Schemes Flashcards
Schemes are figures of speech that deal with word order, syntax, letters, and sounds, rather than the meaning of words.
parallelism
When the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure
and length. For instance, “King Alfred tried to make the law clear, precise, and
equitable.” The previous sentence has parallel structure in use of adjectives. However,
the following sentence does not use parallelism: “King Alfred tried to make clear laws
that had precision and were equitable.”
If the writer uses two parallel structures, the result is isocolon parallelism: “The
bigger they are, the harder they fall.” If there are three structures, it is tricolon
parallelism: “That government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall
not perish from the earth.” Or, as one student wrote, “Her purpose was to impress the
ignorant, to perplex the dubious, and to startle the complacent.”
You can also combine parallel structures in unique ways. For instance, you might
have isocolon parallelism in individual lines that are further built upon in tricolon
pattern. Shakespeare used this device to good effect in Richard II when King Richard
laments his unfortunate position:
I’ll give my jewels for a set of beads,
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage,
My gay apparel for an almsman’s gown,
My figured goblets for a dish of wood . . . . (3.3.170-73).
antithesis (plural: antitheses)
Contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence. It
can be a contrast of opposites: “Evil men fear authority; good men cherish it.” Or it
can be a contrast of degree: “One small step for a man, one giant leap for all
mankind.”
anastrophe
Inverted word order from what one expects: “One ad does not a survey
make.”
antimetabole (also called epanados)
Repetition in reverse order: “One should eat
to live, not live to eat.” Or, “You like it; it likes you.” The witches in that Scottish play
chant, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” Antimetabole often overlaps with chiasmus,
below.
chiasmus
Taking parallelism and deliberately turning it inside out, creating a
“crisscross” pattern: “By day the frolic, and the dance by night.” “Naked I rose from
the earth; to the grave I fall clothed.”
alliosis
Presenting alternatives in a balanced manner: “You can eat well or you can
sleep well.”
ellipsis
Omitting a word implied by the previous clause: “The European soldiers
killed six of the remaining villagers, the American soldiers, eight.”
asyndeton
Using no conjunctions to create an effect of speed or simplicity: Veni.
Vidi. Vici. “I came. I saw. I conquered.” (As opposed to “I came, and I saw, and then I
conquered.”) Been there. Done that. Bought the tee-shirt.
polysyndeton
Using many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect: “This
term, I am taking biology and English and history and math and music and physics
and sociology.”
climax (also called auxesis and crescendo)
Arrangement in order of increasing
importance: “Let a man acknowledge his obligations to himself, his family, his
country, and his God.”
enallage
Intentionally misusing grammar to characterize a speaker or to create a
memorable phrase. Boxing manager Joe Jacobs, for instance, became immortal with
the phrase, “We was robbed!” Or, “You pays your money, and you takes your
choice.”
anapodoton
Deliberately creating a sentence fragment by the omission of a clause:
“If only you came with me!” If only students knew what anapodoton was! Good
writers never use sentence fragments? Ah, but they can. And they do. When
appropriate.
tmesis
Intentionally breaking a word into two parts for emphasis: “I have but two
words to say to your request: Im Possible.”
metaplasmus
Misspelling a word to create a rhetorical effect. To emphasize
dialect, one might spell dog as dawg. To emphasize that something is unimportant, we
might add –let or –ling at the end of the word, referring to a deity as a godlet, or a
prince as a princeling. To emphasize the feminine nature of something normally
considered masculine, try adding -ette to the end of the word. To modernize something
old, the writer might turn the Greek god Hermes into the Hermenator. Austin Powers
renders all things shagedelic. The categories following this entry are subdivisions of
metaplasmus:
prothesis
Adding an extra syllable or letters to the beginning of a word: “All alone,
I beweep my outcast state.” I was all afrightened by the use of prosthesis. Prosthesis
creates a poetic effect, turning a run-of-the-mill word into something novel.
