Feb. 20 class

ELLIPSIS – three periods with a space between each:   . . .

 

Write a sentence using an ellipsis

 

 

Used:

 

Middle of sentence

End of sentence

Between complete sentences or questions

 

Sometimes it is necessary to omit context from quoted material. An ellipsis ( . . . ) is used to

indicate something was omitted. MLA requires ellipsis before or after the words used when you

are quoting more than just a word or a phrase; however, writers only need to use ellipsis if it’s

unclear that the quotation does not completely reproduce the original passage.

 

Lincoln said we need government of the people, for the people, and by the people.

 

Importantly, MLA advises writers to ensure that omission does not

change the meaning of the quoted material (the author’s intent) or

create grammatical errors.

 

Ellipsis in MLA Within a Sentence

To form an ellipsis in MLA within a sentence, use three periods with a space before each period

and a space after the last period. Notice that the punctuation before and after an omission is

included in MLA (the introductory phrase in the example below is maintained in the version

where parts are omitted).

 

Original: Dampened by years of self-distrust, displaced by years of corporate

codependency in which we have channeled our creative energies into managing others’

perceptions of us, those energies awaken with startling power and poignancy.

 

Parts Omitted: “Dampened by years of self-distrust, . . . those energies awaken with

startling power and poignancy” (Bryan, Cameron, and Allen 188).

 

Seniors cannot be expected to pay utility bills, . . . if social security checks are reduced.

 

 

Ellipsis at the End of a Sentence

To form an ellipsis in MLA when the omitted material appears at the end of your sentence, type

the ellipsis with three periods with space before each period and include the closing quotation

marks immediately after the third period. Note that the period to end your sentence comes after

the parenthetical citation.

 

Original: It also requires you to listen to emotions, not just to facts, and to understand

the players – speaker and audience – intended and otherwise.

Parts Omitted: Bryan, Cameron, and Allen emphasize that listening “. . . requires you

to listen to emotions . . .” (147).

 

If your sentence ends in omitted material and a parenthetical citation isn’t used, then four

periods are included in the ellipsis, with no space before the first period or after the last one.

Ex. Winston Churchill in a speech that became known as We Shall Fight on the Beaches

declared, “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France . . . we shall fight on the

beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the

streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. . . ."

 

Ellipsis Within a Paragraph

When quoting paragraphs in MLA style, you may need to omit entire sentences. If the omission

begins at the end of a sentence, simply include the ellipsis in addition to the closing punctuation

of the previous sentence:

 

Original: On a side note, why do airports have to be so challenging to navigate?

Terminals and gates and going up to go down. Sound-minded individuals become utterly

lost. Anxious and jet-lagged individuals have no hope. I mean, you can hire people to

navigate the process of buying a plane ticket, but why can't you hire someone to navigate

the airport? Better yet, we should just have airport safaris.

Parts Omitted: “On a side note, why do airports have to be so challenging to navigate? . .

. Sound-minded individuals become utterly lost. Anxious and jet-lagged individuals have

no hope” (Jones 1) .

If the omission begins in the middle of a sentence, include the ellipsis and the punctuation of

that sentence only if it is needed for the resulting quotation to make sense:

 

Original: On a side note, why do airports have to be so challenging to navigate?

Terminals and gates and going up to go down. Sound-minded individuals become utterly

lost. Anxious and jet-lagged individuals have no hope. I mean, you can hire people to

navigate the process of buying a plane ticket, but why can't you hire someone to navigate

the airport? Better yet, we should just have airport safaris.

 

Parts Omitted: “On a side note, . . . you can hire people to navigate the process of buying

a plane ticket, but why can't you hire someone to navigate the airport?” (Jones 1)

[The comma from the first sentence is included since it’s needed grammatically to

maintain the introductory phrase on a side note.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. The Internet Classics

 

Archive. Web Atomic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13

 

Sept. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2008.

 

“All-natural, positive steps for better mental health.”  Association for Natural Psychology.

 

            Association for Youth, Children and Natural Psychology. 4 Feb. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2013
 

 

 

·         Author and/or editor names (if available)

·         Article name in quotation marks (if applicable)

·         Title of the Website, project, or book in italics. (Remember that some Print publications have Web publications with slightly different names. They may, for example, include the additional information or otherwise modified information, like domain names [e.g. .com or .net].)

·         Any version numbers available, including revisions, posting dates, volumes, or issue numbers.

·         Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.

·         Take note of any page numbers (if available).

·         Medium of publication.

·         Date you accessed the material.

 

HW: Due Monday: One page typed summary of how at least two of your sources will inform your paper.

Summary:

What is it about?

Evaluation:

Why are they good support? What do they do to further your argument? How can you use the source?