Syntax Terminology and Analysis 11th Advanced Placement Mrs. Burgar

Elements in Sentence Construction Parts of Speech Noun: a person, place, thing, or idea Pronoun: a word that is used in place of a noun Adjective: a word that modifies a noun Verb: words that show action or state of being Adverb: a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb

Elements in Sentence Construction Parts of Speech Preposition: a word that connects a noun to some other word in the sentence Conjunction: a word that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases, or words Interjection: a word added to a sentence to convey emotion Article: a kind of adjective which is always used with, and gives information about, a noun

Elements in Sentence Construction Parts of a Sentence Subject: what or whom the sentence is about Verb/predicate: tells something about the subject Objects: a word that completes a verb’s meaning Direct object: the receiver of action within a sentence i.e. He hit the ball Indirect object: identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is performed. i.e. Sam sold me his boat

Elements in Sentence Construction Parts of a Sentence Modifiers Phrases: a group of related words lacking both subject and predicate Prepositional: a group of words containing a preposition, object & modifiers i.e. Fishing by the river Infinitive: consists of “to” followed by a verb i.e. To fish is fun Appositive: Noun phrases that rename nouns or pronouns i.e. Fish, our next dinner, swim in the river.

Elements in Sentence Construction Parts of a Sentence Clauses: A group of related words that contain a subject and predicate

Types of Sentence by STRUCTURE Simple: subject, verb, and object – has one independent clause i.e. Tom reads novels Compound: two independent clauses joined by a.) coordinating conjunction (but) b.) conjunctive adverb (however) c.) a semicolon alone - i.e. Tom reads novels, but Jack reads comics.

Types of Sentence by STRUCTURE Complex: One dependent clause headed by a subordinating conjunction joined to an independent clause i.e. Although Tom reads novels, Jack reads comics. Compound-complex: Two independent clauses joined to one or more dependent clauses. i.e. While Tom reads novels, Jack reads (dependent) (independent) comics, and Sam reads only magazines (independent)

Types of Sentence by PURPOSE Declarative: simply states a fact or argument, without requiring either an answer or action from the reader i.e. Ottowa is the capital of Canada Imperative: gives a direct command to someone. i.e. Read this book for tomorrow. Interrogative: asks a direct question and always ends in a question mark. i.e. When was Lester Pearson prime minister?

Types of Sentence by PURPOSE Exclamatory: a more forceful version of declarative sentence with an exclamation mark at the end i.e. The butler did it! (note: avoid overuse and multiple exclamation marks!!!!!) Rhetorical: a question which you do not actually expect the reader to answer i.e. Why did the War of 1812 take place? Some scholars argue that it was simply a land-grab by the Americans…

Types of Sentence by ARRANGEMENT Simple/basic: a sentence that is short and to the point. i.e. Tensions flare. Crowds cheer. (also called telegraphic) Inverted: reversing the customary order of words in a sentence or phrase. The verb occurs before the subject (often begins with “here” or “there” or prepositional phrase i.e. There are three mice in the bathtub. In a field across the road are a cow and its calf.

Types of Sentence by ARRANGEMENT Loose: constructed so that the main thought is first stated and then added to by various phrases and clauses (grammatically complete before the end of sentence. The phrases and clauses work like an afterthought, qualifying, clarifying, adding to the main thought) Clarisse thanked the repairman, tired from spending an entire afternoon in a hot attic.

Types of Sentence by ARRANGEMENT Periodic: grammatically constructed so that the main thought is suspended until the end of the sentence (it can create suspense and end with a note of emphasis) i.e. At the end of the day, exhausted and hot, Clarisse thanked the repairman. Interrupted: The main clause is interrupted by or follows a phrase or series of phrases i.e. At the end of the day, exhausted and hot, Clarisse thanked the repairman, the epitome of perseverance and a master of air-conditioning repair.

Types of Sentence by ARRANGEMENT Parallel: similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases or clauses. i.e. The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. Balanced: the phrases or clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness, structure, meaning, or length. i.e. There is a time to study, and there is a time to appreciate what you have learned.

Syntactical Schemes of Sentence Construction This is the way authors manipulate word order More often than note, syntactical schemes are used for rhythm and or emphasis We will look at: Balance/Order/Placement/Juxtaposition Omission Addition and Repetition Syntactical Style Analysis elements

Balance, Order, Placement, Juxtaposition Parallelism: repetition of a structure: either words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity (Greek root: beside one another) i.e. She went to the post office, cleaners, and gas station. Isocolon: items of equal length i.e. A good student questions his teachers, studies his books, and learns his lessons.

Balance, Order, Placement, Juxtaposition Juxtaposition: The parallel placement of contrasting ideas. Conjunctions that express this include: but, yet, and while i.e. I offered to help, but he refused my assistance. Paradox: An assertion that seemingly opposes common sense, but that makes sense in context i.e. Sometimes people must die in order to have peace.

Balance, Order, Placement, Juxtaposition Oxymoron: The apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposed use of words which seem to contradict one another i.e. military intelligence i.e. cold sweat Listing: presenting ideas in a list format, separated by commas.

Balance, Order, Placement, Juxtaposition Transitions: words or phrases that help carry over a thought from one idea, sentence, or paragraph to another i.e. furthermore, in addition (you will receive extensive transition list)

Omission Ellipsis: Deliberate omission of a word or words implied by context. i.e. The man lost three teeth, the woman two. Asyndeton: Purposeful elimination of conjunctions in a sentence. i.e. I came, I saw, I conquered

Addition/Repetition Apposition (appositive): Placing side by side two nouns, the second of which serves as an explanation of the first i.e. The bear, a massive black object, frightened the small children. Parenthesis: Insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal flow of the sentence.

Addition/Repetition Polysyndenton: inserting extra conjunctions in a sentence i.e. John pursues his way and jumps and swims and floats. (instead of using commas) Epistrophe: Purposeful repetition of same word(s), of successive phrase/clause/sentence i.e. Speak not against my bond, write not against my bond, think not against my bond.