Other Punctuation Marks: 
Colons, Parentheses,Brackets, Ellipses, Dashes, Slashes

Use COLONS:

After an independent clause to introduce a list.

ex.: Novelists of the Naturalistic school include the following: Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, and Frank Norris.

With some quotations.

ex.: The title of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath comes from a line in the first verse of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic": "He is trampling down the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."

With appositives (a noun or noun phrase that renames a nearby noun).

ex.: I will be traveling to three major cities in the Orient: Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Bangkok.

Note: Appositives are usually set off by commas.

ex.: The designer of Cher's dress, Bob Mackie, also designed for the stars of "Dynasty."

Between independent clauses when the second restates or explains the first.

ex.: We are very excited to work in here: it is a fun and interesting job.

Use PARENTHESES:

For supplemental material or digressions.

ex.: Mel Gibson is an extremely talented, charismatic (not to mention attractive), film actor.

Note: Avoid using parentheses this way in your papers. Whenever possible, work supplemental material and digressions into your sentences.

Use BRACKETS:

To enclose words or phrases of your own that you are inserting in a direct quotation.

ex.: The senator asserted, "He [Judge Thomas] is a worthy candidate for the Supreme Court, the charges against him notwithstanding."

Use ELLIPSIS MARKS:

To show that you have deleted words from a direct quotation. The rules can be a bit confusing, but we have provided some details on our page about the use of direct quotations.

Use DASHES:

To set off parenthetical material that deserves emphasis.

ex.: Coleridge was able--through the generosity of a wealthy patron--to concentrate on his poetry full time.

Note: A dash can also be used to set off an appositive that contains commas:

ex.: The major characters in Light in August--Lena Grove, Joe Christmas, and Gail Hightower--are all connected by a relationship with Byron Bunch.

Note: When typing, use two hyphens with no space before, between or after to indicate a dash.

Use SLASHES:

To separate lines of poetry that you quote in your text.

ex.: The beginning of the "Eolian Harp" is filled with traditional Romantic pastoral imagery, "Our cot o'ergrown / With white-flowered Jasmin, and broad-leav'd Myrtle,".

Note: There should be a space before and after the slash.