Some Useful Rhetorical Figures: (Part Two) SCHEMES of PARALLELISM

In addition to the non-literal figures (TROPES such as Simile, Metaphor, Metonymy, etc.) and the literal SCHEMES of sound effects: phonic schemes such as Rhyme, Alliteration, Consonance, etc.) There are many useful schemes of parallel structuring. Again, SCHEMES are literal figures. They are special “shapes of language” and “ways with words” that are simply powerful and memorable “turns of phrase.”

On the pattern of 2:

· Antithesis [Greek: “against the statement”] — is the balance of two opposing elements of approximately the same rhetorical structure: Example: “Had you rather that Caesar were living and die all slaves, or that Caesar were dead and live free men” (Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar).

· Paraphrasis [Greek: “alongside the statement”] — is an immediate rephrasing of a statement. Example: “It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . . .” (Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”).

· Repetitio [Latin: “repetition”] — is the exact repetition of a statement for emphasis. Example: “This is the last great land of freedom in the whole world. Help me, help me, help me save it.” (Wendell Wilkie, from a campaign speech while running against FDR).

· Balance — is the same thing said about a different subject. Example: “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.” (Anthony in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar) Also a good example of the device of Elegant Variation for effect (cried/wept), an avoidance of repeating the same word too often.

On the pattern of 3:

· Tricolon [Greek: “three clauses”/”three groups of words in parallel”] — is a three-part parallel structure. Example: “Veni, Vidi, Vici” [“I came, I saw, I conquered.”] (from Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic Wars). [Digressive Note: This was 500 or so year old stuff when Caesar was a schoolboy. The Rhetorical Figures were all named by the early Greek rhetoricians as long ago as the 500’s BC.]

· Abe Lincoln was in love with the tricolon. It was clearly the favorite structural and inventive device in his very direct and mainly literal style. Examples: “of the people, by the people, for the people” “we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground” (both from Gettysburg) “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on . . . .” (Second Inaugural Address).

· Three marks the beginning of the true “series” of things. Of course, there are the mystical connections of the number 3 and all sorts of trinities of things in many cultures. Beginning, Middle, End / Birth, Life, Death / etc.

On the pattern of 4:

· Tetracolon [Greek: “four clauses/groups of words”] — is a four-part parallel structure. Example:

1. “ — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion;

2. that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain;

3. that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and

4. that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

— Lincoln, the conclusion of “The Gettysburg Address”

On the pattern of 5:

· Pentacolon [Greek: “five clauses/groups of words”] — is a five-part parallel structure. A good example is from John Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address”: Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, defend any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.

· Nice alliteration too, huh? Kennedy liked to do his alliteration in pairs of words.] This is also a good example of Isocolon [Greek: “equal clauses/groups of words”] — the repetition of exactly matched parallel elements) in that each of the five elements of the pentacolon fits the pattern “(verb) any (noun).”

The repeated beginning:

· Anaphora [Greek: “the first phrase/word/group of words”] — is the repetition of introductory elements. The first word or phrase of successive structural elements is repeated. “We cannont dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow . . .) [also isocolon here].

The repeated ending:

· Epiphora (also called Epinaphora) [Greek: “the last phrase/word/group of words”] — is the repetition of ending elements. The last word of phrase of successive structural elements is repeated. “. . . of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Miscellaneous “Other” Schemes:

· Asyndeton [Greek: “no conjunctions”] — is the omission of conjunctions between elements in a series, including the last two. Example: “All the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had gone out of the majestic river!” (Twain, from Life on the Mississippi).

· Polysyndeton [Greek: “many conjunctions”] — is the inclusion of conjunctions between all elements of a series. Example (also from Twain, same source): “But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river’s face. . . .”

· Prosyndeton [Greek: “beginning conjunction” — again, my coinage (F. Coffman)] — Starting a sentence with a conjunction (And, But, So, Yet, etc.). No matter what your grade school teacher told you about never doing that, there’s no problem if you do it sparingly and with good reason. What you were taught is a “training-wheels rule” for the beginning writer. Note Lincoln’s beginning for paragraph three of “The Gettysburg Address”: “But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground…”

· Chiasmus [Greek: “X-pattern” or “X-like” the Greeks call the letterform X “chi”] — is the crossing of elements in successive clauses. A famous example of this important figure is Kennedy’s famous: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Or in the same speech: “Let us not negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.” [It was one of Kennedy’s favorite figures.] There is great memory [mnemonic] power in the chiasmus. Other examples: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” / “Plan your work, then work your plan.” / “Say what you mean, and mean what you say.” (common sayings) / “You don’t have to spend your life savings to get a car that could save your life.” (car commercial) / “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us!” (Malcolm X).

· Polyptoton [Greek: “multiple occurrences”] — is the use of two or more words derived from the same root in the same sentence. Examples: “They gave their lives that that nation might live.”(Lincoln, “Gettysburg”) AND “these dead shall not have died in vain.” (ditto).

· Paradox — a seemingly self-contradictory statement or pair of statements. Usually, the statement cannot literally be possible. But upon thinking it over, there is a sense of reasonableness to it. Examples: Charles Dickens intro sentences to A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, itwas the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

· OR Dr. King’s statement in his “I Have a Dream” Speech: “…”The negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.”

· Absolute — a grammatical omission of an understood verb that, thus, needs no repeating [a device frequently used in Latin]: “Jim runs fast, Bill faster, Sue fastest of all.” “Runs” doesn’t need to be repeated. Or in the following passage by Will Strunk, Jr. in The Elements of Style: “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should have no unnecessary words for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines or a machine no unnecessary parts…” [the words “should have” don’t need to be repeated with the reference to the machine — the verbal element is understood].

· Erotema [Rhetorical Question] — Is a question asked for rhetorical effect, really having the weight of a strong statement: “Can we allow these oppressive policies to continue?” means pretty much: “We can’t allow these oppressive policies to continue.”