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Date: | Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:47:09 -0600 |
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The writer of this NY Times articles notes that people don't use semicolons because they were never taught how, but I'm not sure I agree. Maybe they just think they don't know how.
Things might be different now, but in the late 1980's I did a study at one university about students' use of semicolons. The long and short of it is that the vast majority of students and teachers believed freshmen could not use a semicolon correctly. Odd thing is that when I required these students to try to use a semicolon correctly, close to 80% did so--even though most did not think they were correct. What's more, most could even provide an accurate rule for the major use of a semicolon (to divide main clauses).
Again, this might not be the same situation nowadays, but I suspect many people can use a semicolon but are so uncertain (perhaps because of teachers' doubts about students' ability?) that they don't try. Or maybe they are confused about the more complex use of a semicolon to separate items in complex lists.
I avoided them myself as a student until I was in a junior-level Shakespeare class, and my teacher told me I received an A because I used the semicolon correctly--a "mature piece of punctuation" as he put it. I provided him with many semicolons thereafter. :-)
Larry Beason
____________________________
Larry Beason, Associate Professor
Director of Composition
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688-0002
251-460-7861
>>> "Spruiell, William C" <[log in to unmask]> 02/21/08 4:22 PM >>>
There was a piece in the Times a few days ago on semicolons, and I
thought it might be useful for class discussions. The Times came out
from behind its paywall a while ago, so its site is useful again (link
pasted below).
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/nyregion/18semicolon.html?em&ex=120374
2800&en=2f33d339a23e01ab&ei=5087%0A
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