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March 24, 2018 | Author: Anonymous | Category: History, European History, Renaissance (1330-1550), Feudalism
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Analysis of Syntax How does syntax contribute to the meaning of a passage?

Syntax Defined The term syntax refers not only to the structure of sentences, their types, their uses, their connection, and the variations authors choose, but also to smaller structures within sentences. Phrases (any group of words) and clauses (groups of words that contain a subject and a verb) are also syntactic elements that require a reader’s attention. One of the most important elements of syntax is the way the words, phrases, and clauses are arranged. This is a key element of the author’s style and can have a marked effect on meaning.

Sentence Length Telegraphic Short Medium Long

Shorter than 5 words in length Approximately 5 words in length Approximately 18 words in length Long and involved – 30 words or more in length

Types of Sentences Declarative Imperative Interrogative Exclamatory

The king is sick. Cure the King! Is the king sick? The king is dead; long live the king!

Makes a statement Gives a command Asks a question Provides strong emphasis or expresses strong emotion

Assertive Authoritative Questioning Emotional

Sentence Structures Simple sentence

Compound sentence

    

Complex sentence

Compoundcomplex sentence

      

contains one subject and one verb has only one main, complete thought The singer bowed to her adoring audience. contains only two independent clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction (and, but, or) or by a semicolon has two or more main, complete thoughts – Two or more simple sentences are joined, usually with or, but, or and. The singer bowed to the audience, but she sang no encores. has one simple sentence and one or more clauses – These clauses are connected to the simple sentence with words like because, while, when, if, as, although, since, unless, after, so, which, who, and that. contains an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses After she bowed to the audience, the singer sang an encore. a combination of the above contains two or more principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sang no encores.

 

Loose/Cumulative sentence

      

Periodic sentence

Balanced sentence

 Natural order of a Sentence Inverted order of a sentence (sentence inversion)

      

Split order of a sentence

makes complete sense if brought to a close before the actual ending the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent clauses and phrases the sentence could end before the modifying phrase(s) without losing its coherence We almost always speak in loose sentences! We reached Denver / that morning / after a turbulent flight / and some exciting experiences. makes sense only when the end of the sentence is reached the sentence is not grammatically complete until is end That morning, after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences, we reached Denver. the phrases and clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness of structure, meaning, or length He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. involves constructing a sentence so the subject comes before the predicate Oranges grow in California. involves constructing a sentence so the predicate comes before the subject this is a device in which normal sentence patterns are reversed to create an emphatic or rhythmic effect In California grow the oranges. divides the predicate into two parts with the subject coming in the middle In California oranges grow.

Verbals The three types of verbals are participles, gerunds, and infinitives. Participles  ends in –ing or –ed  looks like a verb but is used as an adjective 

Examples: o The crying baby reached for his mother. o Crying, a form of the very cry, modifies or describes the noun baby. o Screaming, Matt jumped away from the spider. o Screaming, a form of the verb scream, modifies the noun Matt. o The amused teacher chuckled at the student’s joke. o Amused, a form of the verb amuse, modifies the noun teacher.



Note: Participles and gerunds do not have helping verbs. If you see an –ing verb with a helping verb it is a verb. o Example: The student is amusing the teacher.

Gerunds  ends in –ing  looks like a verb but is used as a noun 

Examples: o Chewing with your mouth open does not impress people. o Chewing, a form of the verb chew, is the subject of the sentence. What does not impress people? Chewing o Mark practices speaking in public. o Speaking is the direct object of the verb practices. Mark practices what? speaking



Note: Participles and gerunds do not have helping verbs. If you see an –ing verb with a helping verb it is a verb.

Infinitives  to + verb  a word that looks like a verb but is used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. 

Examples: o To fly far away would be wonderful. o To fly is a noun and the subject of the sentence. o Erica is the woman to visit. o To visit is an adjective modifying the noun woman. o The amused teacher chuckled at the student’s joke. o Amused, a form of the verb amuse, modifies the noun teacher. o

WATCH OUT!! Many fragments begin with these tricky verbals. The fragment can usually be connected to another sentence. Fragment: Making our party complete. Erin finally brought the cake. Complete sentence: Making our party complete, Eric finally brought the cake.

Other Syntactical Elements

This is lists many of the most common devices of syntax you will encounter. There are many, many more. Anaphora – the regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases Ex. Martin Luther King’s speech, “I have a dream…” Anastrophe – an arrangement in which word order is reversed or rearranged. Think Yoda from Star Wars. Ex. “Powerful you have become; the dark side I sense in you.” Apposition – placing one noun after another noun, an appositive Ex. “This was not Aunt Dahlia, my good and kindly aunt, but my Aunt Agatha, the one who chews broken bottles and kills rats with her teeth.” (P.G. Wodehouse) Asyndeton – conjunctions are omitted, producing fastpaced and rapid prose to speed up the reader so as to have the reader experience the events along with the persona in a rapid succession Ex. “I woke up, got out of bed, pulled on my clothes, rushed out the door.” Chiasmus – grammatical structure in which the first clause or phrase is reversed in the second, sometimes repeating the same words. Reversing the syntactical order emphasizes the reversal in meaning and thus reinforces the contrast; it is useful in writing to emphasize differences or contrasts in meaning. Ex. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Epanalepsis – the repetition of the end of a clause of the word from the beginning of the clause Ex. “Blood has purchased blood.” Epistrophe – repetition of the same word (or group of words) at the ends of successive clauses (the opposite of anaphora) Ex. “I’ll have my bond. Speak not against my bond. I have sworn an oath for my bond.” Parallelism – expresses similar or related ideas in a similar grammatical structure.

Ex. “He walked to the store; he walked to the library; he walked to the apartment.” Parenthesis – the insertion of words or phrases that are not syntactically related to the rest of the sentence Ex. “And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

(Dr. Seuss – Oh, The Places You’ll Go!)

Polysyndeton – the use of many conjunctions (has the opposite effect of asyndeton); it slows the pace of the reader but the effect is to possibly overwhelm the reader with details thus connecting the reader and persona to the same experience Ex. “My mother cooked turkey and dressing and sweet potatoes and peas and pumpkin pie. Rhetorical Questions – a question posed by the speaker which has an obvious answer, no answer, or is the argument the speaker or writer intends to answer in an effort to further prove their argument. These are leading questions asked by the speaker. If the answer is obvious, the speaker already knows the answer and is intending to lead the audience to his/her point of view or conclusion. If there is no answer, the speaker is aware of the lack of an answer and uses that lack to highlight the flaw in the opposing viewpoint. Sometimes, there is an obvious answer to the rhetorical question resulting in an emphasis on the point the speaker is making. Ex. “Do any of you want to pay higher taxes?” Ex. “Why can’t we all just get along?” Zeugma – After an action verb, the objects are yoked (joined together) to produce a desired effect Ex. “He bolted his food and then the door.”

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