Transcript Grammar PowerPoint

Polysyndeton and
Asyndeton
Definition of Polysyndeton
O Polysyndeton is a stylistic device in which several
coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in
order to achieve an artistic effect. Polysyndeton
examples are found in literature and in day-to-day
conversations.
O The term polysyndeton comes from a Greek word
meaning “bound together”. It makes use of
coordinating conjunctions like “and”, “or”, “but” and
“nor” (mostly and and or) which are used to join
successive words, phrases or clauses in such a way
that these conjunctions are even used where they
might have been omitted
Examples:
O Example #1:
“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 or
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 right only she was full of
water.” (Ernest Hemingway, After the Storm)
O Hemingway has used “and” as a polysyndeton in this
passage taken from “After the Storm”. Using this
literary device, Hemmingway is able to make his
readers feel the anxiety that his character is feeling.
O Example #2:
“There were frowzy fields, and cow-houses, and
dunghills, and dustheaps, and ditches, and gardens,
and summer-houses, and carpet-beating grounds, at
the very door of the Railway. Little tumuli of oyster shells
in the oyster season, and of lobster shells in the lobster
season, and of broken crockery and faded cabbage
leaves in all seasons, encroached upon its high places.”
(Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son)
O Charles Dickens is also well-known for his use of
polysyndeton along with commas or both the devices.
You can see the effects of both the devices in this
passage taken from Dombey and Son.
Function of Polysyndeton
O Polysyndeton performs several functions.
Not only does it join words, phrases and
clauses and thus brings continuity in a
sentence, but it acts also as a stylistic
device, brings rhythm to the text with the
repetition of conjunctions in quick
succession. It is also employed as a tool to
lay emphasis to the ideas the conjunctions
connect.
Asyndeton
O Asyndeton is derived from a Greek word
asyndeton which means unconnected. It is a
stylistic device used in literature and poetry
to intentionally eliminate conjunctions
between the phrases and in the sentence,
yet maintain the grammatical accuracy. This
literary tool helps in reducing the indirect
meaning of the phrase and presents it in a
concise form. It started to be seen in Greek
and Latin literature.
Types of Asyndeton
O Asyndeton examples may be classified into two types
 One type of asyndeton is used between words,
phrases and a sentence.
O For example: “Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs,
spoils, Shrunk to this little measure?”
(Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1 by William Shakespeare)
 The second type is used between sentences or
clauses.
O For example: Without looking, without making a
sound, without talking
(Oedipus at Colonus by Sophecles)
Examples:
O Example #1:
IAGO
Call up her father.
Rouse him. Make after him, Poison his delight,
Proclaim him in the streets. Incense her kinsmen,
And, though he in a fertile climate dwell,
(Othello by William Shakespeare)
O In this extract, Shakespeare has eliminated
conjunctions deliberately. There is shortage of “and, for,
or, but” which are required to join the sentences. Due to
this, the words have been emphasized and feelings of
anger and jealousy are articulated explicitly.
O Example #2:
“This is the villain among you who deceived
you, who cheated you, who meant to betray
you completely…….”
(Rhetoric by Aristotle)
O The word “and” is not featured in the given
lines, which could have functioned as a
conjunction here. Aristotle believed that
asyndeton could be effective if used in the
ending of the texts. Here he himself
employed this device.
The Difference between
Polysyndeton and Asyndeton
O . Thomas S. Kane describes the difference
between the two devices saying that they
are nothing more than the techniques of
handling a long series of words or lists.
O Polsyndeton slows down the rhythm of
speech and makes it moderate whereas
asyndeton speeds up the rhythm of the
speech.
What Is an Appositive?
O It’s a noun or a noun phrase that is placed
next to another noun or noun phrase to help
identify it. (1) So at the beginning of this
episode, I said, “a listener, Mary, raised this
topic.” In this sentence, the subject is “a
listener.” The name Mary is an appositive.
Essential or Extra?
O Appositives can be essential information or extra
information. Only appositives that are extra information
get commas. The question now is whether the name
Mary is essential or extra. The rule for appositives is that
if the information is essential, you don’t use commas. If
it is extra, you use extra commas. (2) Remember: extra
information, extra commas. I’m sorry to tell you, Mary,
but your name was not essential; that is why it was
surrounded with commas. Of course your name is
essential to you, but it’s not essential to that sentence.
The sentence was about the fact that a listener—one of
many—had a question about appositives. You could
leave out the appositive and the sentence would still
convey the same thought: “A listener raised this topic.”
Simple Senteces
O Definition:
O A sentence with only one independent clause (also
known as a main clause
O Examples:
O "Children are all foreigners."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
O
"Mother died today."
(Albert Camus, The Stranger, 1942)
O "Of course, no man is entirely in his right mind at any
time."
(Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger)
Compound Sentences
O Definition:
O A sentence that contains at least two
independent clauses.
O Compound sentences can be formed in
three ways:
(1) using coordinating conjunctions (and,
but, for, nor, or, so, yet);
(2) using the semicolon, either with or
without conjunctive adverbs;
(3) on occasion, using the colon.
Examples and
Observations:
O "They may take our lives, but they will never take our
freedom."
(Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart, 1995)
"The drought had lasted now for ten million years,
and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since
ended."
(Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968)
O
"Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise,
they won't go to yours."
(Yogi Berra)
Complex Sentences
O Definition:
O A sentence that contains an independent clause and at least
one dependent clause.
O Examples and Observations:
O "[I]n the complex sentence John left when his sister arrived,
the clause when his sister arrived is a dependent clause
because it is preceded by the word when, which is a
subordinating conjunction. Dependent clauses are not
complete sentences; they cannot stand alone as a complete
sentence. For example, *When his sister arrived cannot stand
alone. Dependent clauses must be attached to independent
clauses in order to form a complete sentence. In the complex
sentence above, John left is the independent clause."
(Denise E. Murray and Mary Ann Christison, What English
Language Teachers Need to Know. Routledge, 2011)
Compound Complex
Sentences
O Definition:
O A sentence with two or more independent
clauses and at least one dependent clause
Examples and
Observations:
O "The compound-complex sentence is so named because it
shares the characteristics of both compound and complex
sentences. Like the compound sentence, the compoundcomplex has two main clauses. Like the complex sentence, it
has at least one subordinate clause. The subordinate clause
can be part of an independent clause."
(Random House Webster's Pocket Grammar, Usage, and
Punctuation, 2007)
O
"The door of the morning room was open as I went through
the hall, and I caught a glimpse of Uncle Tom messing about
with his collection of old silver."
(P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters, 1938)