Original: 'The committee, after months of debate and several public hearings, approved the plan.' Which version uses an ellipsis correctly?
A'The committee . . . approved the plan.'
B'The committee (after months) approved the plan.'
C'The committee [approved] the plan.'
D'. . . The committee, after months of debate . . . the plan . . .'
The ellipsis replaces the long interrupting phrase, and the meaning stays the same: the committee approved the plan. The fourth option scatters ellipses and drops the verb, which makes the quotation hard to read and changes its sense.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
Original: 'She refused to give up her seat.' A writer wants the reader to know who 'she' is. Which is correct?
A'(Rosa Parks) refused to give up her seat.'
B'[Rosa Parks] refused to give up her seat.'
C'Rosa Parks . . . refused to give up her seat.'
D'She [refused] to give up her seat.'
Square brackets show that the writer replaced 'She' with a clarifying name. Parentheses would look like part of the original text, and an ellipsis signals an omission, not a substitution.
Question 3 True / False
Original: 'The drug was not effective in most patients.' Quoting this as 'The drug was . . . effective in most patients' is an acceptable use of an ellipsis.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Removing 'not' reverses the meaning. An ellipsis may shorten a quotation, but the shortened version must still say what the source said.
Question 4 Short Answer
What does '[sic]' mean when it appears inside a quotation, and why would a writer use it?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: 'Sic' is Latin for 'thus' or 'so.' Placed in brackets after an error in the original, it tells the reader that the mistake was in the source and was copied exactly, not introduced by the writer.
Writers are expected to quote accurately, including errors. The bracketed 'sic' preserves accuracy while making clear who made the mistake.