Scheme (rhetoric)

Main article: Figure of speech

In rhetoric, a scheme is a type of figure of speech that relies on the structure of the sentence, unlike the trope, which plays with the meanings of words.

A single phrase may involve both a trope and a scheme, e.g., may use both alliteration and allegory.

Structures of balance

• Parallelism – The use of similar structures in two or more clauses
  • Isocolon – Use of parallel structures of the same length in successive clauses
  • Tricolon – Use of three parallel structures of the same length in independent clauses and of increasing power
• Antithesis – The juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas
• Climax – The arrangement of words in order of increasing importance

Changes in word order

• Anastrophe – Inversion of the usual word order
• Parenthesis – Insertion of a clause or sentence in a place where it interrupts the natural flow of the sentence
• Apposition – The placing of two elements side by side, in which the second defines the first

Omission

• Ellipsis – Omission of words
• Asyndeton – Omission of conjunctions between related clauses
• Brachylogia – Omission of conjunctions between a series of words

Repetition

• Alliteration – A series of words that begin with the same letter or sound alike
• Anaphora – The repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses
• Anadiplosis – Repetition of a word at the end of a clause at the beginning of another
• Antanaclasis – Repetition of a word in two different senses
• Antimetabole – Repetition of words in successive clauses, in reverse order
• Assonance – The repetition of vowel sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse
• Asyndeton – Lack of conjunctions
• Chiasmus – Reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses
• Climax – Repetition of the scheme anadiplosis at least three times, with the elements arranged in an order of increasing importance
• Epanalepsis – Repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or sentence at the end of the clause or sentence
• Epistrophe – The counterpart of anaphora
• Consonance – The repetition of consonant sounds without the repetition of the vowel sounds
• Polyptoton – Repetition of words derived from the same root
• Polysyndeton – Repetition of conjunctions
• Symploce – Combination of anaphora and epistrophe

See also

• Trope (linguistics)
• The Elements of Eloquence
• Glossary of rhetorical terms

External links

• Schemes from Silva Rhetoricae