Underline the major ideas in the list within your sentence. This helps you more easily see how ideas connect and if you need to use semicolons or just commas. For instance, the following sentence mentions three primary ideas:
The painting includes wild colors of yellow, green, orange and blue, people of all classes including lower, middle and upper, and various geometric shapes such as circles, squares, triangles and rectangles.
Underline "wild colors of yellow, green, orange and blue" with a single line since the whole phrase discusses color. Then underline "people of all social classes, including lower, middle and upper" with a single line. Finally, "various geometric shapes such as circles, squares, triangles and rectangles" should have a single line.
Decide if you need to use commas within each underlined section. In the sample sentence, the lists of colors, social classes, and shapes all require commas.
Place semicolons between the underlined portions if you have commas within the sections. Therefore, punctuate the sample sentence as follows:
The painting includes wild colors of yellow, green, orange and blue; people of all classes, including lower, middle and upper; and various geometric shapes such as circles, squares, triangles and rectangles.