Birds' feathers, epidermal outgrowths consisting of shafts

[AbelK358]

Source: Thursdays with Ron - March 7, 2013 (2:40)

Birds' feathers, epidermal outgrowths consisting of shafts and veins interlaced with tiny barbs, serve various purposes; some aiding in flight, others insulating their bodies, and still others offering bright displays for mating rituals.

A) feathers, epidermal outgrowths consisting of shafts and veins interlaced with tiny barbs, serve various purposes; some aiding in flight, others insulating their bodies, and still others offering

B) feathers are epidermal outgrowths consisting of shafts and veins interlaced with tiny barbs; serving various purposes, aiding in flight, insulating the birds' bodies, and still offering

C) feathers, which are epidermal outgrowths consisting of shafts and veins, and serve various purposes: some aid the birds in flight, others insulate the birds' bodies, and still offer

D) feathers are epidermal outgrowths consisting of shafts and veins interlaced with tiny barbs; serving various purposes, with some aiding in flight, others insulate their bodies, with others still offering

E) feathers, epidermal outgrowths consisting of shafts and veins interlaced with tiny barbs, serve various purposes: some aid in flight, others insulate the birds' bodies, and still others offer

According to Ron, OA is E.

My question is how can answer "E" be a valid answer when the list of "various purposes" are all independent clauses that should be separated by semicolons, not commas?

[RonPurewal]

i don't know the terminology you're using, but, it seems that's actually the problem. you're not understanding BECAUSE you're focusing on terminology.

choice E has a common structure: the colon is followed by a complete sentence. (in fact, that's the structure of the sentence i just wrote there, too.)

in that complete sentence, there are 3 parallel elements—which themselves are smaller complete sentences—connected by commas.
Danny has a Prius, Rachel has a Dodge Ram, and Johnny has an Escalade.
this is a pretty common structure. you've seen sentences like this before, right?

these kinds of elements COULD be connected by semicolons, if there's a good reason—e.g., if they're especially long, or if they contain commas themselves—but they certainly don't have to be.

[aflaamM589]

Does it has to be list of at least three?
Danny has a Prius, Rachel has a Dodge Ram--> is it also correct?
Best

[RonPurewal]

Does it has to be list of at least three?
Danny has a Prius, Rachel has a Dodge Ram--> is it also correct?
Best

by itself? no. if you have just 2 things, then they have to be connected by "and", just like any other 2 things.

[RonPurewal]

you could connect those 2 things with a semicolon (without using "and"), but not just a comma.

[aflaamM589]

Thanks for the reply.
Does it work the same way for while?
Danny has a Prius, Rachel has a Dodge Ram, while Johnny has an Escalade
Best

[RonPurewal]

no, you can't do that. you can't have "x, y, while z"
"while" can only connect 2 things.

[aflaamM589]

Thank you very much Ron,

RonPurewal

no, you can't do that. you can't have "x, y, while z"
"while" can only connect 2 things.

Does the same go for whereas?
If yes, then that means

Danny has a Prius, Rachel has a Dodge Ram, whereas Johnny has an Escalade--> incorrect
But
as we can join 3 sentence with and, i am assuming ,therefore, we can also connect three sentences( independent clauses) with but as well.
i.e
Danny has a Prius, Rachel has a Dodge Ram, but Johnny has an Escalade--> correct

Is my understanding correct?
Thank you very very much.
Have a great weekend

[RonPurewal]

no, you can't do that with "but".

only "and" or "or", depending on context.

[aflaamM589]

Great.
Exactly what i was looking for.
Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.