| Term | Definition |
|---|
| loose sentence | main clause first; subordinate clause/phrases follow |
| periodic sentence | subordinate constructions first; main clause closes the sentence |
| balanced or parallel sentence | two or more words or constructions must be in the same grammatical form; impressive, pleasing to heart, elaborates rhythm and order, and shows economy |
| convoluted structure | main clause is split in two; subordinate material is between |
| centered structure | main clause occupies the middle, subordinate material is between |
| freight train | sentence consisting of short, independent clauses coupled for a sense of immediacy; the effect produces a rhythmical quality. |
| adverbial or dependent clause opener | creates emphasis by putting important information first |
| inverted word order | verb before subject; used for emphasis |
| appositive | provides extra information for clarification; example: London, the English City on the Thames, offers many Tourist activities. |
| rhetorical question | creates active involvement with reader and audience by asking them to think |
| form follows content | the sentence represents its content |
| sentence purpose | to help translate loudness, intonation, and gesture into wiring, write sentences that produce "partial" emphasis that is not of the whole sentence but of a word or a phrase within a sentence |
| opening and closing positions | parts of a sentence very sensitive to emphasis, short sentence in a pool of larger ones stands out and emphasizes the topic |
| antimetabole | repetition of words, in clauses, in reverse grammatical order |
| chiasmus | the criss-cross or reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses -- example: His time a moment, and a point his space. - Alexander Pope |
| epanalepsis | repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause |
| anadiplosis | repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause |
| anaphora | repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive sentences |
| epistrophe | repetition of the same word or group of words at the END of successive clauses |
| puns | generic name for figures of speech that make a play on words |
| understatement | deliberate use of understatement, not to deceive but to enhance the impressiveness of what we say |
| paradox | an apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth |
| punctuation | use of periods, commas, dashes, semi-colons, colons, or other marks in order to control the pace of effect of a work of prose or poetry |
| utilizing negative-positive restatement | creates emphasis by using opposites; an idea is stated twice, first in negative terms, then in positive |
| using pairing and piling modifiers | using sets of adjectives to impress upon a reader; combined with punctuation to interrupt or isolate elements for emphasis or a compressed effect |
| interrogative | sentence pattern: question |
| imperative | sentence pattern: command |
| exclamatory | sentence pattern: emphasis |
| declarative | sentence pattern: active verb |
Combine with other sets
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