<u>1. To Join Two Independent Clauses in a Sentence </u> The first is to separate what are technically called independent clauses. Just think of these as complete sentences—they have a subject and a verb, and they could stand alone as sentences of their own. Take these two sentences, for instance:
• Jeff is tall. • Bill is short.
These are complete sentences, and to join them together into one sentence, we have to use a semicolon:
• Jeff is tall; Bill is short.
We cannot use ONLY a comma, as this would create what's called a <em>comma splice. </em>(We could use a comma AND a conjunction like and or but, but not just a comma by itself.)
• WRONG: Jeff is tall, Bill is short • RIGHT: Jeff is tall, but Bill is short. • RIGHT: Jeff is tall, and Bill is short. • RIGHT: Jeff is tall; Bill is short.
<u>2. (Sometimes) to Separate Items in a List </u> The second way to use semicolons is to separate items in a list. Normally we just do this we commas, like this:
• There are three types of tree in the orchard: apple, fig, and pear.
But sometimes commas can cause confusion in a list, especially if some of the items within that list have commas of their own. For instance:
• Some of the world's most popular cities to visit are Paris, France, Rome, Italy, and London, England.
Here, it looks like my list contains six items (Paris AND France AND Rome AND Italy AND London AND England.) But really it contains only three items (Paris, France AND Rome, Italy AND London, England), and to clarify that fact I can use semicolons:
• Some of the world's most popular cities to visit are Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and London, England.
Here, it's clear that I mean to have three cities, and not six places, in my list.
The Lost World<span> is a novel released in 1912 by </span>Sir Arthur Conan Doyle<span> concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals (</span>dinosaurs<span> and other extinct creatures) still survive. It was originally published serially in the popular </span>Strand Magazine<span> and illustrated by New-Zealand-born artist </span>Harry Rountree<span> during the months of April–November 1912. The character of </span>Professor Challenger<span> was introduced in this book. The novel also describes a war between </span>indigenous people<span> and a vicious tribe of ape-like creatures.</span>
The brothers’ ability to overcome difficulties to succeed as scholars.
Explanation:
The excerpt begins by informing us of the difficult personal problems and the meager financial support that the brothers faced from 1805 to 1812. It also highlights that, despite these problems, the brothers could prove themselves as innovative scholars in German philology. Therefore, that the author introduces is the brothers’ ability to overcome difficulties to succeed as scholars.