Week 1 Grammar

I was pondering over the vast possibilities for my first grammar subject. I was looking at the keyboard, and noticed the semicolon key. Bingo, I had my answer. I realized I knew virtually nothing about this punctuation mark. I knew I had seen it in various books and articles I had read; I know it is under my right pinkie when I type; and I know many years ago in one or two of my English Classes a teacher mentioned something about it. Needless to say, this knowledge doesn’t do much for me when it comes to writing papers.

I located the following information on the subject of the semicolon at this web site:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/semicolon.htm

Use a semicolon [ ; ]
· to help sort out a monster list:There were citizens from Bangor, Maine; Hartford, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newport, Rhode Island.ORWe had four professors on our committee: Peter Wursthorn, Professor of Mathematics; Ronald Pepin, Professor of English; Cynthia Greenblatt, Professor of Education; and Nada Light, Professor of Nursing.
· to separate closely related independent clauses:My grandmother seldom goes to bed this early; she's afraid she'll miss out on something.
The semicolon allows the writer to imply a relationship between nicely balanced ideas without actually stating that relationship. (Instead of saying because my grandmother is afraid she'll miss out on something, we have implied the because. Thus the reader is involved in the development of an idea—a clever, subliminal way of engaging the reader's attention.)
It is rare, but certainly possible, that you will want a semicolon to separate two independent clauses even when those two independent clauses are connected by a coordinating conjunction. This is especially true when the independent clauses are complex or lengthy and when there are commas within those independent clauses. You might consider breaking those two independent clauses into separate sentences when this happens.
· Coach Auriemma realized that his next recruiting class contained two superb guards, a fine post player, and a power forward; but as of the end of the spring recruiting season, he was still pushing to discover better first-year players for the interior positions.
Now I have expanded my knowledge of the semicolon and its use. Maybe the expansion is only to a small degree, but it is surely a step in the right direction. We will see how this helps in the upcoming weeks I’m sure.