• Use a semicolon between independent clauses not linked by a conjunction.

  Eg.: The coat is tattered beyond repair; still, Akaky hopes the tailor can mend it.

• Between items in a series when the items contain commas.

  Eg.: Present at the symposium were Henri Guillaume, the art critic; Sam Brown, the Daily Tribune reporter; and Maria Rosa, the conceptual artist.

• Between individually loonnng (very long) items in a series.

Colons:

• Use a colon to introduce a list, an elaboration of what was just said, or the formal expression of a rule or principle.

  Eg. [list]: The reading list includes three American novels: Moby Dick, The Country of the Pointed Firs, and McTeague.

  Eg. [elaboration]: The plot is founded on deception: the three main characters have secret identities.

  Eg. [rule or principle]: Many books would be briefer if their authors followed the logical principle known as Occam's razor: Explanations should not be multiplied unnecessarily. [A rule or principle after a colon should begin with a capital letter.]

• Before a quotation that is not formally introduced.

  Eg.: Shelley held a bold view: "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the World" (794).

Punctuation and quotations:

• Commas and periods: Place all commas or periods inside quotation marks.

  Eg.: "Read 'Kubla Khan,'" he told me.

• All other punctuation marks (; : ? !): Place outside of closing quotation mark, except when they are part of the quoted material.

  Eg.: Did he attack "taxation without representation"?
  Eg.: He declared, "I believe taxation without representation is tyranny!"