NarratologyIntermediate
Ellipsis
A deliberate omission or gap in narrated time or information.
Principle
What is skipped can become as meaningful as what is shown.
Takeaways
- Ellipsis compresses time by leaving events unnarrated.
- A gap can create mystery, tact, speed, or trauma.
- The reader must still understand the shape of what was omitted.
Overview
Ellipsis is the narrative gap produced when the telling skips material. It may be a simple time jump, a strategic withholding of information, or a formal absence that the reader must interpret.
Examples
- A chapter ends before the verdict and the next begins years later.
- A memoir leaves a family rupture unnamed until the final third.