10. Compositional patterns of syntactical arrangement. (Chiasmus, Repetition, suspense)

Chiasmus/ Reversed Parallel Constructionis based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern, but it has a cross order of words and phases.

1. In peace sons bury their fathers,

But in war fathers bury their sons.

2. Down dropped the breeze,

The sails dropped down.

Chiasmus lays stress on the second part of the utterance and always brings in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis.

Chiasmus is a syntactical, not a lexical device and one must differentiate it from parallel constructions or epigrams. e.g. He sang as he walked and he walked as he sang, and got more inflated every minute. Chiasmus хиазм

1. reversed parallelism of the structure of several sentences (clauses)

2. inversion of the first construction in the second part (V.A.K.) If the first sentence (clause) has a direct word order - SPO, the second one will have it inverted - OPS. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (W.Shakespeare - XVIII)

•• a group of stylistic device s based on repetition of a syntactical pattern, but it has a cross order of words and phrases (I.R.G.) Down dropped the breeze, // The sails dropped down. (Coleridge) As high as we have mounted in delight // In our dejection do we ink as low. (Wordsworth) Repetition

types: <anaphora>, <epiphora>, <framing>, <catch repetition> or <anadiplosis>, <chain repetition>, <ordinary repetition>, <successive repetition>; <synonymical repetition>;

- is a powerful mean of emphasis;

- adds <rhythm> and balance to the utterance;

e.g. … there lived a little man named Nathaniel Pipkin, … , and lived in a little house in the little High Street, within ten minutes' walk of the little church; and who was to be found every day from nine till four, teaching a little learning to the little boys. (Dickens)

See: <syntactical SDs>, <stylistic device>; <reprise>

Anaphora

анафора

(a . . . , a . . . , a . . . ,)

the beginning of two or more sentences (clauses) is repeated

The main stylistic function is not so much to emphasise the repeated unit as to create the background for the non-repeated unit, which, through its novelty, becomes foregrounded. (V.A.K.)

e.g. I might as well face facts: good-bye, Susan, good-bye a big car, good-bye a big house, good-bye power, good-bye the silly handsome dreams. (J.Braine)

e.g. And everywhere were people. People going into gates and coming out of gates. People staggering and falling. People fighting and cursing. (P.Abrahams)

e.g. So long as men can breathe or eyes can See

e.g. So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (W.Shakespeare – XVIII)

Ant.: <epiphora>

See: <repetition>

Epiphora

эпифора

(. . . a, . . . a, . . . a,)

the end of successive sentences (clauses) is repeated

The main stylistic function is to add stress to the final words of the sentence. (V.A.K.)

e.g. I wake up and I’m alone and I walk round Warley and I’m alone; and I talk with people and I’m alone and I look at his face when I’m home and it’s dead. (J.Braine)

Ant.: <anaphora>

See: <repetition>

Framing

рамка, кольцевой повтор

(a . . . a)

the beginning of the sentence is repeated in the end, thus forming the “frame” for the non-repeated part of the sentence (utterance)

The stylistic function is to elucidate the notion mentioned in the beginning of the sentence, to concretise and to specify its semantics. (V.A.K.)

e.g. Obviously – this is a streptococcal infection. Obviously. (W.Deeping)

e.g. Then there was something between them. There was. There was. (Dreiser)

See: <catch repetition> or <anadiplosis>, <repetition>, <syntactical SDs>

Anadiplosis

Catch repetition

Reduplication

Linking

Epanalepsis

анадиплозис, подхват, эпаналепсис, стык

(. . . a, a . . .)

the end of one clause (sentence) is repeated in the beginning of the following one

The stylistic function is to elucidate the notion, to concretise and to specify its semantics on a more modest level. (V.A.K.)

e.g. Now he understood. he understood many things. One can be a person first. A man first and then a black man or a white man. (P.Abrahams)

e.g. And a great desire for peace, peace of no matter what kind, swept through her. (A.Bennet)

e.g. So long as men can breathe or eyes can See

e.g. So long lives [u]this and this[/u] gives life to thee. (W.Shakespeare – XVIII)

See: <framing>, <repetition>, <syntactical SDs>

Syn.: anadiplosis, catch repetition, reduplication, linking, epanalepsis

Chain repetition

Chain-repetition

(. . . a, a . . . b, b. . .)

several successive repetitions

The effect is that of the smoothly developing logical reasoning. (V.A.K.)

e.g. ”To think better of it,” returned the gallant Blandois, “would be to slight a lady, to slight a lady would be to be deficient in chivalry towards the sex, and chivalry towards the sex is a part of my character.” (Dickens)

e.g. Failure meant poverty, poverty meant squalor, squalor led, in the final stages, to the smells and stagnation of B. Inn Alley. (D. du Maurier)

See: <repetition>

Ordinary repetition

(. . . a, . . . a . . ., a . . .)

(. . a . ., . . a . ., . . a . .)

no definite place in the sentence, the repeated unit occurs in various positions

The stylistic function is to emphasise both the logical and the <emotional meaning> of the reiterated word (phrase). (V.A.K.)

e.g. Halfway along the right-hand side of the dark brown hall was a dark brown door with a dark brown settie beside it. (W.S.Gilbert)

e.g. I really don’t See anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. (Wilde)

See: <repetition>

Successive repetition

(. . . a, a, a . . .)

a string of closely following each other reiterated units

The most emphatic type of repetition which signifies the peak of emotions of the speaker. (V.A.K.)

e.g. Of her father’s being groundlessly suspected, she felt sure. Sure. Sure. (Dickens)

See: <repetition>

Synonymical repetition

синонимический повтор

the repetition of the same idea by using synonymous words and phrases which by adding a slightly different nuance of <meaning> intensify the impact of the utterance (I.R.G.)

e.g. ... are there not capital punishment sufficient in your statutes? Is there not blood enough upon your penal code? (Byron)

e.g. The poetry of earth is never dead … // The poetry of earth is ceasing never... (Keats)

See: <repetition>

Suspense consists in arranging the matter of communication in such a way that the less important parts are amassed at the beginning, the main idea being withheld till the end of the sentence. Thus the reader’s attention is held and his interest kept up, as he is in the state of uncertainty and expectation. Suspense sometimes goes together with Climax.

Suspense- a deliberate postponement of the completion of the sentence with the help of embedded clauses (homogeneous members) separating the predicate from the subject and introducing less important facts and details first, while the expected information of major importance is reserved till the end of the sentence (utterance) (V.A.K.)

••

a compositional device which consists in arranging the matter of a communication in such a way that the less important, descriptive, subordinate parts are amassed at the beginning, the main idea being withheld till the end of the sentence (I.R.G.:218)

e.g. Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to me, for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw. (Ch.Lamb)

e.g. Only when, after a few minutes, he \[the monkey\] ceased spinning and simply crouched in the pale light, bouncing softly up and down, his fingers digging into the carpet, his tail curled out stiff, did he start to speak to them. (Buechner).

See: <periodic sentences>, <syntactical SDs>