A summary of the story “A Friend in Need”.

7 Asyndeton is derived from the Greek word asyndeton, which means “unconnected.” It is a stylistic device used in literature and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases, and in the sentence, yet maintain grammatical accuracy. This literary tool helps in reducing the indirect meaning of the phrase, and presents it in a concise form. It was first used in Greek and Latin literature.

Types of Asyndeton

Asyndeton examples may be classified into two types:

1.                Used between words and phrases within a sentence

For example: “Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure?” (Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, by William Shakespeare)

2.                Used between sentences or clauses

For example: “Without looking, without making a sound, without talking”

(Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophecles)

Difference Between Syndeton and Asyndeton

Syndeton and asyndeton are opposite to one another. Syndeton includes the addition of multiple conjunctions, such as in this example: “He eats and sleeps and drinks.” On the other hand, asyndeton is the elimination, or leaving out, of conjunctions, such as in this example: “He eats, sleeps, drinks.”

Each creates a completely different effect. Syndeton slows down the rhythm of speech, and makes it moderate, whereas asyndeton speeds up the rhythm of the speech.

Examples of Asyndeton in Literature

Example № 1: Othello (By William Shakespeare)

Function of Asyndeton

Asyndeton helps in speeding up the rhythm of words. Mostly this technique is employed in speech but can be used in written works too. It helps in attracting readers to collaborate with the writers, since it suggests that words, phrases, and sentences are incomplete, and the readers would have to do some work to deduce meanings. This version creates immediate impact, and the readers are attuned to what the author is trying to convey.

Asyndeton is often applied intentionally in order to give a unique emphasis to the text, thereby drawing the attention of readers towards a particular idea the author wants to convey.

Polysyndeton  is a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect. Polysyndeton examples are found in literature and in day-to-day conversations.

The term polysyndeton comes from a Greek word meaning “bound together.” It makes use of coordinating conjunctions like and, or, but, and nor (mostly and and or) which are used to join successive words, phrases, or clauses in such a way that these conjunctions are even used where they might have been omitted.

For example, in the sentence, “We have ships and men and money and stores,” the coordinating conjunction “and” is used in quick succession to join words occurring together. In a normal situation, the coordinating conjunction “and” is used to join the last two words of the list, and the rest of the words in the list are separated or joined by a comma.

Examples of Polysyndeton in Literature

Example № 1: The Holy Bible, Joshua 7:24 (By the Prophet Joshua)

“And Joshua, and all of Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had.”

This is among the best examples of polysyndeton found in classical or religious text. See how the conjunction “and” has been used in quick succession to join all the items given in this text.

Example № 2: After the Storm (By Ernest Hemingway)

“I said, ‘Who killed him?’ and he said ‘I don’t know who killed him, but he’s dead all right,’ and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights or windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Key and she was right only she was full of water.”

Hemingway has used “and” as a polysyndeton in this passage taken from “After the Storm.” Using this literary device, Hemmingway is able to make his readers feel the anxiety that his character is feeling.

Function of Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton performs several functions. Not only does it join words, phrases, and clauses, bringing continuity to a sentence, but it acts also as a stylistic device that brings rhythm to the text with the repetition of conjunctions in quick succession. It is also employed as a tool to lay emphasis to the ideas the conjunctions connect.

Enumeration – is a rhetorical device used for listing details, or a process of mentioning words or phrases step by step actualized through homogeneous syntactical forms.

 In fact, it is a type of amplification or division in which a subject is further distributed into components or parts. Writers use enumeration to elucidate a topic, to make it understandable for the readers. It also helps avoid ambiguity in the minds of the readers.

Examples of Enumeration in Literature

Example #1: I Have a Dream (by Martin Luther King)

Repetition

Repetition is considered to be among the most frequently used SDs. Depending on the place which the repeated part takes in a sentence, one can distinguish between the following types of repetition: anaphora, epiphora, anadiplosis, framing, chain repetition, tautology, ordinary repetition, morphological repetition.

Anaphora is a syntactical SD, a figure of speech based on the principle of a  deliberate repetition of the first part of a sentence, clause, phrase, utterance  in order to achieve an artistic effect.

Anaphora, possibly the oldest literary device, has its roots in Biblical Psalms used to emphasize certain words or phrases. Gradually, Elizabethan and Romantic writers brought this device into practice.

It is common for us to use anaphora in our everyday speech, to lay emphasis on the idea we want to convey, or for self affirmation. The following are anaphora examples:

·                     “Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better.”

·                     “My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.”

·                     “Everything looked dark and bleak, everything looked gloomy, and everything was under a blanket of mist.”

Function of Anaphora

Apart from the function of giving prominence to certain ideas, the use of anaphora in literature adds rhythm, thus making it more pleasurable to read, and easier to remember. As a literary device, anaphora serves the purpose of giving artistic effect to passages of prose and poetry.

As a rhetorical device, anaphora is used to appeal to the emotions of the audience, in order to persuade, inspire, motivate, and encourage them.

The main function in case of anaphora is to concentrate on the non-repeated elements, which through their novelty become foregrounded.

Epiphora -  also known as “epistrophe,” is a stylistic device in which a word or a phrase is repeated at the end of successive clauses, sentences or utterancs.

Examples of epiphora are not only found in literary pieces, but debates and persuasive writings are also rich with epiphora examples.

“I am an American, he is an American, and everybody here is an American,” 

If you had known the virtue of the ring,

Or half her worthiness that gave the ring,

Or your own honor to contain the ring,

You would not then have parted with the ring.” (Shakespear)

Function of Epiphora

Epiphora, or epistrophe, is a literary device that serves the function of furnishing an artistic effect to passages, in both poetry and prose. It lays emphasis on a particular idea, as well as giving a unique rhythm to the text, which consequently becomes a pleasurable experience for the readers. That is the reason that it is easily understood and memorized, and easier to comprehend. As a rhetorical or stylistic device, epiphora is brought into action to appeal to the emotions of the audience in order to persuade them.