Figured of speech: Schemes Flashcards
(Structures of Balance)
Isocolon
A series of similarly structured elements having the same length.
Ex: His purpose was to impress the ignorant, to perplex the dubious, and to confound the scrupulous.
(Structures of Balance)
Parallelism
Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.
Ex: We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor
(Structures of Balance)
Tricolon
Three parallel elements of the same length occurring together.
Ex: Vini, vidi, vici.
Ex: I came, I saw, I conquered.
(Structures of Balance)
Antithesis
Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas.
Ex: Americans in need are not strangers, they are citizens, not problems, but priorities.
(Structures of Balance)
Climax
Arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance. Decrease = Anticlimax
Ex: Let a man acknowledge his obligations to his family, his country, and his God.
(Changes in Word Order)
Anastrophe
Inversion of natural word order.
Ex: Tardy to class he was.
(Changes in Word Order)
Parenthesis
Insertion of a verbal unit that interrupts normal syntactical flow.
Ex: Molly – and I’m speaking here from experience – can dunk on the best of us.
(Changes in Word Order)
Apposition
Addition of an adjacent, coordinate, explanatory element, called an appositive.
Ex: John Morgan, the President of the Sons of the Republic, could not be reached by phone.
(Omission)
Ellipsis
Omission of a word or words readily implied by context.
Ex: And he to England shall along with you.
(Omission)
Asyndeton
Omission of conjunctions between a series of words or clauses.
Ex: The infantry plodded forward, the tanks rattled into position, the big guns turned their snouts to the hills.
(Repetition)
Polysyndeton
Opposite of asyndenton, a superabundance of conjunctions.
Ex: This semester I am taking chemistry and English and algebra and government and art history and soccer and biology and sociology and physical education.
(Repetition)
Alliteration
Repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words.
Ex: …this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose.
(Repetition)
Assonance
Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words.
Ex: I get shocked by the doctor at the hospital when I’m not cooperating.
(Repetition)
Polyptoton
Repetition of words derived from the same root.
Ex: Not as a call to battle, through embattled we are.
(Repetition)
Antanaclasis
aka a trope.
Repetition of a word in two different senses.
Ex: If we don’t hang together, we will surely hang separately.
(Repetition)
Anaphora
Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses.
Ex: Will he read the book? Will he learn what it has to teach him? Will he live according to what he has learned?
(Repetition)
Epistrophe
Repetition of the same word or group of words as the ends of successive clauses.
Ex: The cars do not sell because the engineering is inferior, the quality of the materials is inferior, and the workmanship is inferior.
(Repetition)
Epanalepsis
Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred as the beginning of the clause.
Ex: To report that your committee is still investigating this matter is to tell me you have nothing to report.
(Repetition)
Anadiplosis
Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.
Ex: This treatment plant has a record of uncommon reliability, a reliability envied by every other water treatment in the nation.
(Repetition)
Climax
Repetition of the scheme anadiplosis at least three times, with the elements arranged in an order of increasing importance.
Ex: He risked the truth, he risked honor, he risked fame, he risked all that men hold dear, - yea, he risked life itself…
(Repetition)
Antimetabole
Repetition of words, in successful clauses, in reverse grammatical order.
Ex: I know what I like, and I like what I know.
(Repetition)
Chiasmus
Repetition of grammatical structures in reverse order in successive phrases or clauses.
Ex: He labors without complaining and without bragging rests.
