Footnote
Encyclopedia : F : FO : FOO : Footnote
- Endnote redirects here. For the reference management software, see EndNote
- For the usage of footnoting on Wikipedia, see [Cite sources] and [Footnotes].
A footnote is a note of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document. The note comments on and may cite a reference for part of the main body of text. A footnote is normally flagged by a superscript number following that portion of the text the note is in reference to.
- 1 for the first footnote on the page, 2 for the second footnote, and so on.
Endnotes are similar to footnotes, but differ in that they do not appear at the foot of the particular page, but instead collected together, usually chapter by chapter, appearing as an appendix at the end of the work. Endnotes are generally harder to handle than footnotes, as moving to the appendix every time takes additional time and effort. In fact author and media critic Al Franken alleges that endnotes make it much easier to invent quotations, especially if using lots, as nobody is going to sift through pages of footnotes lacking their context (see also "Infinite Jest" below). Endnotes are often referred to as footnotes.
- The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual devotes six pages to the topic.
- NASA has guidance for footnote usage in its historical documents.
Academic usage
Academic and scientific works are written by a process of argument. A good argument puts forward a point of view that is well grounded: it has evidence to support it. Scholars use footnotes and/or endnotes for a variety of reasons including:
- To make it clear to the reader which views are yours and which are the views of other writers;
- To allow you to acknowledge your intellectual debts to others if you decide to accept their views or information;
- To direct the reader by the most efficient signposts to the place where the information you have provided can be checked and verified or where further useful information is.
Footnotes as a literary device
At times, footnotes and endnotes have been used for their comical effect, or as a literary device.- Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman utilizes extensive and lengthy footnotes for the discussion of a fictional philosopher, de Selby. These footnotes span several pages and often overtake the main plotline, and add to the absurdist tone of the book.
- David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest includes over 400 endnotes, some over a dozen pages long. Several literary critics suggested that the book be read with two bookmarks.
- Manuel Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman (originallly published in Spanish as El beso de la mujer arana) also uses extensive and effective use of the footnoting device.
- Mark Dunn's is written entirely in endnotes.
- Luis d'Antin Van Rooten's, Mots d’Heures: Gousses, Rames (the title is in French, but when pronounced, sounds like the English "Mother Goose Rhymes"), in which he is allegedly the editor of a manuscript by the fictional François Charles Fernand d’Antin, contains copious footnotes purporting to help explain the nonsensical French text. The point of the book is that each written French poem sounds like an English nursery rhyme.
- Terry Pratchett has made numerous uses within his novels.
Opponents of footnotes
Associate Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States is famous in the American legal community for his writing style, in which he never uses footnotes. He prefers to keep all citations inline (which is permitted in American legal citation).
References
See also
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