Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a rhetorical tool in which two or more clauses are balanced against every other with the aid of the reversal in their structures as a way to produce an inventive effect.
Let us attempt to recognize chiasmus with the help of an example:
“Never permit a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.”
Notice that the second one 1/2 of this sentence is an inverted shape of the first half, each grammatically and logically. In the most effective sense, the time period chiasmus applies to almost all “criss-cross” structures, and that is a concept that is common those days. In its strict classical sense, however, the feature of chiasmus is to opposite grammatical shape or ideas of sentences, for the reason that the same phrases and phrases aren't repeated.
The Difference Between Chiasmus and Antimetabole
Chiasmus isn't like antimetabole. An antimetabole is the repetition of words in consecutive clauses, however in an inverted or transposed order. For example:
“You overlook what you want to don't forget, and you don't forget what you need to neglect.”
Antimetabole examples resemble chiasmus, as they're marked by using the inversion of structure. In examples of chiasmus, however, the words and phrases aren't repeated. Generally, chiasmus and antimetabole are regarded by using many critics as similar equipment of rhetoric.
Examples of Chiasmus from Greek Sages
The use of chiasmus as a rhetorical device dates returned to the historic Greek and Roman civilizations. Its traces had been found inside the historical texts of Sanskrit, and additionally in historical Chinese writings. Greeks, however, developed an unmatched inclination for this tool, and made it an essential part of the artwork of oration.
Example #1: Aeschylus, fifth Century B.C.
“It is not the oath that makes us consider the man,
however the man the oath.”
Example #2: Bias, 6th Century B.C.
“Love as if you'll someday hate,
and hate as if you would at some point love.”
Example #3: Socrates, fifth Century B.C.
“Bad guys stay that they will eat and drink,
while good men devour and drink that they will live.”
Examples of Chiasmus from Literature
Example #1: Othello (By William Shakespeare)
“But O, what damned mins tells he o’er
Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves.”
Example #2: Essay on Man (By Alexander Pope)
“His time a moment, and a point his space.”
Example #3: Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful? (By Oscar Hammerstein)
“Do I love you because you’re stunning?
Or are you lovely because I love you?”
Example #4: Paradise Lost (By John Milton)
“…in his face
Divine compassion visibly appeared,
Love without end, and with out degree Grace…”
Example #5: Quote (By Judith Viorst)
“Lust is what makes you maintain wanting to do it, Even if you have no choice to be with every other. Love is what makes you preserve trying to be with every other, Even if you have no choice to do it.”
Example #6: Quote (By John Marshall)
“In the blue grass region,
A paradox changed into born:
The corn changed into complete of kernels
And the colonels full of corn.”
Example #7: Quote (By Alfred P. Solan)
“Some have an idea that the reason we on this u . S . A . discard things so readily is due to the fact we have a lot. The statistics are precisely opposite – the cause we have a lot is virtually due to the fact we discard matters so easily.”
Example #8: Quote (By Voltaire)
“The intuition of a person is
to pursue the whole thing that flies from him, and
to fly from all that pursues him.”
Example #9: Quote (By Thomas Szaz)
“When religion turned into sturdy and technological know-how weak, men
mistook magic for medication;
Now, when science is robust and religion weak, guys
mistake medicinal drug for magic.”
Function of Chiasmus
As the above dialogue reveals, chiasmus is a unique rhetorical device that is employed by writers to create a unique artistic effect, that allows you to lay emphasis on what they need to communicate. In his treatise, Analyzing Prose, Richard A. Lanham places forward his thrilling point of view about chiasmus inside the following phrases:
“By keeping the phrase however inverting its that means we use our opponent’s own electricity to triumph over him, simply as a judo professional does. So a pupil remarked of another’s concept, ‘Cannon entertains that principle because that idea entertains Cannon.’ The pun on ‘entertain’ complicates the chiasmus here, however the judo still prevails — Cannon is gambling with the power of his own thoughts in preference to figuring out the secrets of the universe.”
Popular Literary Devices
- Ad Hominem
- Adage
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Allusion
- Ambiguity
- Anachronism
- Anagram
- Analogy
- Anapest
- Anaphora
- Anecdote
- Antagonist
- Antecedent
- Antimetabole
- Antithesis
- Aphorism
- Aposiopesis
- Apostrophe
- Archaism
- Archetype
- Argument
- Assonance
- Biography
- Cacophony
- Cadence
- Caricature
- Catharsis
- Characterization
- Cliché
- Climax
- Colloquialism
- Comparison
- Conflict
- Connotation
- Consonance
- Denotation
- Deus Ex Machina
- Dialect
- Dialogue
- Diction
- Didacticism
- Discourse
- Doppelganger
- Double Entendre
- Ellipsis
- Epiphany
- Epitaph
- Essay
- Ethos
- Eulogy
- Euphemism
- Evidence
- Exposition
- Fable
- Fallacy
- Flash Forward
- Foil
- Foreshadowing
- Genre
- Haiku
- Half Rhyme
- Hubris
- Hyperbaton
- Hyperbole
- Idiom
- Imagery
- Induction
- Inference
- Innuendo
- Internal Rhyme
- Irony
- Jargon
- Juxtaposition
- Limerick
- Line Break
- Logos
- Meiosis
- Memoir
- Metaphor
- Meter
- Mood
- Motif
- Narrative
- Nemesis
- Non Sequitur
- Ode
- Onomatopoeia
- Oxymoron
- Palindrome
- Parable
- Paradox
- Parallelism
- Parataxis
- Parody
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Pathos
- Pentameter
- Persona
- Personification
- Plot
- Poem
- Poetic Justice
- Point of View
- Portmanteau
- Propaganda
- Prose
- Protagonist
- Pun
- Red Herring
- Repetition
- Rhetoric
- Rhyme
- Rhythm
- Sarcasm
- Satire
- Simile
- Soliloquy
- Sonnet
- Style
- Superlative
- Syllogism
- Symbolism
- Synecdoche
- Synesthesia
- Syntax
- Tautology
- Theme
- Thesis
- Tone
- Tragedy
- Tragicomedy
- Tragic Flaw
- Transition
- Utopia
- Verisimilitude