Brief Overview of Punctuation: Semicolon, Colon,Parenthesis, Dash ...

Brief Overview of Punctuation: Semicolon,
Colon,Parenthesis, Dash, Quotation Marks, and
Italics
Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu
Punctuation marks are signals to your readers. In speaking, we can pause,
stop, or change our tone of voice. In writing, we use the following marks of
punctuation to emphasize and clarify what we mean. Punctuation marks
discussed in other OWL documents include commas at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_comma.html, apostrophes
at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_apost.html, quotation
marks at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quote.html, and
hyphens at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_hyphen.html.
Semicolon ;
In addition to using a semicolon to join related independent clauses in
compound sentences, you can use a semicolon to separate items in a series if
the elements of the series already include commas. (For more help with
independent clauses, look here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_clause.html.)
Members of the band include Harold Rostein, clarinetist; Tony Aluppo, tuba
player; and Lee Jefferson, trumpeter.
Colon :
Use a colon . . .

in the following situations:
after a complete statement in
order to introduce one or more
directly related ideas, such as a
series of directions, a list, or a
quotation or other comment
illustrating or explaining the
statement.
in a business letter greeting.
between the hour and minutes
in time notation.
between chapter and verse in
biblical references.
for example:
The daily newspaper contains
four sections: news, sports,
entertainment, and classified
ads.
The strategies of corporatist
industrial unionism have proven
ineffective: compromises and
concessions have left labor in a
weakened position in the new
"flexible" economy.
Dear Ms. Winstead:
5:30 p.m.
Genesis 1:18
Parentheses ()
Parentheses are occasionally and sparingly used for extra, nonessential
material included in a sentence. For example, dates, sources, or ideas that are
subordinate or tangential to the rest of the sentence are set apart in
parentheses. Parentheses always appear in pairs.
Before arriving at the station, the old train (someone said it was a relic of
frontier days) caught fire.
Dash --
Use a dash (represented on a typewriter, a computer with no dashes in the
type font, or in a handwritten document by a pair of hyphens with no spaces) .
. .
in the following situations:
to emphasize a point or to set
off an explanatory comment;
but don't overuse dashes, or
they will lose their impact.
for example:
To some of you, my proposals
may seem radical--even
revolutionary.
In terms of public legitimation--

for an appositive phrase that
already includes commas.
that is, in terms of garnering
support from state legislators,
parents, donors, and university
administrators--English
departments are primarily
places where advanced literacy
is taught.
The boys--Jim, John, and Jeff--
left the party early.
For more help with appositives, look here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_appos.html
As you can see, dashes function in some ways like parentheses (used in pairs
to set off a comment within a larger sentence) and in some ways like colons
(used to introduce material illustrating or emphasizing the immediately
preceding statement). But comments set off with a pair of dashes appear less
subordinate to the main sentence than do comments in parentheses. And
material introduced after a single dash may be more emphatic and may serve a
greater variety of rhetorical purposes than material introduced with a colon.
Quotation Marks " "
Use quotation marks . . .
in the following situations:
to enclose direct quotations.
Note that commas and periods
go inside the closing quotation
mark in conventional American
usage; colons and semicolons
go outside; and placement of
question and exclamation marks
depends on the situation (see
our quotation marks document).
to indicate words used
ironically, with reservations, or
in some unusual way; but don't
overuse quotation marks in this
sense, or they will lose their
impact.
for example:
He asked, "Will you be there?"
"Yes," I answered, "I'll look for
you in the foyer."
History is stained with blood
spilled in the name of
"civilization."

For more information on writing research papers and using quotations, see our
workshop on writing research papers here
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/index.html.
Underlining and Italics
Underlining and italics are not really punctuation, but they are significant
textual effects used conventionally in a variety of situations. Before
computerized word-processing was widely available, writers would underline
certain terms in handwritten or manually typed pages, and the underlining
would be replaced by italics in the published version. Since word processing
today allows many options for font faces and textual effects, it is generally
recommended that you choose either underlining or italics and use it
consistently throughout a given document as needed. Because academic
papers are manuscripts and not final publications and because italics are not
always easily recognized with some fonts, many instructors prefer underlining
over italics for course papers. Whichever you choose, italics or underlining
should be used . . .
in the following situations:
to indicate titles of complete or
major works such as
magazines, books, newspapers,
academic journals, films,
television programs, long
poems, plays of three or more
acts
foreign words that are not
commonly used in English
words used as words
themselves
words or phrases that you wish
to emphasize
for example:
Faulkner's last novel was The
Reivers.
The Simpsons offers hilarious
parodies of American culture
and family life.
Wearing blue jeans is de rigueur
for most college students.
The English word nuance comes
from a Middle French word
meaning "shades of color."
The very founding principles of
our nation are at stake!
After reviewing this handout, you can try the Purdue OWL exercise on
semicolons, parentheses, dashes, quotation marks and italics (and then check
your answers). You can find it here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_overvwEX1.html

The following information must remain intact on every handout printed for distribution.
This page is located at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/grammar/g_overvw.html
Copyright ©1995-2004 by OWL at Purdue University and Purdue University. All rights
reserved.
Use of this site, including printing and distributing our handouts, constitutes acceptance of our
terms and conditions of fair use, available at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/lab/fairuse.html.
To contact OWL, please visit our contact information page at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/lab/contact.html to find the right person to call or email.