Polysyndeton
• Definition: The repetition of conjunctions such as
“and”, “or”, “for” and “but” in close succession,
especially when most of them could be replaced
with a comma.
• Compare:
– “He is brave and honest and good and decent.”
– “He is brave, honest, good and decent.”
Polysyndeton
• Definition: The repetition of conjunctions such as
“and”, “or”, “for” and “but” in close succession,
especially when most of them could be replaced
with a comma.
• Compare:
– “He is brave and honest and good and decent.”
– “He is brave, honest, good and decent.”
Polysyndeton
• Effect:
– The repetition of the conjunctions adds power to
the other words.
– Polysyndeton slows down the pace of the
sentence.
– It can add rhythm and cadence to a sentence or
series of sentences.
– There is a feeling that the ideas are piling on top
of each other, building up.
Polysyndeton
Examples:
• “In years gone by, there were in every community men and
women who spoke the language of
duty and morality and loyalty and obligation.”
— William F. Buckley
• “Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war — not history’s
forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of
it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of
government, nor any other thing. We are the killers. We breed
wars.”
— Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter (1968)
• “It’s got awesome security. And the right apps. It’s got
everything from Cocoa and the graphics and it’s got core
animation built in and it’s got the audio and video that OSX is
famous for. It’s got all the stuff we want.”
— Steve Jobs, Macworld 2007 Keynote Address
Based on your understanding of
POLYSYNDETON, which of the following would
you guess shows ASYNDETON.
A. Freak of fancy in my friend. – Edgar Allan Poe
B. I am Lazarus, come from the dead. – TS Eliot
C. ...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. - John F. Kennedy
D. I hated Boy Scouts. I hated camping out. I
hated dirt and tents and mosquitoes. – Tim
O’Brien