Some guidelines concerning style and usage for college writing

On questions of format, style and usage, the Whitman College History Department refers to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition. For matters of style not explicitly discussed in the Chicago Manual, consult a handbook of style such as the St. Martin's Handbook.

The following examples illustrate areas in which I have noticed particular confusion.

Ellipsis ( . . .)

Use an ellipsis to show that part of a quotation is missing. An ellipsis with three periods indicates that the omitted material is from the same sentence as the included material, as in:

Machiavelli writes that “the main foundations of every state . . . are good laws and good arms.”

An ellipsis with four periods shows that a sentence break occurs between the included segments, as in:

Machiavelli writes that “mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous. . . . For mercenaries are disunited, thirsty for power, undisciplined, and disloyal . . .” *

Please note that a three-period ellipsis is preceded and followed by a space, while a four-period ellipsis is only followed by a space—the first period comes immediately after the final letter of the word preceding the ellipsis. Also, note that the periods within an ellipsis are spaced apart from one another.

Capitalization

Check the Chicago Manual for a complete list. Here are some particularly relevant examples:

the Middle Ages

the medieval world

the sixteenth century

the Renaissance

he underwent a personal renaissance

archbishop

Archbishop Cranmer

the pope

Pope Julius II

papal policy

the papacy

the Papal States

the Reformation

the king; the king of Spain

King Charles V

the Enlightenment

the Age of Discovery

the Old Regime

Centuries

Almost always lower-case, as in:

“throughout the sixteenth century.”

Hyphenate when a century is used in an adjectival sense:

“This text illustrates a crucial feature of sixteenth-century thought.”

Note that a century is NOT hyphenated unless it is used in such an adjectival sense.

Hyphens and dashes

Use a single dash (an “en-dash”) for hyphenated words:

fifteenth-century painting

Use two dashes (properly called an “em-dash”) when indicating a break in thought:

It is this version of Machiavelli—the amoral assailant of traditional morality—that informs most invocations of his name in popular culture.

“However”

An error that appears quite often in college writing is the use of the word “however” as a simple conjunction. In Standard English, it is most often used as a conjunctive adverb, and therefore should not be used to join independent clauses together.

Some examples of correct usage:

“I usually eat a sandwich at lunchtime. Today, however, I had the soup.”

“I intend to have the tuna today; however, I may change my mind.”

“However you do it, get it done on time.”

An example of incorrect usage: “Machiavelli is a genius, however, his style is irritating.”

Correct: “Machiavelli is a genius, but his style is irritating.”

* There are differing schools of thought regarding capitalization after this kind of ellipsis. I generally suggest you capitalize only in cases where the first word after the ellipsis is capitalized in the original text.