Re: Paul Lockhart's book reviewed in the L.A. Times!

From: Rin Watt <katecwatt_at_gmail.com_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:05:36 -0000

But if it makes you go "hmmm" more effectively, it did have more of a spark, more tension, more implication, than the period would have, no?

A colon just sets up a list methodically, explicitly.

I eat incongruous foods together: peanut butter, jelly, bacon, mayonnaise, pickle slices, and oreo cookies on white bread.

There's no suspense.

I will now provide an example: here is that example.

It's a flat, almost dead transaction.

A semicolon, in my book, creates a delicious tension, a relationship. The fact that you can put in a however or therefore makes that relationship more clear, and the fact that you can have either complimentary or contradictory relationship words means that the site of connection is ripe with possibilities.

My husband beat me; however, he's still alive.
My husband beat me; therefore, he's dead now.

But even without a conjunctive adverb, the semicolon in and of itself tells the reader there's a relationship, and it begs for exploration of the nature of that relationship.

My husband beat me; he's dead now is more subtle, and provides more plausible deniability in court, than if the therefore is included.

It's more fun and more zazzy.

I agree that semicolons allow for greater variety of sentence length and for more effective prose, and I am not disputing your usage. Their main purpose, however, for me, is the tension they create, the *pop* of thought happening right in front of you.

Rin
Received on 2009-04-26 08:06:32