COMMAS
HOUSENICK'S 4 COMMA RULES
SEMICOLONS
COLONS
HYPHENS and DASHES
ELLIPSES
QUOTATION
MARKS
QUOTATION MARKS vs. UNDERLINING
ITALICS
BRACKETS
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POS
ERRORS
MECHANICS
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030
101
102
BARD
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*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:
-
to indicate a
pause in speech: (alternately used as a dash)
-
to indicate a
trailing off by a speaker:
-
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).
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*QUOTE
ONLY RELEVANT INFORMATION!
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* 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 anything added 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.
-
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)
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