For a complex-list question, first determine what punctuation introduces the list. Then identify each complete list item and note any punctuation already used inside it; when the items contain internal commas, use stronger punctuation to separate the items from one another.
Hints
- Hint 1
Identify what follows the blank
Determine whether the material after “three patterns” explains, lists, or contrasts with what comes before it.
- Hint 2
Separate internal and external boundaries
Treat each “when” clause together with its following main clause as one complete list item. Then distinguish the punctuation needed within each item from the punctuation needed between items.
Step-by-step
- Step 1
Identify the introductory clause
The words “literary historian Amara Chen summarized three patterns” form an independent clause. The material that follows specifies what those three patterns are, so punctuation must introduce that information.
- Step 2
Analyze the list items
Each pattern is expressed as a complete complex clause: “when censorship intensified, the coded courtesies became more frequent,” “when inspections eased, they nearly disappeared,” and “when actors were arrested, the courtesies stopped entirely.” Each clause contains a comma separating an introductory dependent clause from its main clause.
- Step 3
Punctuate the two structural levels
A colon properly introduces the list after the independent clause. Because the list items contain internal commas, semicolons clearly separate the three items.