Asyndeton Definition and Examples

Asyndeton Definition and Examples Asyndeton is a  rhetorical term for a writing style that omits conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. Adjective: asyndetic. The opposite of asyndeton is  polysyndeton. According to Edward Corbett and Robert Connors, The principal effect of asyndeton is to produce a hurried rhythm in the sentence (Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, 1999). In his study of Shakespeares style, Russ McDonald argues that the figure of asyndeton works by means of juxtaposition rather than coupling, thereby depriving the auditor of clear logical relations (Shakespeares Late Style, 2010). Examples and Observations He was a bag of bones, a floppy doll, a broken stick, a maniac.(Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957)Joona walks through the Christmas market in Bollns Square. Fires are burning, horses are snorting, chestnuts are roasting. Children race through a stone maze, others drink hot chocolate.(Lars Kepler, The Hypnotist. Trans. by Ann Long. Picador, 2011)Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click, Pic, Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom!(Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1953)She was young, she was pure, she was new, she was nice,She was fair, she was sweet seventeen.He was old, he was vile, and no stranger to vice,He was base, he was bad, he was mean.He had slyly inveigled her up to his flatTo view his collection of stamps.(Flanders and Swann, Have Some Madeira, MDear)Why, theyve got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poisons, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison, subdivided by types of poison, such as corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth. Suicide by leaps, subdivided by leaps from high places, under the wheels of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the feet of horses, from steamboats. But Mr. Norton, of all the cases on record, theres not one single case of suicide by leap from the rear end of a moving train.(Edward G. Robinson as insurance agent Barton Keyes in Double Indemnity, 1944) It is a northern country; they have cold weather, they have cold hearts.Cold; tempest; wild beasts in the forest. It is a hard life. Their houses are built of logs, dark and smoky within. There will be a crude icon of the virgin behind a guttering candle, the leg of a pig hung up to cure, a string of drying mushrooms. A bed, a stool, a table. Harsh, brief, poor lives.(Angela Carter, The Werewolf. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, 1979)I have found the warm caves in the woods,filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,closets, silks, innumerable goods(Anne Sexton, Her Kind)In some ways, he was this town at its beststrong, hard-driving, working feverishly, pushing, building, driven by ambitions so big they seemed Texas-boastful.(Mike Royko, A Tribute)Anyway, like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Deys uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. Theres pineapple shrimp, le mon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. Thatthats about it.(Bubba in Forrest Gump, 1994) Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls deified among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats. Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners, wheezing by the firesides of their wards; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper, down in his close cabin; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little prentice boy on deck. Chance people on the bridges peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog, with fog all round them, as if they were up in a balloon and hanging in the misty clouds.(Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1852-1853) Functions of Asyndeton When [asyndeton] is used in a series of words, phrases, or clauses, it suggests the series is somehow incomplete, that there is more the writer could have included (Rice 217). To put it somewhat differently: in a conventional series, writers place an and before the final item. That and signals the end of the series: Here it is folksthe last item. Omit that conjunction and you create the impression that the series could continue. . . Asyndeton can also create ironic juxtapositions that invite readers into collaborative relationships with writers: because there are no explicit connections between phrases and clauses, readers must supply them to reconstruct the writers intent. . . Asyndeton can also quicken the pace of prose, especially when it is used between clauses and sentences.(Chris Holcomb and M. Jimmie Killingsworth, Performing Prose: The Study and Practice of Style in Composition. SIU Press, 2010) EtymologyFrom the Greek, unconnected Pronunciation: ah-SIN-di-ton

Major General Charles Griffin in the Civil War

Major General Charles Griffin in the Civil War Charles Griffin - Early Life Career: Born December 18, 1825 at Granville, OH, Charles Griffin was the son of Apollos Griffin.   Receiving his early education locally, he later attended Kenyon College.   Desiring a career in the military, Griffin successfully sought an appointment to the US Military Academy in 1843.   Arriving at West Point, his classmates included A.P. Hill, Ambrose Burnside, John Gibbon, Romeyn Ayres, and Henry Heth.   An average student, Griffin graduated in 1847 ranked twenty-third in a class of thirty-eight.   Commissioned a brevet second lieutenant, he received orders to join the 2nd US Artillery which was engaged in the Mexican-American War.   Traveling south, Griffin took part in the final actions of the conflict.   Promoted to first lieutenant in 1849, he moved through various assignments on the frontier. Charles Griffin - The Civil War Nears: Seeing action against the Navajo and other Native American tribes in the Southwest, Griffin remained on the frontier until 1860.   Returning east with the rank of captain, he assumed a new post as an instructor of artillery at West Point.   In early 1861, with the secession crisis pulling the nation apart, Griffin organized an artillery battery comprised of enlisted men from the academy.   Ordered south following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April and the beginning of the Civil War,   Griffins West Point Battery (Battery D, 5th US Artillery) joined Brigadier General Irvin McDowells forces which were gathering at Washington, DC.   Marching out with the army that July, Griffins battery was heavily engaged during the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run and sustained heavily casualties. Charles Griffin - To the Infantry: In the spring of 1862, Griffin moved south as part of Major General George B. McClellans Army of the Potomac for the Peninsula Campaign.   During the early part of the advance, he led the artillery attached to Brigadier General Fitz John Porters division of III Corps and saw action during the Siege of Yorktown.   On June 12, Griffin received a promotion to brigadier general and took command of an infantry brigade in Brigadier General George W. Morells division of Porters newly-formed V Corps.   With the beginning of the Seven Days Battles in late June, Griffin performed well in his new role during the engagements at Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill.   With the failure of the campaign, his brigade moved back to northern Virginia but was held in reserve during the Second Battle of Manassas in late August.   A month later, at Antietam, Griffins men were again part of the reserve and did not see meaningful action.       Charles Griffin - Divisional Command: That fall, Griffin replaced Morell as division commander.   Though possessing a difficult personality that often caused issues with his superiors, Griffin was soon beloved by his men.   Taking his new command into battle at Fredericksburg on December 13, the division was one of several tasked with assaulting Maryes Heights.   Bloodily repulsed, Griffins men were forced to fall back.   He retained command of the division the following year after Major General Joseph Hooker assumed leadership of the army.   In May 1863, Griffin took part in the opening fighting at the Battle of Chancellorsville.   In the weeks after the Union defeat, he fell ill and was forced to leave his division under the temporary command of Brigadier General James Barnes. During his absence, Barnes led the division at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2-3.   In the course of the fighting, Barnes performed poorly and Griffins arrival in camp during the final stages of the battle was cheered by his men.   That fall, he directed his division during the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns.   With the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1864, Griffin retained command of his division as leadership of V Corps passed to Major General Gouverneur Warren.   As Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant commenced his Overland Campaign that May, Griffins men quickly saw action at the Battle of the Wilderness where they clashed with Lieutenant General Richard Ewells Confederates.   Later that month, Griffins division took part in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. As the army pushed south, Griffin played at key role at Jericho Mills on May 23 before being present for the Union defeat at Cold Harbor a week later.   Crossing the James River in June, V Corps took part in Grants assault against Petersburg on June 18.   With the failure of this attack, Griffins men settled into the siege lines around the city.   As the summer progressed into fall, his division participated in several operations designed to extend the Confederate lines and sever the railroads into Petersburg.   Engaged at the Battle of Peebles Farm in late September, he performed well and earned a brevet promotion to major general on December 12. Charles Griffin - Leading V Corps: In early February 1865, Griffin led his division at the Battle of Hatchers Run as Grant pressed towards the Weldon Railroad.   On April 1, V Corps was attached to a combined cavalry-infantry force tasked with capturing the critical crossroads of Five Forks and led by Major General Philip H. Sheridan.   In the resulting battle, Sheridan became infuriated with Warrens slow movements and relieved him in favor of Griffin.   The loss of Five Forks compromised General Robert E. Lees position in Petersburg and the next day Grant mounted a large scale assault on the Confederate lines forcing them to abandon the city.   Ably leading V Corps in the resulting Appomattox Campaign, Griffin aided in pursuing the enemy west and was present for Lees surrender on April 9.   With the conclusion of the war, he received a promotion major general on July 12.    Charles Griffin - Later Career:       Given leadership of the District of Maine in August, Griffins rank reverted to colonel in the peacetime army and he accepted command of the 35th US Infantry.   In December 1866, he was given oversight of Galveston and the Freedmens Bureau of Texas.   Serving under Sheridan, Griffin soon became entangled in Reconstruction politics as he worked to register white and African American voters and enforced the oath of allegiance as a requirement for jury selection.   Increasingly unhappy with Governor  James W. Throckmortons lenient attitude towards former Confederates, Griffin convinced Sheridan to have him replaced with staunch Unionist Elisha M. Pease.    In 1867, Griffin received orders to replaced Sheridan as commander of the Fifth Military District (Louisiana and Texas).   Before he could depart for his new headquarters in New Orleans, he fell ill during a yellow fever epidemic that swept through Galveston.   Unable to recover, Griffin died on September 15.   His remains were transported north and interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, DC.   Selected Sources TSHA: Major General Charles GriffinHistory Central: Charles GriffinFind a Grave: Charles Griffin