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FUNCTION:
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Since the word "ellipses"
comes from the Greek for "omission,"
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it follows that writers use these marks to
indicate an
intentional exclusion
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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:
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PURPOSE:
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indicate a pause in speech:
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to indicate a trailing off by a speaker:
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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)
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to truncate a quotation:
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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).
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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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TYPING: ( . . . )
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only 3 dots
(evenly spaced)
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(word) space period
space period space period space
(word)
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MLA format dictates that writers use
brackets
[ ]
around any changes to a quoted
source
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such as
[sic]
or [that]
or [Hawthorne]
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thus, we must place
brackets around ellipses
when they omit words from an original statement--
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otherwise, readers of our
essays would not be able to distinguish between
our ellipses and those used by the original
author
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as seen in the Smithfield quote above
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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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