ABSTRACT
The ellipsis (plural = ellipses) serves as an editorial tool and a literary device. The purpose of an editorial ellipsis is to indicate when you are omitting one or more words from a quotation. An ellipsis allows you to capture that portion of the original quotation that directly speaks to your editorial aim. Omitting less important text also saves space and moves the reader more quickly to your point. Ellipses are especially handy in academic writing, where you must often rely upon quoted material from primary texts and secondary sources to build and bolster your arguments. The purpose of a literary ellipsis, on the other hand, is to indicate theatrical pause, reflection, incomplete thought, and halting expression.
Designed to save space, the slash (/), which is also referred to as a forward slash, solidus, stroke, or virgule, functions in two opposite ways: it can provide a choice between paired words or, it can unite paired words. Additionally, slashes can separate lines of poetry, as well as serve to abbreviate and format certain types of information.
