COLONS & SEMICOLONS

: ;COLONS & SEMICOLONS

Aim: What functions do colons and semicolons serve?

Homework: Look through your Into the Wild essay and find:• 1 sentence in which you used a colon well;• 1 sentence in which you used a colon

incorrectly;• 1 sentence in which you used a semicolon well;

and• 1 sentence in which you used a semicolon

incorrectly.

Rewrite the 2 sentences that used the punctuation incorrectly.

TODAY’S AGENDA

The deputy told me to empty my pockets: two quarters, a penny, a stick of bubble gum, and a roll of grip tape for my skateboard.

- Carl Hiaasen, Flush (2005)

WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?

Think of the colon as a megaphone, warning readers to note what follows next.

That might be:• A list• An important idea or explanation• A quotation

INTRODUCING COLONS: ONE SIMPLE RULE

“Empty your pockets!” Reluctantly, one by one, Hugo pulled out dozens of objects: screws and nails and bits of metal, gears and crumpled playing cards, tiny pieces of clockworks, cogs, and wheels.

- Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)

COLON USAGE #1: INTRODUCING A LISTCOLON USAGE #1: INTRODUCING A LIST

But the car is quiet for now, as are the noontime streets: gas stations, boundless concrete, brick buildings with plywood windows.

- Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics (2005)

COLON USAGE #1: INTRODUCING A LIST

NOTE: When a list comes immediately after a verb or a preposition, do NOT use a colon.• Foreign-aid organizations sent food,

clothing, medical supplies, toys, and books.

• He has always had an interest in snakes, lizards, mice, and other small animals.


NOTE: Expressions like as follows and the following often precede the colon.• The car trunk was large enough to contain all of the following

items needed for our trip: rackets, golf clubs, fishing supplies, suitcases, a picnic basket, and heavy clothing.

NOTE: A dash can replace the colon in informal writing (not in analytical essays).• That semester I was enrolled in seven classes—math, English,

shop, history, gym, French, and chicken.- Gordon Korman, The Chicken Doesn’t Skate (1998)


Create your own! Copy the structure of the Flush passage if you need a push.

__________________ told me to empty my __________________: _________________, __________________, and _________________.


Pop Rocks, for those who have never heard of them, are tiny fruit-flavored candies that come in the shape of finely ground gravel. They’re like any other hard candy—a boiled blend of sugar, corn syrup, flavor, and coloring—except for the secret ingredient: carbon dioxide gas compressed at 600 pounds per square inch.

- Steve Almond, Candyfreak (2005)

WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?

Take time for all things: Great haste makes great waste.

- Benjamin Franklin

This was all his life had been since April 29 of last year: a ride to somewhere he didn’t want to go.

- Jerry Spinelli, Eggs (2007)

I tried to concentrate on Ms. Meadows’s advice: “Just listen to yourself and put it down (on paper).”

- Tracy Mack, Drawing Lessons (2002)

COLON USAGE #2: INTRODUCING AN IMPORTANT IDEA OR EXPLANATION

More examples:

• The police had only one suspect: Vicky Smith.

• There was only one possible explanation: the train had never arrived.

• She finally admitted what he had suspected all along: she had forgotten their anniversary.

• Here’s what I propose: you pick me up at 8, and we’ll go there together.



• NOTE: The expression preceding the colon (introducing the important idea or explanation) is always an independent clause.

• NOTE: The important idea or explanation following the colon may be EITHER an independent clause OR a dependent clause.

• NOTE: A dash can replace the colon in informal writing.



Create your own!

1. _______________: ___________________.independent dependent

2. _______________: ___________________.independent independent



So the parents simply restate the teacher’s question and get a different answer: “‘So tell me, my child, what do you want to be when you grow up?’ … ‘I want to be a doctor’” (Satrapi 1178).

- period 2 student

COLON USAGE #3: INTRODUCING A QUOTE

When Holden is talking to Mr. Spencer, a word of advice is given to Holden and Holden’s response is what is so critical: “‘Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.’ ‘Yes, sir. I know it is, I know it.’ Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, alright—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game” (Salinger 8).

- period 5 student


NOTE: The colon is used to introduce a quote only when the expression preceding the quote is an independent clause. When the expression is a dependent clause, use a comma instead.• Although McCandless initially rejects all

emotional attachments to other people, his annotation in the margins of Doctor Zhivago suggests that, by the end of his life, his attitude has changed: “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (Krakauer 189).

• Although McCandless initially rejects all emotional attachments to other people, his attitude changes near the end of his life when he notes in the margins of Doctor Zhivago, “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (Krakauer 189).


While a colon introduces, a semicolon separates.• Semicolons are usually used to separate sentences we want to join

without a coordinating conjunction (“and,” “but,” “if,” “or,” etc.).- Take with you only indispensable things; leave behind all heavy

and bulky items.- Tension rose rapidly during yesterday’s meeting; nevertheless,

most of the Council members remained calm.• Semicolons can also be used (instead of a comma) to separate

items in a series, particularly when the items in the list contain commas themselves.

- The following are members of the new committee: Jan Bates, president of the Student Council; Allen Drew, president of the Senior Class; and Helen Berger, vice-president of the Honor Society.

SEMICOLONS SEPARATE

COLONS & SEMICOLONS

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