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