Quotations--Ellipses

When you alter the quoted material in any way, you need to indicate to your reader that you have done so. Use an ellipsis of three dots ( ... ) to eliminate parts of a source you do not wish to quote. For material omitted at the end of the sentence, add a period to the three ellipsis dots. That means you'll have four dots at the end of a sentence. Ellipses should be used only in the middle and at the end of a quotation; they are not used at the beginning. Note that there is a space typed after each dot. You should take care not to distort the meaning of the original source when you use ellipses.

     Because socialization involves blocking "the child's natural urge to ... exercise his own     assimilative powers," Becker argues that all people grow up neurotic (58).

Click here to read more about punctuation with quotations.