Tropes and Schemes

Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not

intended by its normal signification.

Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.

What’s the point?

In classical rhetoric, the tropes and schemes fall under the canon of style. These stylistic features certainly do add spice to writing and speaking. And they are commonly thought to be persuasive because they dress up otherwise mundane language; the idea being that we are persuaded by the imagery and artistry because we find it entertaining. There is much more to tropes and schemes than surface considerations. Indeed, politicians and pundits use these language forms to create specific social and political effects by playing on our emotions.

Let us go forth to lead the land we love. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled

peppers. What a windy, wintry weekend it was! Take time to tend to Tim’s times tables.

Alliteration

Repetition of the same initial consonant sound throughout a line of verse

Alliteration

Let us go forth to lead the land we love. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled

peppers. What a windy, wintry weekend it was! Take time to tend to Tim’s times tables.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah.

I was alone and lost at sea, like the narrator in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

I am as wise as King Solomon. You have to find your white whale and then

pursue it to the ends of the earth.

Allusion

Brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art.

Allusion

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah.

I was alone and lost at sea, like the narrator in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

I am as wise as King Solomon. You have to find your white whale and then

pursue it to the ends of the earth.

…not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are.

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right,… (Abraham Lincoln)

We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, 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. We shall never surrender. (Winston Churchill)

In every cry of every man, / In every infant’s cry of fear, / In every voice, in every ban, / The mind-forged manacles I hear… (William Blake)

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines.

Anaphora …not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—

not as a call to battle, though embattled we are. With malice toward none; with charity for all; with

firmness in the right,… (Abraham Lincoln) We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We

shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, 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. We shall never surrender. (Winston Churchill)

In the U.S., all crimes are illegalities, but not all illegalities are crimes.

Eat to live, not live to eat. (Socrates) Ask not what your country can do for you; ask

what you can do for your country. (JFK) Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. (John

Wooden)

Antimetabole (Chiasmus)

Repetition of words in reverse order.

Antimetabole (Chiasmus)

In the U.S., all crimes are illegalities, but not all illegalities are crimes.

Eat to live, not live to eat. (Socrates) Ask not what your country can do for you; ask

what you can do for your country. (JFK) Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. (John

Wooden)

We shall support any friend, oppose any foe. Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has

no pleasures. (Samuel Johnson) We must learn to live together as brothers or

perish together as fools. (MLK) I would rather die free than live in chains.

Antithesis

Opposition, or contrast, of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction.

Antithesis

We shall support any friend, oppose any foe. Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has

no pleasures. (Samuel Johnson) We must learn to live together as brothers or

perish together as fools. (MLK) I would rather die free than live in chains.

We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival of liberty.

Without looking, without making a sound, without talking.

Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, / Shrunk to this little measure?

I have grapes, apples, berries, pears, mangoes.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

Asyndeton

We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival of liberty.

Without looking, without making a sound, without talking.

Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, / Shrunk to this little measure?

I have grapes, apples, berries, pears, mangoes.

The women moved through the streets as winged messengers, twirling around each other in slow motion, peeking inside homes and watching the easy sleep of men and women.

I ate a sandwich, savoring each bite, listening to some good eating music, and gazing out the window.

I ran a marathon, nearly sprinting out of the gate, then settling into a steady pace for the bulk of the race, then crawling over the finish line.

Cumulative Sentence

Sentence that complete the main idea at the beginning of the sentence, and then build and adds on

Cumulative Sentence

The women moved through the streets as winged messengers, twirling around each other in slow motion, peeking inside homes and watching the easy sleep of men and women.

I ate a sandwich, savoring each bite, listening to some good eating music, and gazing out the window.

I ran a marathon, nearly sprinting out of the gate, then settling into a steady pace for the bulk of the race, then crawling over the finish line.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let’s go walk around in the cave. Let us take a few moments for quiet thought

and then try to come to some consensus. Let’s all do our best.

Hortative Sentence

Sentence that exhorts, advises, calls to action

Hortative Sentence

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let’s go walk around in the cave. Let us take a few moments for quiet thought

and then try to come to some consensus. Let’s all do our best.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Stop. Give me the rest of your sandwich. Whatever you are planning to do, don’t do it.

Imperative Sentence

Sentence used to command, enjoin, implore, or entreat

Imperative Sentence

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Stop. Give me the rest of your sandwich. Whatever you are planning to do, don’t do it.

Down the street lived the man and the wife. To the winner go the spoils. Peaceful flows the mighty Mississippi. Into my life came a sudden darkness.

Inversion

Inverted order of words in a sentence (variation of the subject-verb-object order)

Inversion

Down the street lived the man and the wife. To the winner go the spoils. Peaceful flows the mighty Mississippi. Into my life came a sudden darkness.

The noisy public feast and the private whispers of the lovers.

The flash of lightning against the black sky. A waterpark in the middle of the desert. A monk meditating in a hectic, frenetic

shopping mall.

Juxtaposition

Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts

Juxtaposition

The noisy public feast and the private whispers of the lovers.

The flash of lightning against the black sky. A waterpark in the middle of the desert. A monk meditating in a hectic, frenetic

shopping mall.

Time is a thief. Steve is a lion. You are a magnet, and I am steel. Love was a hammer, and it hit him out of

nowhere.

Metaphor

Figure of speech that says one thing is another in order to explain by comparison

Metaphor

Time is a thief. Steve is a lion. You are a magnet, and I am steel. Love was a hammer, and it hit him out of

nowhere.

The pen is mightier than the sword. It is unwise ever to disobey the crown. This was the White House’s decision. All the suits are in a meeting.

Metonymy

Substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is meant (e.g., "crown" for royalty).

Metonymy

The pen is mightier than the sword. It is unwise ever to disobey the crown. This was the White House’s decision. All the suits are in a meeting.

But this is peaceful revolution. Living dead. Guest host. Deafening silence.

Oxymoron

Paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another

Oxymoron

But this is peaceful revolution. Living dead. Guest host. Deafening silence.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. (JFK)

Let freedom ring from the might mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. (MLK)

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Parallelism

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. (JFK)

Let freedom ring from the might mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. (MLK)

.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support.

Periodic Sentence

Sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end

Periodic Sentence

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support.

Fear knocked on the door. The end table was skeptical; it raised its

eyebrow at me. Truth took a holiday. It was a the early afternoon of a sunshiny day

with little winds playing hide-and-seek in it.

Personification

Attribution of a lifelike quality to an inanimate object or idea with history

Personification

Fear knocked on the door. The end table was skeptical; it raised its

eyebrow at me. Truth took a holiday. It was a the early afternoon of a sunshiny day

with little winds playing hide-and-seek in it.

We have ships and men and money and stores. I could do my work for English or Math or

Chemistry or AP U.S. History. He huffed and puffed and stamped and raved

and generally made a fool of himself. He gave me a card and another card and

another card and a fourth card and a fifth card and finally a sixth card.

Polysyndeton

The repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses.

Polysyndeton

We have ships and men and money and stores. I could do my work for English or Math or

Chemistry or AP U.S. History. He huffed and puffed and stamped and raved

and generally made a fool of himself. He gave me a card and another card and

another card and a fourth card and a fifth card and finally a sixth card.

Will you join in this historic effort? Do you ever wonder whether dishes could be

washed more efficiently? Are you going to just stand there are let this

happen? Will no one tell me what she sings?

Rhetorical Question

Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer

Rhetorical Question

Will you join in this historic effort? Do you ever wonder whether dishes could be

washed more efficiently? Are you going to just stand there are let this

happen? Will no one tell me what she sings?

He stiffened his drink and his spine. She walked into the room and into my

heart. We were partners, not soul mates, two

separate people who happened to be sharing a menu and a life.

I lost my wife and my mind.

Zeugma

A figure of speech made when one part of speech (usually a verb, but sometimes a noun or adjective) is related to another part of speech in a way that is consistent in terms of grammar but incongruous in terms of meaning.

Zeugma

He stiffened his drink and his spine. She walked into the room and into my

heart. We were partners, not soul mates, two

separate people who happened to be sharing a menu and a life.

I lost my wife and my mind.