• FUNCTION:

  • Since the word "ellipses" comes from the Greek for "omission,"

  • it follows that writers use these marks to indicate an intentional exclusion

    • of a word, phrase, line, or paragraph.

  • As research writers, we generally employ ellipses to truncate or abridge lengthy quotations in order to stay on point; however, we may also use this device for the following purposes:

• PURPOSE:

  • indicate a pause in speech:

    • (alternately used as a dash)

    • The truth of the matter is . . . I broke the lamp while playing basketball in the house.

  • to indicate a trailing off by a speaker:

    • "Hmm, I wonder . . .," Jackson said, considering the possibilities.

  • to indicate missing text from a document:

DUKE VINCENTIO: 

Of government the properties to unfold,
Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse;
Since I am put to know that your own science
Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice
My strength can give you: then no more remains,
But that to your sufficiency [. . . .]
[. . . .] as your worth is able

And let them work.
                        (from Shakespeare's Measure For Measure)

• to truncate a quotation:

  • original: "The hazardous effects of smoking on a teenager's still-maturing body, in addition to the consequences mentioned earlier in this text--which include the yellowing of teeth, the staining of fingers, and the persistence of halitosis--consist of the stunting of growth, the acceleration of the aging process, the drying out of the skin, and, of course, the exacerbation of the likelihood of the wide range of cancers" (Smithfield 67-68).

  • abridged form that remains focused: "The hazardous effects of smoking on a teenager's still-maturing body [. . .] consist of the stunting of growth, the acceleration of the aging process, the drying out of the skin, and, of course, the exacerbation of the likelihood of the wide range of cancers" (Smithfield 67-68).

    • *QUOTE ONLY RELEVANT INFORMATION!
       

• TYPING: ( . . . )

  • only 3 dots (evenly spaced)

    • 4th dot is a period, when necessary (the omission is at the sentence's end)

  • (word) space period space period space period space (word)

  • MLA format dictates that writers use brackets [  ] around any changes to a quoted source

    • such as [sic] or [that] or [Hawthorne]

    • thus, we must place brackets around ellipses when they omit words from an original statement--

      • otherwise, readers of our essays would not be able to distinguish between our ellipses and those used by the original author

      • as seen in the Smithfield quote above

  • EXCEPTION: a full line of dots is used to convey the omission of lines of poetry or dramatic dialogue: (from Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus)

In the following speech, Aaron, the alpha predator, at home within the wild, sums up the qualities of the woods in a manner contrary to the pastoral tradition as he details his nefarious scheme:

The forest walks are wide and spacious;
And many unfrequented plots there are
Fitted by kind for rape and villany:
Single you thither then this dainty doe,
And strike her home by force, if not by words:
This way, or not at all, stand you in hope
[. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]
The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull;
There speak, and strike, brave boys, and take your turns;
There serve your lusts, shadow'd from heaven's eye,
And revel in Lavinia's treasury. (2.1.114-31 emphasis mine)