Schemes & Tropes. Name Definition Examples Schemes

Transcription

1 Schemes & Tropes Name Definition Examples Schemes Parallelism Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered). (Julius Caesar) The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. (Churchill) But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. (Amos) Antithesis opposite position The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure Listen, young men, to an old man to whom old men were glad to listen when he was young. Man proposes, God disposes. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. Many are called, but few are chosen. 7- Up: 1

2 Anastrophe a turning back Inversion of the natural or usual word order He holds him with his skinny hand, There was a ship, quoth he. Hold off! unhand me, grey- beard loon! Eftsoons his hand dropt he. When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not, hmmm? Apposition near placement Ellipsis omission Asyndeton unconnected Juxtaposing two co- ordinate elements, the second of which explains or modifies the first Deliberate omission of a word or words (which are readily implied by the context) Deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of related clauses F.A.N.B.O.Y.S. People prefer short takes, Q & A; the attention span of most Americans on serious matters is about twenty seconds, the length of a television clip. (William Safire, commencement speech to Syracuse University) Timmy took a picture of you, and Bob took a picture of me.... that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. (Lincoln, Gettysburg Address)... that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. (Kennedy, Inaugural Address) We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, 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; we shall never surrender. (Churchill) 2

3 Alliteration Assonance Anaphora carrying back Repetition of initial (or medial) consonants in two+ adjacent words Repetition of similar vowel sounds Repetition of the same word, or group of words, at the beginnings of successive clauses Ah, what a delicious day! Yes, I ve read that little bundle of pernicious prose. Done well, alliteration is a satisfying sensation. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Dead in the middle of little Italy, little did we know that we riddled some middleman who didn t do diddily. I ve never seen so many Dominican women with cinnamon tans. (Will Smith, Miami) 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, it was 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. (Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities) Epistrophe return Epanalepsis repetition, resumption, taking up again Repetition of the same word, or group of words, at the ends of successive clauses Repetition at the end of a clause of a word that began the clause What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? (William Blake, The Tyger ) We will be as strong as we need to be for as long as we need to be. (Nixon, Inaugural Address) There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem. (L. B. Johnson, We Shall Overcome ) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. (Paul, I Cor. 13:11) What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us. (Emerson) I ll have my bond! Speak not against my bond! I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond! (Shylock, Merchant of Venice) Nice to see you, to see you, nice. (Bruce Forsyth) Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! (King Lear) In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these. (Paul Harvey) 3

4 Anadiplosis a doubling, folding up Climax staircase, ladder Antimetabole against opposite Chiasmus to shape like the letter Χ Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause Arrangement of words/clauses in an order of increasing importance Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order Reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Suffering leads to tummy turmoil. (Yoda) We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us. (Paul, Romans 5:3 5) There are three things that will endure: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (Paul, I Cor. 13:13) Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! (Patrick Henry, advocating colonial separation from England) You stood up for America, now America must stand up for you. (Barack Obama) Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. (Kennedy, Inaugural Address) The Santa Clause: A But many that are first B shall be last; B 1 and the last A 1 shall be first. (Matt. 19:30) A Who sheds the blood B of a man, B 1 by a man A 1 shall his blood be shed. (Gen. 9:6) A Do not give what is holy to dogs, B and do not throw your pearls before swine, B 1 lest they (the pigs) trample them under their feet, A 1 and (the dogs) turn and tear you to pieces. (Matt. 7:6) What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight it s the size of the fight in the dog. (Eisenhower) 4

5 Polyptoton Tropes Metaphor Simile Synechdoche simultaneous understanding Metonymy alter name Repetition of words derived from the same root Implicit comparison between two things of unlike nature Explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature Metaphor in which the part stands for the whole, the whole for a part Substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is actually meant In peace sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons. In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, the Party can always find you! (Yakov Smirnoff) By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. (Franklin) When the going gets tough, the tough get going! I d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. (Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address) Absolute power corrupts absolutely. (Lord Acton) Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. (John 6:35) Give us this day our daily bread. (Matt. 6:11) I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9) McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup. Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. Shall I compare thee to a summer s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. (Shakespeare, Sonnet 18) I m happier than a tornado in a trailer park. (Mater, Cars) Forrest Gump: All hands on deck. Many hands make light work. London for all of Great Britain. The Tube for the London subway or television. In the sweat of thy face [hard, sustained labor] shalt thou eat bread. (Gen. 3:19) The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [battle]. Pun Play on words If we don t hang together, we ll hang separately. (Franklin) That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. (Matt. 16:18) 5

6 Two vultures boarded a plane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess stops them and says Sorry sir, only one carrion per passenger. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot his whole life, which created an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him frail, and with his odd diet, he suffered from very bad breath. This made him a super callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. Anthimeria against, opposite + part The substitution of one part of speech for another I ll unhair thy head. (Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra) Let s tomato the Democrat candidate! I ve been Googled! 6

7 Periphrasis Substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name Investigator Ken Starr is a modern- day Javert. Calling Macbeth the Scottish play Personification Anthropomorphism human + shape or form Investing human qualities in abstractions or inanimate objects Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no one there. The operation is over. On the table, the knife lies spent, on its side, the bloody meal smear- dried upon its flanks. The knife rests. (Richard Selzer, The Knife ) The sun was playing hide and seek, amidst the clouds. Oreo: Milk s favorite cookie. Hyperbole exaggeration The use of exaggerated terms for emphasis or heightened effect Sour Patch: Daphne, you can t go. You have to stay. I ve only just recently realized how important you are to us. You see, if you go, Dad and I will kill each other. I m not just tossing out hyperbole here. I m speaking in the most literal sense: Dad and I, both dead. Only he ll be lying there with a bacteria- ridden sponge protruding from his mouth like a bloated tongue! (Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane) 7

8 Litotes Erotema / Rhetorical Question Use of understatement Asking a question not for an answer but for the purpose of asserting or denying something indirectly The trick to effective hyperbole is to give an original twist to obviously fanciful overstatement. I d walk a million miles for one of your smiles would no longer impress, but Raymond Chandler s She was blonde enough to make a [priest] kick a hole through a stained- glass window still has that crisp crunch of freshness. (William Safire, How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar) Baby Mama: Not to sound dramatic, but I would rather shoot myself in the face then eat your stupid food. Toto, I have a feeling we re not in Kansas anymore. Reports of my death have been exaggerated. (Twain) Rather than saying that something is attractive (or even very attractive), one might merely say it is not unattractive. But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. In one Monte Python film, an Army officer has just lost his leg. When asked how he feels, he looks down at his bloody stump and responds, Stings a bit. He chose poorly : How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you keep a wave upon the sand? How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand? Can I ask a rhetorical question? Well, can I? (Ambrose Bierce) Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? If you prick us, do we not bleed, if you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? (Shylock, Merchant of Venice) Are you really as stupid as you look? What's the matter with you? Don't you know any better? Have you no shame? Do fish swim? / Can fish drown? Are you crazy? Who cares? How should I know? 8

9 Irony Wording to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the word Are you kidding me? Well, isn't that nice? Kennedy s last conversation was ironic in light of events which followed seconds later. During the motorcade in Dallas, in response to Mrs. Connolly s comment, Mr. President, you can t say that Dallas doesn t love you, Kennedy replied, That s very obvious. Immediately after, he was assassinated. When John Hinckley attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, all of his shots initially missed the President; however, a bullet ricocheted off the bullet- proof Presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the chest. Thus, a vehicle made to protect the President from gunfire was partially responsible for his being shot. Onomatopoeia Use of words whose sound echoes the sense Rice Krispies snap, crackle, pop. Alka- Seltzer s Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is! 9

10 Oxymoron Juxtaposing two ordinarily contradictory terms... murmuring of innumerable bees. (Tennyson) The Raven (Lee): The Raven (Jones): Paradox An apparently contradictory statement containing a measure of truth I must be cruel only to be kind. Isn t Disney World a people trap operated by a mouse? Why does sour cream have an expiration date? Do fish get cramps after eating? I.Q.: 10