Read Online A Dash of Style by Noah Lukeman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Noah Lukeman
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always made a
point of setting in just as he had some out-door work to do; so that though his patrimonial estate had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was little more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it was the worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood.
Notice how using the semicolon enables the reader to take in such a long, full image, yet at the same time allows the reader some time to pause between these images, allows more breathing room than if there had merely been commas. Thanks to the semicolons, we can take in the image of the decrepit condition of his farm at once, making its impact all the more powerful.
• The semicolon can provide clarity in a sentence plagued by commas. When too many commas are on the scene, a sentence can become confusing; a semicolon can step in and divide the clauses, bringing clarity back to the sentence. As Lynne Truss says in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, the semicolon "performs the duties of a kind of Special Policeman in the event of comma fights." Consider:
I wanted the shovel and the rake, the pitchfork she could keep.
I wanted the shovel and the rake; the pitchfork she could keep.
In the former example, it is hard to tell where one thought ends and another begins, while in the latter it's clear.
• Sometimes a period needs the help of a semicolon, too. There comes a point when a period loses its effectiveness, when a series of short sentences simply can't bear another one. A comma won't always be able to help, especially if there are numerous self-contained sentences. Consider:
The barbecue was going fine until my father-in-law arrived. Within five minutes he was telling me how to cook. When to flip. What kind of meat to use. I could kill him.
There are too many periods here, giving the text a choppy feel (unless the author is trying to create an extremely stylized text). Commas could be brought in, but they wouldn't provide long enough pauses to hammer each point home. Thus, the semicolon:
The barbecue was going fine until my father-in-law arrived. Within five minutes he was telling me how to cook; when to flip; what kind of meat to use. I could kill him.
The semicolon not only nicely connects these short sentences, but also allows the last sentence to stand out from the others. The period is able to take a long, well-deserved rest, and then once again exert its power.
Using a semicolon before a period, particularly in a longer sentence, can also help restore the bang to the period. For example:
You may well ask why I write. And yet my reasons are quite many. For it is not unusual in human beings who have witnessed the sack of a city or the falling to pieces of a people to desire to set down what they have witnessed for the benefit of unknown heirs or of generations infinitely remote; or, if you please, just to get the sight out of their heads.
This comes from Ford Madox Ford's novel The Good Soldier. By placing the semicolon where he does, we feel the impact of the final period, an impact we would not have felt otherwise. Notice also the wonderful contrast between the long clause preceding the semicolon and the short one following it, which makes each stand out. Notice also how he varies his punctuation throughout, beginning with two short sentences, and avoiding commas in the first part of the third sentence. Each of these choices mirrors the intent of the content.
• Taking a step back and looking at a paragraph in context, it's easier to see the flaws. Some sentences will be too long, some too short, and some long-short combinations will be jarring. The semicolon is the great balancer. There is no better tool to help smooth out a group of sentences and allow them to work within the context of the paragraph. Consider this example from F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night:
Before eight a man came down to the beach in a blue bathrobe and with much preliminary application to his person of the chilly water, and
point of setting in just as he had some out-door work to do; so that though his patrimonial estate had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was little more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it was the worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood.
Notice how using the semicolon enables the reader to take in such a long, full image, yet at the same time allows the reader some time to pause between these images, allows more breathing room than if there had merely been commas. Thanks to the semicolons, we can take in the image of the decrepit condition of his farm at once, making its impact all the more powerful.
• The semicolon can provide clarity in a sentence plagued by commas. When too many commas are on the scene, a sentence can become confusing; a semicolon can step in and divide the clauses, bringing clarity back to the sentence. As Lynne Truss says in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, the semicolon "performs the duties of a kind of Special Policeman in the event of comma fights." Consider:
I wanted the shovel and the rake, the pitchfork she could keep.
I wanted the shovel and the rake; the pitchfork she could keep.
In the former example, it is hard to tell where one thought ends and another begins, while in the latter it's clear.
• Sometimes a period needs the help of a semicolon, too. There comes a point when a period loses its effectiveness, when a series of short sentences simply can't bear another one. A comma won't always be able to help, especially if there are numerous self-contained sentences. Consider:
The barbecue was going fine until my father-in-law arrived. Within five minutes he was telling me how to cook. When to flip. What kind of meat to use. I could kill him.
There are too many periods here, giving the text a choppy feel (unless the author is trying to create an extremely stylized text). Commas could be brought in, but they wouldn't provide long enough pauses to hammer each point home. Thus, the semicolon:
The barbecue was going fine until my father-in-law arrived. Within five minutes he was telling me how to cook; when to flip; what kind of meat to use. I could kill him.
The semicolon not only nicely connects these short sentences, but also allows the last sentence to stand out from the others. The period is able to take a long, well-deserved rest, and then once again exert its power.
Using a semicolon before a period, particularly in a longer sentence, can also help restore the bang to the period. For example:
You may well ask why I write. And yet my reasons are quite many. For it is not unusual in human beings who have witnessed the sack of a city or the falling to pieces of a people to desire to set down what they have witnessed for the benefit of unknown heirs or of generations infinitely remote; or, if you please, just to get the sight out of their heads.
This comes from Ford Madox Ford's novel The Good Soldier. By placing the semicolon where he does, we feel the impact of the final period, an impact we would not have felt otherwise. Notice also the wonderful contrast between the long clause preceding the semicolon and the short one following it, which makes each stand out. Notice also how he varies his punctuation throughout, beginning with two short sentences, and avoiding commas in the first part of the third sentence. Each of these choices mirrors the intent of the content.
• Taking a step back and looking at a paragraph in context, it's easier to see the flaws. Some sentences will be too long, some too short, and some long-short combinations will be jarring. The semicolon is the great balancer. There is no better tool to help smooth out a group of sentences and allow them to work within the context of the paragraph. Consider this example from F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night:
Before eight a man came down to the beach in a blue bathrobe and with much preliminary application to his person of the chilly water, and
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