Both Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis had made a point...

"Both Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis had made a point, individually, of explaining that, really, the hearse should only be used for funerals, and they had a van that they used to collect bodies, but the van was being repaired, had been for three weeks now, and could he be very careful with the hearse?"

-Neil Gaiman, American Gods

This seems a good example of a periodic sentence, especially considering it calls attention to the characters "making a point" only after a string of clauses. You don't know until completing the sentence that the point is asking the character (Shadow) to be careful taking the hearse out. The use of a periodic sentence here helps build characterization of Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis; they can't simply ask Shadow to be careful taking the hearse out, no, they must also outline why this is a special circumstance and he therefore must be especially careful with it. The sentence also makes good use of hypotaxis. The hearse really only should be used for funerals (important), we have a van for collecting bodies (less important than the hearse), but the van is being repaired (more important point than just having the van), and it has been for three weeks (adding importance because it explains just how long they've already been dealing with this, longer than just a few days or one week, three weeks!), so could he be very careful with the hearse (most important idea of all, finally; it's the most important because it also carries the explanation that the only reason Shadow is taking the hearse is because they have no other choice).

I also really enjoy the nuances of speech Gaiman includes in this line without actually just writing the line as dialog. That both of them, individually, had explained this to Shadow, "...explaining that, really..." and the quantification of how long the van had been in for repairs.

In my imitation, I'm reflecting how very natural this type of exchange is (I think especially in household settings, in which kids are often told the same information more than once because their parents want to emphasize how important it is, and there's a great sense of that "parent talking to a child" tone in this line); it's the context in which the line is put (using a hearse and picking up dead bodies) that makes it really stand out.

Both mom and dad had made the point, individually, of explaining that, really, dad's computer should only be used by dad, and they had a family computer for the kids to do homework, but the family computer had been hit by a virus, and they hadn't been able to fix it yet, hadn't for three weeks now, and could he be very careful with dad's computer?