Advanced Syntax Techniques

Imperative

command - tone is commanding, assertive, or imploring

Antithetical sentences

contain two statements which are balanced, but opposite.

Complex sentence

contains an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

Simple sentence

contains one independent clause.

Compound sentence

contains two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or conjunctive adverb or by a semicolon.

Compound-complex

contains two or more independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.

Exclamatory

emotional state - emphasizes emotional response

Loose or cumulative sentence

has its main clause at the beginning of the sentence.

Periodic sentence

has its main clause at the end of the sentence. It forces the reader to retain information from the beginning of the sentence and often builds to a climactic statement with meaning unfolding slowly.

Balanced sentence

has phrases or clauses that balance each other by virtue of their likeness of structure, meaning, or length.

Inverted order of a sentence (sentence inversion)

involves constructing a sentence so that the predicate comes before the subject. This is a device in which typical sentence patterns are reversed to create an emphatic or rhythmic effect.

Long

is 19-30+ words - usually slows pace and used for intellectual, contemplative, or descriptive pieces

Short

is 5-8 words - often used for emotional effect or in action

Medium

is 9-18 words or so

Repetition

is a device in which words, sounds, and ideas are used more than once to enhance rhythm and to create emphasis.

Chiasmus

is antimetabole in poetry. The parts are balanced, but reversed.

Telegraphic

is shorter than 5 words in length - usually speeds up pace

Interrogative

question - shows a questioning state of mind, troubled or curious or confrontational

Parallel structure

refers to a grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of a sentence. It involves an arrangement of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs so that elements of equal importance are equally developed and similarly phrased.

Declarative

statement - tone usually is certain or assertive

Ellipsis

the deliberate omission of a word or words which are readily implied by the context; it creates an elegant or daring economy of words. It also slows the reader. Is sometimes used in stream-of-consciousness technique.

Asyndeton

the deliberate omission of conjunctions in a series of related clauses; it speeds the pace of the sentence and calls attention to words or phrases in the sentence.

Epanalepsis

the repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause; it tends to make the sentence or clause in which it occurs stand apart from its surroundings

Anadiplosis

the repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause; it ties the sentence to its surroundings.

Epistrophe

the repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses; it sets up a pronounced rhythm and gains a special emphasis both by repeating the word and by putting the word in the final position.

Anaphora

the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses; it helps to establish a strong rhythm and produces a powerful emotional effect.

Polysyndeton

the use of too many conjunctions; slows the pace and sometimes gives the words a Biblical quality.

rhetorical question example

"'I ought to have been there,' the young man went on. 'Why wouldn't they let me be the sacrifice? I'd have gone round ten times - twelve, fifteen.'"

Antimetabole example

"And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you."

Epanalepsis example

"Breakfast was over, and none had breakfasted."

Antithetical sentences example

"But as I make the laws here, I can also break them."

chiasmus example

"Flowers are lovely; love is flowerlike."

epistrophe example

"Genius is said to be self-conscious: I cannot tell whether Miss Ingram was a genius, but she was self-conscious—remarkably self-conscious indeed."

Anadiplosis example

"He then said that she was the daughter of a French opera-dancer, Celine Varens, towards whom he had once cherished what he called a 'grand passion.' This passion Celine had professed to return with even superior ardour."

Asyndeton example

"Her relatives encouraged me; competitors piqued me; she allured me; a marriage was achieved almost before I knew where I was."

Juxtaposition example

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..."

Loose or cumulative sentence example

"Laughter broke out, enormous, almost hysterical, peal after peal, as though it would never stop."

Periodic sentence example

"Naked from throat to navel, their brown bodies painted with white lines, two Indians came running along the path."

Repetition example

"Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind."

Parallel structure example

"The Savage caught her by the wrists, tore her hands from his shoulders, thrust her roughly away at arm's length."

Inverted order of a sentence (sentence inversion) example

"The channel wound between precipitous banks, and slanting from one wall to the other across the valley ran a streak of green - the river and its fields."

Compound sentence example

"They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki." "They all wear green; however, Delta children wear khaki." Or "They all wear green; Delta children wear khaki."

A Rhetorical Fragment example

"They could have had twice as much blood from me. The multitudinous seas incarnadine.

Balanced sentence example

"They were standing on the roof; Big Henry had just sung eleven."

Ellipsis example

"This room was chill, because it seldom had a fire; it was silent, because remote from the nursery and kitchens; solemn, because it was so seldom entered."

Anaphora example

"What a face he had, now that it was almost on a level with mine! What a great nose! And what a mouth! And what large prominent teeth!"

Complex sentence example

"What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you?"

Polysyndeton example

"When you are old and gray and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book..."

Compound-complex example

Jerry was always late, so he ate breakfast on the way to school whenever it was possible.

Juxtaposition

a literary device that implies comparison or contrast. Writers create it by placing two entities side by side to create dramatic or ironic contrast. Contrary to antithesis, its concepts or ideas are dissimilar and do not necessarily contradict each other.

A Rhetorical Question

a question that requires no answer. It is used to draw attention to a point and is generally stronger than a direct statement.

A Rhetorical Fragment

a sentence fragment used deliberately for a persuasive purpose or to create a desired effect.

Antimetabole

a sentence strategy in which the arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first; it adds power through its inverse repetition.

Antithesis

a very narrow category of juxtaposition—it refers to completely opposite words placed in a parallel position to each other within a sentence.