The Question Mark
Did you know, "Virginia," that you can put a question mark mid sentence?
Well, you can.
Here's an example from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas 'A Kempis:
"But what art thou to those who love thee? what to those who serve thee with their whole heart?"
You get the idea. Now send me an example and I'll post it here.
The Semi colon
The semi colon acts as a referee between two independent clauses and prevents them from turning--to their chagrin--into a comma splice or a run-on sentence.
When two thoughts are tied closely together and a period would be too abrupt, consider the semicolon; it's less intrusive than a dash.
Some seek fame and fortune; others seek humility and simplicity.
Send me your example of when to use a semicolon and I'll post it.
The Exclamation Mark
It's come to my attention that the exclamation should be used sparingly or when shouting such things as "Fire!" That is partly because it is better to show the reader, rather than tell, aside from those occasions when an exclamation mark suits the occasion. "Oh dear! I've tied myself in knots again."
Exclamation marks, like question marks, can be inserted mid sentence.
The firefighter yelled "Jump!" and he did. Or, it can be used to show the reader that the exclamation belongs to the writer and not to the quote: He told me to "Go fly a kite"!
The Colon
I could be watching a comedy or reading a book, but instead I'm thinking about the colon. You might be nearly fainting from boredom, if indeed you've made it this far.
Let me explain: (There's one of the curious "creatures" now -- inserted mid sentence) by explaining I may encourage some. I myself have been encouraged.
There you have it; the colon is used as above (well, it's one of the uses); it's inserted to expand on what was said previously, to restate, to explain. It's inserted after a complete thought, before a list, after such words as "the following" and before a lengthy quote, instead of a comma.
Watch for the em dash (the width of an "m" used mid sentence and -- unlike many you see here -- set tight (CP Style requires a space before and after the em dash). And, it is permissible, on occasions such as this, to represent an em dash by two hyphens: -- (Introducing the em dash!).
(Time for that comedy.)