introduce a tense change at the beginning of a new
> AH> paragraph, but I don't see what purpose it serves here.
>
> Furthermore, he has done it in mid-paragraph too!  As to
> Taylor's purpose in a narraion, I think a brief lapse into
> the Present is a kind of emphasizing device -- like zoom and
> slow motion in cinematograph (think "Keoma") -- that, if
> employed sparingly, can for a short duration intensify the
> concentration of the reader through increased "presnece".
> Such, at least, is my impression.

I see your use of commas match my intuition about them, but I, so far,
have not found an English grammar, or any book, that would clearly spell
out these rules to me.

If I may, let me ask some questions.  My intuition says I should always
isolate a vocative in between commas.  ``Hi, Anton.''  However, I pretty
much never see anyone writing that way.  Isn't that a grammar rule?

You wrote ``furthermore, [...]''.  That also matches my intuition.  But
I often see people ignoring this comma.  Perhaps this is an optional
comma.  Is it?  What is the book you go to to cite such rules?

Thank you.

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