Lynne Truss¡¯ Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, is clearly intended to promote punctuation, as Truss "gives you permission to love punctuation¡± in a world ¡°approaching the point of illiteracy.¡± Truss¡¯ work provides a caustic statement regarding punctuation in modern society, and attempts to remedy this problem by providing an upbeat lesson in the subject. However, Truss¡¯ writing reveals the great paradox of the work: punctuation in excess can lead to a pompous and overbearing tone, thus proving to be counterproductive to the overall purpose of a given writing. For this reason, syntax and tone rather than punctuation serve as the primary vehicle for communicating ideas accurately.
             Lynne Truss prefaces the book by equating proficiency in punctuation with good manners in that ¡°they ease the way for others, without drawing attention to themselves¡± (Truss 7). In spite of this, Truss¡¯ excessive use of punctuation can seem very arrogant, as if she is using it to assert her importance:
             What did become depressingly clear, however, was that my personal hunches about the state of the language were horribly correct: standards of punctuation in general in the UK are indeed approaching the point of illiteracy; self-justified philistines (¡°Get a life!¡±) are truly in the driving seat of our culture; and a lot of well-educated sensitive people really have been weeping friendlessly in caves for the past few years, praying for someone ¡ª anyone ¡ª to write a book about punctuation with a panda on the cover. (Truss xix)
             Truss¡¯ punctuation hubris has the potential to alienate readers as she bombards them with her endless arsenal of commas, semicolons, and dashes. The author also presents herself to her readers ©¤ particularly the American readers ©¤ as condescending and out of touch with reality as she touches on a sensitive subject: ¡...