variety.

cf. dickinson.

actually that might be the defining quality of the english language, its high redundancy, even for grammatical constructs or punctuation.

Nah.

semicolon is better for clauses that are somehow parallel or symmetrical; em dash is best for unequal clauses—like this.

>>7735505
oh, you wanted to convince me that the semicolon is NOT necessary

I can't. It's necessary. And most of the time a period would be a better substitute than an em dash.

>>7735462
emily dickinson uses dashes in probably the worst way possible, haphazardly and completely ungrammatical, and they're not even em dashes; they're en dashes.

em dashes are useful for blocking out separate thoughts. sometimes separating a clause in commas can create confussion i.e. if you have too many clauses and commas already (cf proust).

semi colons are overused and abused (cf gass) but they can create a rhythm to the prose that's less heavy and more fleet-footed, but that's rarely the case.

>>7735453
Why? Only hacks discriminate when it comes to punctuation.

>>7735512
But Gass uses the semicolon masterfully.

>>7735537
no.

>>7735543
Yes.

>>7735453
I hate myself for falling for this bait but semicolons are needed to replace commas in lists where individual items themselves need commas.