Figures of rhetoric in a piece of writing—
a critical reader will learn to recognize when a writer is using one or more of the figures, just as a good writer
will learn how to incorporate them effectively in a composition.
A scheme is any artful variation from the typical arrangement of words in a sentence. Schemes deal with word order, syntax (encompasses word order, sentence length, sentence focus, and punctuation), letters, and sounds.
Tropes, on the other hand, deal with the meaning of words. A trope is any artful variation from the typical or expected way a word or idea is expressed.
In ancient Rome and later in the European Middle Ages and Renaissance, scholars developed substantial lists of figures, categorizing them under these two general labels.
Schoolchildren had to learn
the definitions and find
examples of the figures in
literary works and public
discourse.
Grammar school students in Renaissance England would be given a list of 300 names of schemes and tropes and be required to memorize the definitions and produce an example of any one of them on demand.
Students undertook this task not simply to learn how to vary their words, phrases, and sentences.
They did it because their teachers believed that a different way of saying something about the world was also a different way of seeing something about the world. In other words, they taught that using figurative language to express ideas helped to clarify and sharpen a person’s thinking—not a bad lesson for students even today.
You don’t have to memorize 300 definitions to use figures. Whew!
You can learn to recognize schemes and tropes
by their functions and understand their effect
on readers.
Schemes involving balance Parallelism and Antithesis
Parallelism is the most common scheme. It uses the same grammatical structure for similar items.
Readers understand the equivalency of items in parallel construction and exercise the logical, systematic thinking abilities.
Parallelism of words: My date was obnoxious, loud, and cheap; no doubt he thought I was gorgeous, personable, and witty.
Parallelism of phrases: “Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle...” (JFK’s inauguration speech).
Parallelism of clauses: Our chiefs are killed; Looking-Glass is dead; Ta-Hool-Shute is dead” (Chief Joseph’s surrender speech, 1877).
Parallel structure means putting ideas of the same rank in the same grammatical structure. Your writing and speech should have parallel words, phrases, and clauses. Parallel structure gives your writing and speaking many admirable strengths, including the following: Rhythm Emphasis Balance
Impact Crispness Conciseness
A related scheme involving balance is antithesis, in which parallelism is used to juxtapose words, phrases, or clauses that contrast. With an antithesis, a writer tries to point out to the reader differences between two juxtaposed ideas rather than similarities.
Note: the plural of antithesis is antitheses.
Antithesis of words: “There never was a good war, or a bad peace” (Benjamin Franklin, 1783).
Antithesis of phrases: Before our engineers design our cars, our racing programs design our engineers.
Antithesis of clauses: “Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government because no one is fit to be a master and no one deserves to be a slave” (George W. Bush, 2nd inaugural address).
Climax (or climactic order) Think about a periodic sentence—this is also called a climactic
sentence. The main idea, the high point—the climax—comes at the end. This structure tends to draw in the reader as it moves toward
the period. Periodic sentences, as long as they are not overused, pack a
punch! Climax is the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in the
order of increasing importance or length.
“Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging, and sheer cloudy vagueness” (George Orwell). Orwell’s ordering is impeccable: first one, then two, then three
words.
Curiosity leads to discovery, leads to knowledge, leads to wisdom.
"All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified and made practically assailable in Moby Dick." – excerpted from Moby Dick
Asyndeton & Polysyndeton Adds stylistic force to writing by handling conjunctions in
non-standard ways
Asyndeton is one of the best, most expressive, effective rhetorical devices there is; polysyndeton is interesting and instructional and stylish.
Both asyndeton and polysyndeton are powerful rhetorical devices when used sparingly.
Overuse of either will come across as grammatical mistakes.
Asyndeton Can be used for a number of reasons:
When there are only two items (It was a great prize, a reward for years of service), asyndeton defines the second item as a clarification of the first.
Gives the impression that the list was spontaneous rather than being thought out ahead of time and structured in a traditional way.
May suggest that the list isn’t quite finished and leaves readers to come up with additional items themselves.
Most importantly, it gives the feeling of fast movement to writing, versus a list that drags out.
"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, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. . .”—Winston Churchill
“Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.” — General Douglas MacArthur, West Point Academy, New York, 12 May 1962
Polysyndeton Stylistic opposite of asyndeton, though its effect is not
necessarily the reverse. The general feel of polysyndeton is increasing urgency and
power—an almost hypnotic rhythm forms quite quickly. Very widely used in the Bible and other religious texts, and
its use often brings to mind a comparison to scripture. The conjunctions become punctuated beats making a steady
cadence that carries on throughout the list. Attention is drawn more to each individual item than to the
list as a whole.
"Let the white folks have their money and power and segregation and sarcasm and big houses and schools and lawns like carpets, and books, and mostly--mostly--let them have their whiteness." – From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiography by Maya Angelou
“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.” – From “After The Storm” by Ernest Hemingway
Anaphora Repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of
multiple clauses or sentences
Used to build a sense of climax—usually done by starting with a phrase that will be repeated and ordering the clauses from least to most important
A writer’s way of planting flags on concepts they want especially noted
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right.”—Abraham Lincoln, 2nd inaugural
"But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.” --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream," 1963
Epistrophe Repetition of a word or a phrase at the end of multiple
clauses or sentences
Trickier to use than anaphora
The repeated phrase becomes sort of a punctuation mark, which the reader can expect to find each time
When used correctly, it’s an effective form of emphasis
"The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divides us has come."-- Nelson Mandela
Where affections bear rule, their reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things else that withstand evil, for ever are subdued. — Thomas Wilson
... this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. — Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. — The Apostle Paul, in the Bible, 1 Cor 13:11 (King James Translation)
Anadiplosis/Conduplicatio Repeat key words form emphasis, emphasis that will drive home your key point.
Forms of repetition that help add structure to writing
An effective organizational device
Repetition of a word makes it stand out from the rest of the text as long as the repeated word is relevant
Repetition can help focus reader’s attention on the repeated word, giving the word extra power and force
Anadiplosis The last word of a sentence or phrase is repeated near
the beginning of the next word or phrase
Words used this way end up near one another, so the repetition is very apparent
Sounds beautiful and can be an effective way of putting focus on a key word
“In education we find the measure of our own ignorance; in ignorance we find the beginning of wisdom.”
"Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task." - Henry James
"All service ranks the same with God, with God, whose puppets, best and worst, are we' - Robert Browning in “Pippa Passes”
Conduplicatio Similar to anadiplosis but takes an important word
from anywhere in one sentence or phrase and repeats it at the beginning of the next sentence or phrase
Helps guide readers from one idea to the next by aiming directly at the key point of the discussion
Introduces the point of the sentence right at the beginning
“This law destroys the fruits of thirty years of struggle, bringing us back to a less enlightened time. Law should be evolutionary, building up rather then tearing down.”
“Seeing that they hear, do we not ask if they speak? Seeing that they speak, do we not ask if they reason? Seeing that they reason, do we not question whether we are more alike than not?”
"This afternoon, in this room, I testified before the Office of Independent Council and the Grand Jury. I answered their questions truthfully, including questions about my private life -- questions no American citizen would ever want to answer."-- William Jefferson Clinton
Rhetorical Question Don’t you want to know how to use them well?
The answer is merely implied
Gives the writer an opportunity to highlight something the reader already knows
Makes the reader pause for thought
Could act to drive a point home with gusto
Can be used most effectively to conclude a point rather than to introduce one
Never use this strategy unless you’re absolutely sure that the answer your readers will supply is the one you want them to supply
A well-used rhetorical question will engage readers
Strengthens the point by leading readers to their own discovery of the point the rhetor wants to make
Keep it in reserve—use this strategy to emphasize crucial points
Overuse will weaken the effectiveness of any piece
"Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution?” --H. L. Mencken
"It did not occur to me to call a doctor, because I knew none, and although it did occur to me to call the desk and ask that the air conditioner be turned off, I never called because I did not know how much to tip whoever might come--was anyone ever so young?”--Joan Didion, "Goodbye to All That" Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968
"Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to understand?”--Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" July 5, 1852
Your job today Read pages 72-79 in Everday Use. Start with “Figures or
Rhetoric: Schemes and Tropes” section at the bottom of page 72.
Annotate “Letter” for the following schemes:
• Parallel structure
• Antithesis
• Asyndeton
• Polysyndeton
• Anaphora
•Epistrophe
•Anadiplosis/
Conduplicatio
•Climax
•Rhetorical questions
