Misusing Quotation "Marks"

If you have ever graded student papers, or simply had to wade through a lot of bad writing, you've seen it: The profligate quotation mark. The single-most common comment I probably make on student papers is to circle unnecessary quotation marks and ask: "why"? This might become required reading for my students. (It will go along with this reminder, which I pointed out a few weeks ago, that the inapt quotation mark can also be used hamhandedly for ideological purposes.)