In linguistics, scheme is a type of

figure of speech A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into '' schemes,'' which vary the ordinary ...

that relies on the structure of the sentence, unlike the

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

, which plays with the meanings of words. (Scheme, in poetry end rhetorics) A single phrase may involve both a trope and a scheme, e.g., may use both

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

and

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

Structures of balance

* Parallelism – The use of similar structures in two or more clauses **

Isocolon Isocolon is a rhetorical scheme in which parallel elements possess the same number of words or syllables. As in any form of parallelism, the pairs or series must enumerate like things to achieve symmetry. The scheme is called bicolon, tricolon, ...

– Use of parallel structures of the same length in successive clauses **

Tricolon Isocolon is a rhetorical scheme in which parallel elements possess the same number of words or syllables. As in any form of parallelism, the pairs or series must enumerate like things to achieve symmetry. The scheme is called bicolon, tricolon, ...

– Use of three parallel structures of the same length in independent clauses and of increasing power *

Antithesis Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together f ...

– The juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas *

Climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

– The arrangement of words in order of increasing importance

Changes in word order

Anastrophe Anastrophe (from the el, ἀναστροφή, ''anastrophē'', "a turning back or about") is a figure of speech in which the normal word order of the subject, the verb, and the object is changed. For example, subject–verb–object ("I like ...

– 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 Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side so one element identifies the other in a different way. The two elements are said to be ''in apposition'', and one of the elements is c ...

– The placing of two elements side by side, in which the second defines the first

Omission

Ellipsis The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...

– Omission of words *

Asyndeton Asyndeton (, ; from the el, ἀσύνδετον, "unconnected", sometimes called asyndetism) is a literary scheme in which one or several conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of related clauses. Examples include ''veni, vidi, vici ...

– Omission of conjunctions between related clauses * Brachylogia – Omission of conjunctions between a series of words

Repetition

Alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

– 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 Anadiplosis ( ; el, ἀναδίπλωσις, ''anadíplōsis'', "a doubling, folding up") is the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. The word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence ...

– Repetition of a word at the end of a clause at the beginning of another *

Antanaclasis In rhetoric, antanaclasis (; from the el, ἀντανάκλασις, ''antanáklasis'', meaning "reflection", from ἀντί ''anti'', "against", ἀνά ''ana'', "up" and κλάσις ''klásis'' "breaking") is the literary trope in which a sin ...

– Repetition of a word in two different senses *

Antimetabole In rhetoric, antimetabole ( ) is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, "I know what I like, and I like what I know". It is related to, and sometimes considered a special case of, chiasmus. An antimet ...

– Repetition of words in successive clauses, in reverse order *

Assonance Assonance is a resemblance in the sounds of words/syllables either between their vowels (e.g., ''meat, bean'') or between their consonants (e.g., ''keep, cape''). However, assonance between consonants is generally called ''consonance'' in America ...

– The repetition of vowel sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse *

– Lack of conjunctions *

Chiasmus In rhetoric, chiasmus ( ) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek , "crossing", from the Greek , , "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of wor ...

– Reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses *

– Repetition of the scheme anadiplosis at least three times, with the elements arranged in an order of increasing importance *

Epanalepsis Epanalepsis (from the Greek , ''epanálēpsis'' "repetition, resumption, taking up again") is the repetition of the initial part of a clause or sentence at the end of that same clause or sentence. The beginning and the end of a sentence are two po ...

– Repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or sentence at the end of the clause or sentence *

Epistrophe Epistrophe ( el, ἐπιστροφή, "return") is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences. It is also known as epiphora and occasionally as antistrophe. It is a figure of speech and the co ...

– The counterpart of anaphora *

Consonance In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness, unpl ...

– The repetition of consonant sounds without the repetition of the vowel sounds *

Polyptoton Polyptoton is the stylistic scheme in which words derived from the same root are repeated (such as "strong" and "strength"). A related stylistic device is antanaclasis, in which the same word is repeated, but each time with a different sense. An ...

– Repetition of words derived from the same root *

Polysyndeton Polysyndeton (from Ancient Greek πολύ ''poly'', meaning "many", and συνδετόν '' syndeton'', meaning "bound together with".) is the deliberate insertion of conjunctions into a sentence for the purpose of "slow ngup the rhythm of the ...

– Repetition of conjunctions * Symploce – Combination of anaphora and epistrophe

References

External links