Omission & Flow

Ellipsis

ee-LIP-sis / ɪˈlɪpsɪs

Leaving out words the grammar needs but the context supplies: 'I took the high road; she, the low.' The reader restores what's missing, and the gap itself draws attention.

"And he to England shall along with you." — Hamlet

Don't confuse it with Aposiopesis. Aposiopesis breaks off irrecoverably; elliptical omissions are recoverable from the surrounding grammar.

Drill this device — 4 excerpts

In the Reader — 4 excerpts

You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and

— Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn · open the passage →

Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting. They

— William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury · open the passage →

ESTRAGON: Why not?

— Samuel Beckett, En attendant Godot / Waiting for Godot · open the passage →

We real cool. We

— Gwendolyn Brooks, The Bean Eaters · open the passage →

Travels with

Devices that share a passage with ellipsis most often — company reveals character.

Anaphora 3

The rest of the family

Asyndeton Polysyndeton Brachylogia Aposiopesis Enjambment