Donner
02-25-2001, 12:22 PM
The poor ellipsis. It sits there, so misunderstood, so misused. The ellipsis has a proper function just as any form of punctuation does, which is as follows:
1. Consisting usually of three spaced period (suspension points) or asterisks and corresponding in effect to a sustaned pause in speech, an ellipsis often indicates an interrupted or unfinished sentence. Wherever an ellipsis is terminal, a period follows <"I shall...that is...if we can only...." He faltered and stopped speaking.> <"Cut the line and cast...." His voice was lost in the crash of the next wave.>
2. An ellipsis often occurs as a notational device to indicate an omission in quoted matter, as a word or a group of consecutive words unessential or undesirable for quotation <"Oh say can you see...what so proudly we hailed...?">
3. An ellipsis on a line by itself in poetry indicates the omission of one or more lines of verse. Sometimes it consists of periods spaced and extended in number to the full measure of the line:
Thus driven
By the bright shadow of that lovely dream,
.............................................
He fled
--P. B. Shelley
Donner,
Patron moderator of misunderstood marks of punctuation everywhere.
[This message has been edited by Donner (edited 02-25-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Donner (edited 02-28-2001).]
1. Consisting usually of three spaced period (suspension points) or asterisks and corresponding in effect to a sustaned pause in speech, an ellipsis often indicates an interrupted or unfinished sentence. Wherever an ellipsis is terminal, a period follows <"I shall...that is...if we can only...." He faltered and stopped speaking.> <"Cut the line and cast...." His voice was lost in the crash of the next wave.>
2. An ellipsis often occurs as a notational device to indicate an omission in quoted matter, as a word or a group of consecutive words unessential or undesirable for quotation <"Oh say can you see...what so proudly we hailed...?">
3. An ellipsis on a line by itself in poetry indicates the omission of one or more lines of verse. Sometimes it consists of periods spaced and extended in number to the full measure of the line:
Thus driven
By the bright shadow of that lovely dream,
.............................................
He fled
--P. B. Shelley
Donner,
Patron moderator of misunderstood marks of punctuation everywhere.
[This message has been edited by Donner (edited 02-25-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Donner (edited 02-28-2001).]