Lists
Lists make items in a series easier to read. You might list the following kinds of information:
- steps in a process, rank order, to refer to a numbered item later in the text, elements in time
- materials needed for a project
- parts of an object
- recommendations for changes
- items to be discussed
- criteria for evaluation
Lists are easier to read when they are displayed rather than run into your text. In either case, a list is usually introduced with an independent clause followed by a colon, as in the list above.
LIST RUN INTO TEXT
Movies are rated by the film-rating board of the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) based on several criteria, including the following: overall theme, language use, presence of violence, presence of nudity and sexual content, and combined use of these elements in one film.
DISPLAYED LIST
Movies are rated by the film-rating board of the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) based on several criteria, including the following:
- overall theme
- language use
- presence of violence
- presence of nudity and sexual content
- combined use of these elements in one film
- If the items are all of the same type (not a rank or sequence), use a bulleted list.
- If items are steps, in time sequence, or by rank, number the list. Use arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) followed by periods.
- Introduce a list with a complete sentence followed by a colon.
- Arrange the items in some meaningful order.
- Phrase the items in parallel grammatical form.
- Use periods if the items are complete sentences.
- Avoid long lists, anything longer than 8 or 9 items.
- Don’t use too many lists. Too many of them will give a document a choppy, cluttered look.
Related topics:
Parallel ideas in headings and lists
Colons with lists