Syntax - S entence Structure Why? The manner in which a speaker or author constructs a sentence affects what the audience understands about what he/ she wants to convey…creating tone, mood, character, etc.

Effect Examples  The inverted order of an interrogative sentence cues the reader or listener to a question and creates a tension between speaker and listener: Note the change in emphasis: In Ms. Dann’s class, do students learn? Vs. Do students learn in Ms. Dann’s class?

Effect Examples  Short sentences are often emphatic, passionate or flippant Get Out!  longer sentences suggest the writer’s more deliberate, thoughtful response Your presence is scraping at my patience right now, so I would like it very much if you left.  very long discursive sentences give a narrative a rambling, meditative tone. I’ve had a very long, difficult day, and I can tell you want to talk, but really I just need some time in a quiet room; you know, a room without people in it, people like you, so please leave.

Clause Types  Independent Clause – a complete sentence. She sang. She sang well. She sang yesterday not today.

Clause Types  Dependent/ Subordinate/ Embedded Clause - A phrase with an incomplete sentence DC: Highlighted in blue… Yesterday, she sang but not today. All evening, she studied with all her might.

Sentence Types 1. Recognize the sentence type 2. Decide what the effect of the sentence type is. Telegraphic – shorter than 5 words in length Short – around 5 words in length Medium – around 18 words in length Long and involved – 30 or more words in length.

Sentence Types One of the most important elements of syntax is the way the words, phrases and clauses are arranged. Knowing the types of sentences and clauses helps you be able to discuss the effects of syntax.

Sentence Types  Declarative – makes a statement The king is sick.  Imperative – gives a command Cure the king!  Interrogative – asks a question Is the king sick?

Sentence Types  Exclamatory – provides emphasis or expresses strong emotion The king is dead! Long live the king!  Simple Sentence – one independent clause. The singer bowed to her adoring audience.

Sentence Types  Compound sentence – two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or semicolon. The singer bowed to the audience, but she sang no encores. The singer bowed to the audience; however, she sang no encores.

Sentence Types  Complex Sentence – an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. Because the singer was tired, she went straight to bed after the concert.

Sentence Types  Compound-Complex sentence – two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sang no encores.

Sentence Types  Loose/ 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, full of stories to tell our friends and neighbors. (The sentence could end before the modifying phrases without losing its coherence.)

Sentence Types  Periodic Sentence – makes sense fully only when the end of the sentence is reached. That morning, after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences, we reached Edmonton.

Sentence Types  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 still waters.

Sentence Types  Natural Order of a sentence involves constructing a sentence so the subject (the doer of the action – a noun) comes before the predicate (the action of the sentence – a verb). Oranges grow in California. Subject Predicate

Sentence Types  Inverted order of a sentence (sentence inversion) – constructing a sentence so the predicate comes before the subject. In California grow the oranges. Effects?

Sentence Style  Juxtaposition - a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally 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 crowd: / Petals on a wet, black bough Ezra Pound – “In a Station of the Metro”

More Juxtaposition Examples… Romeo: O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear “Rough in the ghetto, but in jail he’s Jello” - Kool G. Rap, “Road to the Riches”

Sentence Style  Parallel structure (parallelism) – a grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of a sentence. It involves an arrangement of words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs so the elements of equal importance are equally developed and similarly phrased. He loved swimming, running, and bicycling.

Sentence Style  Repetition – a device in which words, sounds, and 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.” Abraham Lincoln – Gettysburg Address

Sentence Style  Rhetorical Question – a question that requires no answer. It is used to draw attention to a point and is generally 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?”

Sentence Style  Rhetorical Fragment – a sentence fragment used deliberately for a persuasive purpose or to create a desired effect. Something to consider.

Sentence Style  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.” - Winston Churchill

Sentence Style  Polysyndeton – the deliberate use of many conjunctions for special emphasis – 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.”

Sentence Style  Asyndeton – a deliberate omission of conjunctions in a series of related clauses. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” -Julius Caesar

Sentence Style  Chiasmus – the arrangement of ideas in the second clause of a sentence is a reversal of the first. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” JFK

Sentence Style  Stichomythia – dialogue in which the 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.

Sentence Style  Zeugma (ZOOG – mah) – the use of a verb that has two different meanings with objects that complement both meanings. He stole both her car and her heart that fateful night.