Sprunger

ENG 315

List Strategies

No single type of list is best for all occasions. Think about issues of clarity, emphasis, and rhetoric when you choose a list type. Then, once you’ve chosen a type of list, make sure you use the appropriate punctuation conventions.

1. Set off with colon

I enjoy listening to different kinds of music: blues, jazz, funk, and rock.

–To use this kind of list, the material preceding the colon must be a free-standing sentence

–The first element in the list is usually not capitalized

–You may also set lists at the ends of sentences off with dashes for a dramatic effect although most rhetoric texts caution against overusing the dash.

2. Embedded and set off with dashes

Different kinds of music--blues, jazz, funk, and rock–can be heard at our house.

–A dash is two adjacent hyphens. Traditionally, leave no space between the dash and the elements it connects

–Most rhetoric texts caution against overusing the dash.

3. Embedded and set off with parentheses

Different kinds of music (blues, jazz, funk, and rock) can be heard at our house.

–Rhetorically, this is the least effective kind of list because readers are conditioned to consider parenthetical information optional

4. “Such as”

I enjoy listening to different kinds of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, and rock.

–With this list, a comma sets off the entire phrase

5. “Such … as”

I enjoy listening to such different kinds of music as blues, jazz, funk, and rock.

–This format requires no commas to separate the list from the main clause

6. Technical Lists

I enjoy listening to different kinds of music: 1) blues; 2) jazz; 3) funk; and 4) rock.

–Technical lists put great emphasis on the list contents, usually at the rhetorical expense of the entire sentence. Use such lists sparingly in non-technical writing.

–Technical lists vary. There are different ways to punctuate them, to lay them out (horizontal, vertical, etc.), and so forth. Check your preferred style sheet.