Syntax

The manner in which a speaker or author constructs a sentence

Declarative

• Makes a statement • “The king is sick.”

imperative

• Gives a command • “Cure the king!”

interrogative

• Asks a question • “Is the king sick?”

exclamatory

• Provides emphasis or expresses strong emotion • “The king is dead! Long live the king!”

Simple sentence

• Contains one independent clause • “The singer bowed to her adoring audience.”

Compound sentence

• Contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or by a semicolon • “The singer bowed to the audience, but she sang no encores.”

Complex sentence

• Contains an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses • “Because the singer was tired, she went straight to bed after the concert.”

telegraphic

• Shorter than 5 words in length

short

• Approximately 5 words in length

medium

• Approximately 18 words in length

Long and involved

• 30 words or more in length

Compound-complex sentence

• Two or more independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses • “The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sang no encores.”

Loose or cumulative sentence

• Makes complete sense if brought to a close before the actual ending • “We reached Edmonton that morning after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences, tired but exhilarated, bull of stories to tell our friends and neighbors.”

Periodic sentence

• Makes sense fully when the end of the sentence is reached • “That morning, after a turbulent flight and some exiting experiences, we reached Edmonton.”

Balanced sentence

• The phrases or clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness of structure, meaning, or length • “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.”

Natural order

• Subject comes before the predicate • “Oranges grow in California.”

Singing sentences

• Pair words and phrases on the basis of sound devices • To play with grace and to struggle through strife; to win with a grin but to face defeat without heat; to try beyond tribulation and to rejoice within reason: these are the ways of a great man.

Inverted order

• Predicate comes before the subject • Creates an emphatic or rhythmic effect • “In California grow the oranges.”

Juxtaposition

• Unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, often creating an effect of surprise and wit • “The apparition of these faces in the crown:/Petals on a wet, black bough.”

Parallel structure

• Elements of equal importance are equally developed and similarly phrased • “He loved swimming, running, and playing tennis.”

Repetition

• Phrases or ideas are used more than once to enhance rhythm and to create emphasis • “. . . Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Rhetorical question

• Requires no answer • Used to draw attention to a point • Stronger than a direct statement • “If Mr. Ferchoff is always fair, as you have said, why did he refuse to listen to Mrs. Baldwin’s arguments?”

Rhetorical fragment

• Sentence fragment used deliberately for a persuasive purpose • “Something to consider.”

Anaphora

• Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses • “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.”

Asyndeton

• Deliberate omission of conjunctions in a series of related clauses • “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Chiasmus/Antimetabole

• Arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first • “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

polysyndeton

• Deliberate use of many conjunctions to highlight quantity or mass of detail or to create a flowing, continuous sentence pattern • “The meal was huge – my mother fixed okra and green beans and ham and apple pie and green pickled tomatoes and ambrosia salad and all manner of fine country food – but no matter how I tried, I could not consume it to her satisfaction.”

stychomythia

• • •

Dialogue Endings and beginnings of each line echo each other, taking on a new meaning with each new line Hamlet: Now mother, what’s the matter?

Queen: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.

Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended.

Queen: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.

Hamlet: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.

Zeugma

• Use a verb that has two different meanings with objects that complement both meanings • “He stole both her car and her heart that fateful night.”

Effect of syntax

• Inverted order of an interrogative sentence cues the reader or listener to a question and creates a tension between speaker and listener.

• Short sentences are often emphatic, passionate, or flippant.

• Long sentences suggest the writer’s more deliberate, thoughtful response.

• Very long, discursive sentences give a narrative a rambling, meditative tone.

punctuation

• Explain unusual or interesting combinations of punctuation contribute to the meaning --dash --exclamation point --semicolon --parentheses

Syntax in poetry

• Enjambed lines-sentences which extend beyond the end of the line and into the next line

Syntax vocabulary

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Plain, spare, austere, unadorned Ornate, elaborate, flowery Jumbled, chaotic, obfuscating, erudite, esoteric Journalistic, terse, laconic Harsh, grating Mellifluous, musical, lilting, lyrical Whimsical Elegant Staccato, abrupt Solid, thudding Sprawling, disorganized Dry Deceptively simple