I need help ...again.

Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by penhobby, Jul 23, 2008.

  1. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Suppose the sentence the hologram was delivering is: "In the late twenty-second century, the android soldiers broke free from their masters and launched an attack against the human population."

    With the scenario that Kelly interrupts him afte he begins the sentence, and he then continues further along in the sentence, we might have:
    What I gathered from Chris' remark that penhobby quoted was that a sentence picked up again somewhere in the middle does not begin with an ellipsis if the entire beginning of the sentence was not skipped, as in this case. The only way I could see that happening was if it were a continuatiuon of a previous fragment, and that's what I was trying to set up in the scenario, so I didn't begin the second quote with an ellipsis.

    My guess is that this would be very uncommon in fiction, but slightly more likely when citing a lengthy quoted sentence, in pieces, in an academic paper.

    Did I get it right? Again, my style guides, including the CMS, are about 40 miles away at the moment.
     
  2. penhobby

    penhobby New Member

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    I am so sorry, but now I get why some people on the forum call you 'salty'.

    I read this, and a light bulb went off in my head (It's been happening a lot lately.)
    Once again thanks, sometimes the professional term is more confusing than just seeing an example of it.
    Thank you! It reads so much better that way. One thing I have learned on this forum and from maia, and I will try to sum it up in one sentence fragment just for the heck of it. Keep it simple, but keep it real.

    If anyone happens to remember the ridiculous drivel, I posted in my very first threads, no one could say I haven’t learned anything from you guys. Thanks, I feel much better about starting school in August. I was and am still somewhat nervous. At least now I don’t feel like throwing up when I think about it though.
     
  3. NaCl

    NaCl Contributor Contributor

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    I believe you have it technically correct, but for me, I would still begin the follow-up dialog with an ellipsis because I think it helps the reader connect the two fragments better. If I am in technical error (and I am not convinced I am), then so be it. This is a conscious choice I make as a writer. Let the critics scream! LOL
     
  4. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    As esoteric as that rule appears to be, I doubt even the most anal reviewer would bitch about that one. :)

    I just wanted to know the formal rule for my own education.
     
  5. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    sorry, but that looks totally wrong to me... should definitely be an ellipsis beginning that continuation precisely because it's a continuation... makes no sense to start a line of dialog with a lower case letter, otherwise... and it can't be started with a capital, since it's not the first word in the sentence...
     
  6. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Maia, that came out of something that came up earlier in the thread:
    I was trying to understand Chris Hibbard's statement as well, and I haven't had time yet to dig deeply into the CMS (and Little, Brown) to verify or refute Chris' remark.

    I'm far from certain on this myself.
     
  7. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    what's little, brown got to do with anything?... did you mean strunk & white?

    as for 'correct'... a lot of stuff that may be considered 'incorrect' in academic or technical writing is ok in the creative realm, as long as it makes sense and 'works'...
     
  8. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Nope. The Little, Brown Handbook is one of my preferred references. I like Strunk and White also, but not as much for finding fine points of punctuation. The Scott Foresman Handbook for Writers is another one I often check.

    And you know I don't demand strict formal rules in creative writing, but I still like toi know what the formal rules are. :)
     

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