Using sentence structure to find meaning… Syntax Using sentence structure to find meaning…

What is Syntax What? The grammatical structure of sentences; the deliberate sentence structure the author chooses to make his or her desired point. Why? Examined to show how it contributes to and enhances meaning and effect. Remember… Phrases = groups of related words w/o subject, predicate, or both Clauses = groups of related words with subject and predicate

ELEMENTS OF SYNTAX 1. Sentence Length 1. Sentence length (types) • Staccato = one to two words, abrupt • Telegraphic = shorter than five words • Short = approx. 5-10 words • Medium = approx. 15-20 words • Long = 30 or more words Consider: What variety of lengths is shown? How is it effective?

Elements of Syntax continued… 2. Number of sentences – How many? 3. Rhythm of sentences – Do they follow a similar pattern in style. 4. Sentence beginnings – variety or pattern 5. Voice – active or passive?

Sentence Types Ex: The clock struck eight. She waited. Nobody came. • Declarative = statements Ex: The clock struck eight. She waited. Nobody came. • Interrogative = questions: Where are you? • Imperative = commands, requests Ex: Write to the local TV station. Try to convince others to take your side. • Exclamatory Ex: “We won!” • Simple sentences = 1 subject, 1 predicate Ex: “The price of gold rose. Stock prices may fall.” Van Gogh painted The Starry Night.

Sentence Types cont.. Compound sentences = two or more independent clauses joined with coordinating conjunctions, transitional words/phrases, semicolons, or colons Ex: The saxophone does not belong to the brass family; in fact, it is a member of the woodwind family. Ex: In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it any more. (Hemingway) • Complex sentences = one independent clause and one dependent clause Ex: After the town was evacuated, the hurricane began. Ex: Town officials, who were very concerned, watched the storm.

Sentence Types cont. Compound-complex = two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause Ex: When small foreign imports began dominating the US automobile industry, consumers were very responsive, but American auto workers were dismayed. • Fragments and run-ons Fragments: Sentences without a subject & Predicate – Run-On’s: 2 or more independent clauses not connected properly.

Elements of Syntax: Sentence Patterns Word order / arrangement of ideas– are words set out in a special way for a purpose or effect? Loose sentence (main point is at the beginning, “front loaded”) Ex: We reached Edmonton that morning after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences. • Periodic sentence (main point at the end, “end loaded”) Ex: That morning, after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences, we reached Edmonton.

Elements of Syntax Sentence Patterns Natural order- The subject comes before main verb/predicate. Ex: Oranges grow in California. Inverted order or a sentence (sentence inversion) – constructing a sentence so the predicate comes before the subject. Ex: In California grow oranges. Interrupted sentence: subordinate clauses come in the middle, set off by dashes or commas Ex: These had been her teachers, -- stern and wild ones, -- and they had made her strong….

Elements of Syntax Syntax Patterns Parallelism or Parallel Structure: refers to a grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of a sentence. It involves the arrangement of words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs so that elements of equal importance are equally developed and phrased: Ex: He loved swimming, running, and playing tennis. Juxtaposition: a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally associated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, often creating an effect of surprise or wit. Ex: The apparation of these faces in the crowd:/Petals on a wet black bough. (Ezra Pound)

Elements of Syntax Syntax Patterns Repetition: a device in which words, sounds and ideas are used more than once to enhance rhythm and to create emphasis. Ex. “…government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (“Address at Gettysbury” by Abraham Lincoln) Rhetorical Question: A question that requires no answer and used to draw attention to a point and is generally stronger than a direct statement. Ex. If Mr. Ferch is always fair, as you have said, why did he refuse to listen to Mrs. Balwin’s arguments.

Elements of Syntax Sentence Patterns Rhetorical Fragment: A sentence fragment used deliberately for a persusive purpose or to create a desired effect: Ex. “Something to consider.” Antithesis – the opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite. Ex. Brutus: “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Advanced Syntax (on 11th AP Test) Anaphora- the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses. Ex. “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 Asyndeton – a deliberate omission of conjunctions in a series of related clauses: Ex. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Julius Caesar Chiasmus/Antimetabole: a sentence strategy in which the arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first: Ex. “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy Zeguma – the use of a verb that has two different meanigs with objects that complement both meanings: Ex. “He stole both her car and her heart that fateful night.”

Advanced Syntax (on 11th AP Test) Polysyntedon – the deliberate use of many conjunctions for special emphasis – to highlight quantity or mass of detail or to create a flowing, continuous sentence pattern: Ex. The meal was huge- my mother fixed okra and green beans and ham and apple pie and green pickled tomatoes and all manner of fine country food – but no matter how hard I tried, I not consume it to her satisfaction”. Stichomythia – a dialogue in which the endings and beginnings of each line echo each other, taking on new meaning with each new line. Example from Hamlet: 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.

Syntax- Summing Ups Syntax refers to how writers construct individual sentences to achieve particular effects, such as emphasis or a slower or faster pace. Syntax involves three main elements: sentence length (shorter and longer); sentence structure (simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex); and sentence pattern (placement of subjects, verbs, objects, and complements). Effective writing demonstrates variety in each of these main elements. Working in a small group, use the form below to analyze the syntax of a passage of three or four paragraphs from a text. What effect does the writer achieve with the examples of syntax you have chosen?

Words to Use Comparing Style Plain, spare, austere, unadorned Ornate elaborate, flowery Jumbled, chaotic, obfuscating Erudite, esoteric Journalistic, terse, laconic Harsh, grating Mellifluous, musical, lilting, lyrical Whimsical Elegant Staccato, abrupt Solid, thudding Sprawling, disorganized Dry, Deceptively simple

When Peer-Editing Essays Rework sentences beginning with “there/this” Change all passive voice sentences to active voice: Ex. “The ball was caught by John” to “John caught the ball.” Add a sentence using comparison (simile/metaphor) Replace “be” verbs with active verbs Variety of sentence structure (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) Change one declarative sentence into a interrogative sentence and answer with a rhetorical fragment. Move one sentence to a more effective location. Use a sophisticated syntactical technique in at least one sentence.

Examine Syntax How do syntactical techniques support meaning? “Next morning when the first light came into the sky and the sparrows stirred in the trees, when the crows rattled their chains and the rooster crowed and the early automobiles when whispering along the road, Wilbur awoke and looked for Charlotte.” E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

Evaluation… The movement of the sentence follows the sun, the birds, then the cars. Finally when the world is awake, Wilbur gets to look at Charlotte. The readers are taken from the sunlight, which not only begins the day, but represents the farthest remove from humanity, down through the birds, cows, roosters – coming even closer – until it gets to the cars, driven by human beings. But no human beings appear. So the readers can continue to enjoy the pretense that Wilbur and Charlotte are human even though they are a spider and a pig. This sentence fully sets the scene by the time Wilbur awakes. If the sentence was reordered the emphasis on Wilbur’s action would be forgotten by the time the reader reaches the end of the sentence. The sentence is periodic, moving from the opening adverb phrase through the two successive adverb clauses, the second longer than the first, to the final main clause – the main focal and grammatical point of the sentence.