Common Schemes Flashcards
Schemes
Deviations from the ordinary pattern or arrangement of words (transference of order).
- Parallelism
[Schemes of Balance]
— similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. This basic principle of grammar and rhetoric demands that equivalent things be set forth in coordinate grammatical structures: nouns with nouns, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, adverb clauses with adverb clauses, etc.
a. “…for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” (The Declaration of Independence)
- Isocolon
[Schemes of Balance]
— is a scheme of parallel structure that occurs when the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure but also in length (number of words or even number of syllables). This is very effective, but a little goes a long way.
a. “His purpose was to impress the ignorant, to perplex the dubious, and to confound the scrupulous.”
- Antithesis
[Schemes of Balance]
— the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure. The contrast may be in words or in ideas or both. When used well, antithesis can be very effective, even witty.
a. “ What if I am rich, and another is poor— strong, and he is weak— intelligent, and he is benighted— elevated, and he is depraved? Have we not one Father? Hath not one God created us?” (William Lloyd Garrison, “No Compromise with Slavery”)
- Anastrophe (an-ASS-tra-fee)
[Schemes of Inverted Word Order]
— the inversion of natural word order, often with the purpose of surprising the reader, gaining attention, or (most often) emphasizing certain words (those at the beginning and the end of the sentence). It is most effective if the author rarely writes awkwardly, because when set among well-structured sentences it emphasizes the inverted phrase.
a. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” (John F. Kennedy, Inaugural speech)
- Parenthesis
[Schemes of Inverted Word Order]
— insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence, thereby sending the thought off on an important tangent that has pronounced rhetorical effect. Often involves literal parentheses ( ), but not always; there are other ways to insert a comment into a sentence. One might use commas, or dashes, for example. The parenthetical remark, however, is off on a tangent, cut off from the thrust of the sentence and grammatically unrelated to the sentence.
b. “And they went further and further from her, being attached to her by a thin thread (since they had lunched with her) which would stretch and stretch, get thinner and thinner as they walked across London; as if one’s friends were attached to one’s body, after lunching with them, by a thin thread, which (as she dozed there) became hazy with the sound of bells, striking the hour or ringing to service, as a single spider’s thread is blotted with rain-drops, and burdened, sags down. So she slept.”— Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
- Ellipsis
[Schemes of Omission]
— deliberate omission of a word or of words that are readily implied by the context and must be supplied by the reader or listener. While this can make clear, economical sentences, if the understood words are grammatically incompatible, the resulting sentence may be awkward.
a. “So singularly clear was the water that when it was only twenty or thirty feet deep the bottom seemed floating on the air! Yes, where it was even eighty feet deep. Every little pebble was distinct, every speckled trout, every hand’s breadth of sand.” (Mark Twain, Roughing It)
b. “And he to England shall along with you.” (Shakespeare, Hamlet III,iii)
- Asyndeton ( a SIN da ton)
[Schemes of Omission]
— deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of words, phrases, or clauses. The effects of this device are to emphasize each clause and to produce a punctuated rhythm in the sentence.
a. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” (Julius Caesar)
b. “Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better–splashed to their very blinkers. Foot passengers, jostling one another’s umbrellas, in a general infection of ill temper . . ..” (Charles Dickens, Bleak House)
- Polysyndeton
— deliberate use of many conjunctions (does not involve omission, but is grouped with its opposite, asyndeton)). The effect of polysyndeton is to speed up or add a frenetic quality to the rhythm of the sentence.
a. “I said, ‘Who killed him?’ and he said, ‘I don’t know who killed him but he’s dead all right,’ and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Key and she was all right only she was full of water.” (Ernest Hemingway, “After the Storm”)
- Alliteration & Consonance
[Schemes of Repetition]
— repetition of initial consonants in two or more adjacent words. Not to be confused with Consonance which is the repetition of internal or ending consonant sounds.Used sparingly, alliteration provides emphasis. Overused, it sounds silly.
a. “Somewhere at this very moment a child is being born in America. Let it be our cause to give that child a happy home, a healthy family, and a hopeful future.” (Bill Clinton, 1992 DNC Acceptance Address)
b. “It was the meanest moment of eternity”. (Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God)
- Assonance
[Schemes of Repetition]
— the repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words.
c. “The gloves didn’t fit. If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” (Johnny Cochran, O.J.Simpson trial)
- Anaphora
[Schemes of Repetition]
— repetition of the same word or groups of words at the beginnings of successive phrases. This device produces a strong emotional effect, especially in speech. It also establishes a marked change in rhythm.
a. “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island . . . we shall never surrender.” (Winston Churchill, 1940)
- Epistrophe
[Schemes of Repetition]
— repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive phrases. Like anaphora, epistrophe produces a strong rhythm and emphasis.
a. “But to all of those who would be tempted by weakness, let us leave no doubt that we will be as strong as we need to be for as long as we need to be.” (Richard Nixon, First Inaugural Address)
- Epanalepsis (eh-puh-nuh-LEAP-siss)
[Schemes of Repetition]
— repetition of the same word or words at both beginning and ending of a phrase, clause, or sentence. Like other schemes of repetition, epanalepsis often produces or expresses strong emotion.
a. Blood hath bought blood, and blows have answer’d blows:/ Strength match’d with strength, and power confronted power. (William Shakespeare, King John)
- Anadiplosis (an-uh-dih-PLO-sis)
[Schemes of Repetition]
— repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.
a. “The crime was common, common be the pain”. (Alexander Pope, “Eloise to Abelard”
b. “Aboard my ship, excellent performance is standard. Standard performance is sub-standard. Sub-standard performance is not permitted to exist.” (Captain Queeg, Herman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny)
