15. Qualitative Syntactical SD

Question 1

What’s ellipsis? Recall its etymology.

Answer 1

From Greek “omission”. It refers to the row of full stops (…) and asterisk (**).Sometimes it’s used to indicate a pause in speech, esp. useful for quotes: “Juan thought and thought… and then thought some more”.
It’s also about omissions of (an) unnecessary word(s).

Question 2

What’s one-member-sentences?

Answer 2

Nominal sentences may consist of a word or more. It’s laconic: “Winter. Night. Silence.”, or “A vast starry night”.

Question 3

What’s break-in-the-narrative? What’s its another name?

Answer 3

Aposiopesis. From Greek “silence”. Dashes (-) and dots are used to reveal agitated state of the speaker: “If you say that again, I swear I’ll-“.

Question 4

What’s question in the narrative?

Answer 4

Asked and answered by the same person, usually author. Expects an answer. And they do not contain statements.

Question 5

What’s the difference between rhetorical question and question in the narrative?

Answer 5

Rhetorical question has no statements, do not expect answers. They’re mostly used in dramatic situations or publicistic style.
Question in the narrative has statements and expects an answer.
Both of them express the emotions of the speaker.

Question 6

Are rhetoric questions given answers? What’s its effect? What about their forms?

Answer 6

Yes. The author may give an answer right after the question, or the answer is just inferred.
It draws attention due to intonation and punctuation.
Positive form has negative answers and vise versa.

Question 7

What’s apokoinu?

Answer 7

It’s about the omission of the pronominal/adverbial connective that blends the main and subordinate clauses: “There was a door led into the kitchen”.

Question 8

What’s polysyndeton? What’s its possible effects?

Answer 8

It’s about the repetition of conjunctions to:
Emphasize simultaneousness of actions;
Disclosure author’s subjective attitude towards the characters;
To create rhythmical effect;
Example: “The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, <…> could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect”.

Question 9

What’s picture poetry? When was it established? Is it strict? Is it complex?

Answer 9

It was established in 1950’s. It’s graphic, visual poetry created out of words and punctuation. It can be simple and complex depending on the amount of details.
You don’t have to worry about rhyme, rhythm or meter. Just have fun.