Comma or no comma in this sentence??? (tense, quote, words)

[lousywriter]

Big bruha in our household over this sentence - Ms knowitall says wack the commas. I say leave them.

Their excitement was infectious; their enthusiasm, boundless; and their resilence, inspiring.

So, should I leave the red commas? Your input is REALLY appreciated!

[Charles22]

You can leave the commas or substitute them with 'was'. Removing the commas is total fail.

[GayleTX]

Leave out the commas.

You also need to correct the spelling.

[Tia 914]

Originally Posted by lousywriter

Big bruha in our household over this sentence - Ms knowitall says wack the commas. I say leave them.

Their excitement was infectious; their enthusiasm, boundless; and their resilence, inspiring.

So, should I leave the red commas? Your input is REALLY appreciated!

leave them in

[Sgoldie]

"Their excitement was infectious, their enthusiasm boundless, and their resilence inspiring."

This is the way I would do it. It's too choppy otherwise. I only use a semicolon when changing ideas not in seperating them.

[Twinkle Toes]

I agree with Sgoldie - but resilence is spelled "resilience".

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

I agree with Sgoldie - but resilence is spelled "resilience".

Seconded! The sentence as written by Sgoldie (with Twinkle Toes' spelling correction) is the right one.

There is, you know, a tendency to, how shall I say, overuse, if not actually misuse, the comma.

[StarlaJane]

Originally Posted by lousywriter

Big bruha in our household over this sentence - Ms knowitall says wack the commas. I say leave them.

Their excitement was infectious; their enthusiasm, boundless; and their resilence, inspiring.

So, should I leave the red commas? Your input is REALLY appreciated!

I would actually do:

"Their excitement was infectious; their enthusiasm, boundless; their resilience--inspiring."

You can take out the commas but it will mean something different (i.e. you will not be placing emphasis on the words after the commas.) At the end of the day, it depends on what you are trying to say/communicate. In fact, it is inadequate to edit this sentence out of context. Moreover, it depends on whom you are writing for and your audience.

[StilltheSame]

S goldie's way or out.

[linicx]

I think it is unbalanced because the tense changed.

Their excitement was infectious; their enthusiasm was boundless; and their resilience was inspiring.

I would write it a little differently. Their boundless energy was exciting, enthusiastic and inspiring.