Correct citation 2

[chessbot]

What is the correct way to quote a passage, starting from the middle of a sentence? The quotation is at the beginning of the sentence.
For example:

The brochure mentions the scents. "...[T]he aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

Assuming the quote is something that does not start with "the aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

--Chessbot

"So it goes."
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

 

[rosieb]

It depends on the the circumstance:

For a formal document:
I'd use "the aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air." (author, year of publication).

In the bibliography I'd put: Bloggs,F (200x) Book Title/Journal ref Article/chapter title volume and page no, place of publication, publisher.

This would , broadly conform to the Harvard system of referencing (tho' I'd check the details, how you reference depends greatly on the source.)

"Harvard" is a standard system of referencing, with lots of institutions giving advice, I'd suggest consulting one of those.

In a more general business document, I'd probably go for a supercsript and put the reference in a footnote (using Harvard), unless I was using multiple references to the same document(s), in which I'd go for a proper bibliography.

You don't need to specify the full "address" of the quote, the page no should be adequate - if anyone argues, "but I used the Harvard system" usually shuts them up.

Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)

 

[mscallisto]

The brochure mentions the scents. "...[T]he aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."


dangling participle???
or not, I'm totally not an English major!

 

[chessbot]

I have no idea, that's why I asked here...

I meant specifically about the [T]. Should this be bracketed? Left lowercase? Capitalized?

--Chessbot

"So it goes."
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

 

[Dimandja]

Sinc the original text has a lowercase 't', the brackets are justified.

 

[CajunCenturion]

In my opinion, you should include a space after the elipses. I'm assuming that no letters are being omitted from the word 'the' therefore it should be separated with a space just like any other word. I do not believe (others may disagree) that the 'T' should be bracketed, but rather it should appear exactly as it appears in the brochure, after all, you're quoting the brochure.

If the 'T' is not capitalized in the brochure, then I would write:

The brochure mentions the scents. "... the aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

If the 'T' is capitalized, indicating the start of a new sentence, then I would write:

The brochure mentions the scents. "... . The aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[craigsboyd]

So how do we quote what you just said?

'... . "... . The aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."'

...it does get a little confusing, and I must admit that I have never seen the ellipse followed by a period and a space. I would have thought that since a full sentence was included that perhaps the ellipse was not necessary:

"The aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com

 

[Stella740pl]

CajunCenturion,

I got to disagree with your last example,
The brochure mentions the scents. "... . The aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

I would say that not only all this punctuation is excessive, but I've never ever seen either a live example or a reference to ellipsis followed by a period in the beginning of the quotation. It usually used only at the end of the citation when you cut it midsentense.

As for the question asked, if the whole sentence is quoted, nothing but quotation mark is necessary in the beginning,

The brochure mentions the scents. "The aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

Or I might prefer colon (or, in some cases, comma) to period, like here:

The brochure mentions the scents: "The aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

If the beginning of the sentence is missing, though, then I would find appropriate either

The brochure mentions the scents: "[T]he aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

or

The brochure mentions the scents: "...the aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

Both would show that you are not using the beginning of the sentence.
If this citation is to be used as a part of your own sentence and not as direct quotation, then capitalization or ellipsis become unnecessary:

The brochure mentions that "the aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air".

(Sorry if someone disagrees, but I was taught to put the period outside the quotation mark in this case, and it seems logical to me.)

Stella

 

[CajunCenturion]

The ellipse is certainly necessary to indicate that words immediately prior to that sentence have been left out. The additional period (full stop) is included because the ellipses by itself does not necessarily mean that there is a full stop at the end of the omitted words. Some take the stance that the full stop is not necessary, relying on the fact the the word "The" is capitalized -- the beginning of a new sentence -- sufficiently idicates that omitted section ended with a full stop.

But suppose that the quoted part was "I enjoyed the aroma of coffee mingling with the invigorating mountain air."

The brochure mentions the scents. "... I enjoyed the aroma of coffee mingling with the invigorating mountain air."

If you rely on the capitalization of the next word to indicate whether or not the ellipses include a full stop, then you've left yourself in an ambiguous position, because I would capitalized in either case.

"... I enjoyed the aroma of coffee mingling with the invigorating mountain air."
and
"... . I enjoyed the aroma of coffee mingling with the invigorating mountain air."
are both valid, but different, because there is no ambiguity as to whether I started a new sentence or not.

To quote what I said you could simply quote it just as you would any other quote. The ellipses are part of the quoted material, so you would leave them in, and not add any additional ellipses, unless you decide to omit part of the quoted material.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[JediBMC]

From the Guide to Grammar & Writing

When a lengthy quotation begins with a complete sentence and ends with a complete sentence, do not use an ellipsis at either the end or the beginning of the quotation unless it is, for some reason, important to emphasize that some language has been omitted.

The above referenced

http://www page

also states that an ellipsis is not needed to indicate words left out of the beginning of a sentence, so long as the fragment fits the flow of text. The only exception mentioned is in block quoted text.

Additionally, the referenced page does state that if the fragment can be read as a full sentence, the first letter can be capitalized and the ellipsis omitted.

-Brian-
I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.

 

[CajunCenturion]

stella740p - I understand and agree with your points, and JediBMC's comments are also valid.

But perhaps you both you re-read the question!

What is the correct way to quote a passage, starting from the middle of a sentence? ... Assuming the quote is something that does not start with "the aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air."

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[Stella740pl]

CajunCenturion,

But perhaps you both you re-read the question!

If you re-read my post, you might find that I covered that, and JediBMC's link can clarify the rest.

Stella

 

[CajunCenturion]

ok

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[GwydionM]

I'd say that the "...[T]he version was unduely fussy. The point of the ... is to show that something has been left out, which tells the reader something meaningful.

The point of writing is to get across a meaning, not to be ritualistically correct in the eyes of gramatical fanatics.

On the subject, if the original had been

"It was lovely coffee, the aroma mingled with the invigorating mountain air."

then one could have quoted it as

"The [coffee] aroma mingled with the invigorating mountain air."

One is still being honest to the meaning.


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A view from the UK

 

[ESquared]

For what it's worth, I don't think putting the T in brackets makes any sense, because it is confusing. When I saw it I began to wonder what word could possibly have been there before and why the T was originally left out. To use it simply for a capitalization difference seems excessive.

As Stella704pl said, a simple

The brochure mentions that "the aroma of coffee mingles with the invigorating mountain air".

seems to do nicely.



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