Assignments for Self-Control

1. What syntactical stylistic devices deal with the com-
pleteness of sentence-structure?

2. What types of ellipses do you know and where is each
of them used predominantly?

3. What member of the sentence represents "one-member
sentences"?

4. Where are apokoinu constructions used?

5. What additional information about the act of commu-
nication and its participants is conveyed by the break?

6. What punctuation is used in the break?

7. Find examples with the above-mentioned SDs in your
reading.

The arrangement of sentence members, the completeness of sentence structure necessarily involve various types of connection used within the sentence or between sentences. Repeated use of conjunctions is called polysyndeton; deliberate

omission of them is, correspondingly, named asyndeton. Both

polysyndeton and asyndeton, have a strong rhythmic impact.

Besides, the function of polysyndeton is to strengthen the idea of equal logical (emotive) importance of connected sentences, while asyndeton, cutting off connecting words, helps to create the effect of terse, energetic, active prose.

These two types of connection are more characteristic of the author's speech. The third type - attachment (gap-sentence link, annexation) on the contrary, is mainly to be found in various representations of the voice of the personage - dialogue, reported speech, entrusted narrative. In the attachment the second part of the utterance is separated from the first one by a full stop though their semantic and grammatical ties remain very strong. The second part appears as an after-thought and is often connected with the beginning of the utterance with the help of a conjunction which brings the latter into the foregrounded opening position. Cf.: "It wasn't his fault. It was yours. And mine. I now humbly beg you

to give me the money with which to buymeals for you to eat. And hereafter do remember it: the next time I shan't beg. I shall simply starve." (S. L.); "Prison is where she belongs. And my husband agrees one thousand per cent." (T. C.)

Exercise V. Specify stylistic functions of the types of connection given below:

1. Then from the town pour Wops and Chinamen and
Polaks, men and women in trousers and rubber coats and
oilcloth aprons. They come running to clean and cut and
pack and cook and can the fish. The whole street rumbles
and groans and screams and rattles while the silver rivers
of fish pour in out of the boats and the boats rise higher
and higher in the water until they are empty. The canneries
rumble and rattle and squeak until the last fish is cleaned
and cut and cooked and canned and then the whistles
scream again and the dripping smelly tired Wops and Chinamen
and Polaks, men and women struggle out and droop their
ways up the hill into the town and Cannery Row becomes
itself again-quiet and magical. (J. St.)

2. "What sort of a place is Dufton exactly?"

"A lot of mills. And a chemical factory. And a Grammar school and a war memorial and a river that runs different colours each day. And a cinema and fourteen pubs. That's really all one can say about it." (J. Br.)

3. By the time he had got all the bottles and dishes
and knives and forks and glasses and plates and spoons and
things piled up on big trays, he was getting very hot, and
red in the face, and annoyed. (A. T.)

4. Bella soaped his face and rubbed his face, and soaped
his hands and rubbed his hands, and splashed him, and
rinsed him, and towelled him, until he was as red as
beetroot. (D.)

5. Secretly, after the nightfall, he visited the home of the
Prime Minister. He examined it from top to bottom. He
measured all the doors and windows. He took up the flooring.
He inspected the plumbing. He examined the furniture. He
found nothing. (L.)

6. With these hurried words Mr. Bob Sawyer pushed the
postboy on one side, jerked his friend into the vehicle,
slammed the door, put up the steps, wafered the bill on the
street-door, locked it, put the key into his pocket, jumped
into the dickey, gave the word for starting. (D.)

7. "Well, guess it's about time to turn in." He yawned,

went out to look at the thermometer,slammed thedoor, patted her head, unbuttoned his waistcoat, yawned, wound the clock, went to look at the furnace, yawned and clumped upstairs to bed, casually scratching his thick woolen un-dershirt. (S. L.)

8. "Give me an example," I said quietly. "Of something
that means something. In your opinion." (T. C.)

9. "I got a small apartment over the place. And, well,
sometimes I stay over. In the apartment. Like the last few
nights." (D. U.)

10. "He is a very deliberate, careful guy and we trust
each other completely. With a few reservations." (D. U.)

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1022