Stylistic devices based on the formal and simentic combination of syntectical constructions of the mode.

Parallel construction is a device which may be encountered not so much in the sentence as in the macro - structures dealt with the syntactical whole and the paragraph. The necessary condition in parallel construction is identical or similar, syntactical structure in two or more sentences or parts of sentence in close succesion, as in:

“There were,..., real silver spoons to stir the tea with, and real china cups to drink it out of, and plates of the same to hold the cakes and toast in.” (Dickens)

Parallel constructions are often backed up by repetition of words (lexical repetition) and conjunctions and prepositions (polysyndeton). Pure parallel constructions, however, does not depend on any other kind of repetition but the repetition of syntactical design of the sentence.

Parallel constructions may be partial or complete. Partial parallel arrangement is the repetition of some parts of successive sentences or clauses, as in:

“It is the mob that labour in your fields and serve in your houses-that man your navy and recruit your army,-that have enabled you to defy all the world,and can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair.” (Byron)

The attributive clauses here all begin with the subordinate conjunction that which is followed by a verb in the same form, except the last (have enabled). The verbs, however,are followed either by adverbial modifiers of place(in your fields, in your houses) or by direct object (your navy, your army). The third attributive clause is not built on the pattern of the first two, although it preserves the parallel structure in general (that+verb-predicate+object), while the fourth has broken away entirely.

Complete parallel arrangement, also called balance, maintains the principle of identical structures throughout the corresponding sentences, as in:

“The seeds ye sow-another reaps,

The robers ye weave-another wears,

The arms ye forge-another bears.”

(P.B.Shelley)

Parallel construction is most frequently used in enumeration, antithesis and in climax, thus consolidating the general effect achieved by these stylistic devices.

Parallel construction is used in different styles of writing with slightly different functions. When used in the matter-of-fact styles, it carries,in the main, the idea of semantic equality of the parts, as in scientific prose, where the logical principle of arranging ideas predominates. In the belles-lettres style parallel construction carries an emotive function. That is why it is mainly used as a technical means in building up other stylistic devices, thus securing their unity.

Chiasmus (Reversed Parallel Construction). Chiasmus belongs to the group of stylistic devices based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern, but it has a cross order of words and phrases. The structure of two successive sentences may be described as reversed parallel construction, the word-order of one of the sentences being interved as compared with that of the other, as in:

“As high as we have mounted in delight in our dejection do we sink as low.” (Wordsworth)

“Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down.” (Coleridge)

Chiasmus is sometimes achieved by a sudden change from active voice to passive or vice, for example:

“The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it.(Dickens)

This device is effective in that it helps to lay stress on the second part of utterance, which is opposite in structure, ‘in our dejection’; ‘Scrooge signed it’. This due to the sudden change in the structure which by its very unexpectedness linguistically requires a slight pause before it.

There are different variants of the structural design of chiasmus. The first example given shows chiasmus appearing in a complex sentence where the second part has an opposite arrangement. The second example demonstrates chiasmus in a sentence expressing semantically the relation of cause and effect. Structurally, however, the two parts are presented as independent sentences, and it is the chiasmatic structure which supports the idea of subordination. The third example is composed of two independent sentences and the chiasmus serves to increase the effect of climax. Here is another example of chiasmus where two parallel constructions are followed by reversed parallel construction linked to the former by the conjunction and:

“The night winds sigh,the breakers roar,

And shrieks the wild sea-mew.” (Byron)

It must be remembered that chiasmus is a syntactical, not a lexical device, i.e. it is only the arrangement of the parts of the utterance which constitutes this stylistic device. In the famous epigram by Byron:

“In the days of old men made the manners;

Manners now make men,”

Syntactical chiasmus is sometimes used to break the monotony of parallel construction. But whatever the purpose of chiasmus, it will always bring in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis on some portion of the second part.

Rhetorical question is one that expects no answer. It is asked in order to make a statement rather than to get a reply They are frequently used in dramatic situation and in publisistic style.Rhetoric question presents a negative or affermative statement in a form of a question.

e. g. What was the good of discontented people who fitted in nowhere?

Parcellation is a deliberate break of the sentence into 2 or more isolated parts separated by a pause. It’s typical for the colloquial type of speech.

e.g. Then the pain began…slow… deliberatele… methodical.. professional.

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