Literary Device: Syntax

1. Literary Device: Syntax A strict definition of syntax is the arrangement of words into clauses and phrases to construct sentences. A broader look at syntax also encompasses how sentences form paragraphs and how paragraphs link to create longer passages of text. Example:The student struggled to understand syntax; he was baffled by the complexity. independent clause independent clause Based on the syntax, what type of structure is present in the example sentence above?

2. fromMy LifeLyn Hejinian A pause, a rose, something on paper. A moment yellow, just as four years later when my father returned home from the war, the moment of greeting him, as he stood at the bottom of the stairs, younger, thinner than when he had left, was purple - though moments are no longer so colored. Somewhere, in the background, rooms share a pattern of small roses. Pretty is as pretty does. In certain families, the meaning of necessity is at one with the sentiment of pre-necessity. The better things were gathered in a pen. The windows were narrowed by white gauze curtains which were never loosened. Here I refer to irrelevance, that rigidity which never intrudes. Hence, repetitions, free from all ambition. The shadow of the redwood trees, she said, was oppressive. The plush must be worn away. On her walks she stepped into people’s gardens to pinch off cuttings from their geraniums and succulents. An occasional sunset is reflected on the windows. A little puddle is overcast. If only you could touch, or, even, catch those gray great creatures. I was afraid of my uncle with the wart on his nose, or of his jokes at our expense which were beyond me, and I was shy of my aunt’s deafness who was his sister-in-law and who had years earlier fallen into the habit of nodding, agreeably. Wool station. See lightening, wait for thunder. Quite mistakenly, as it happened…

3. My Life – Author’s Purpose The poet provides a fractured and poetic prose. The syntax of the work is extremely shattered, a collection of scattered yet somehow connected thoughts. • How would you describe the nature of the syntax in the passage from My Life?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. My Life – Author’s Purpose • In her poetic manifesto “The Rejection of Closure”, Hejinian writes that “the meaning of a word in its place derives…from the word’s lateral reach, its contacts with its neighbors in a statement.” She further claims “the integrity of the individual line, and the absorbing discontinuities that often appear between lines…are so natural to my ‘real life’ experience that they seem inevitable - and ‘true.’” How do you see this belief regarding syntax and meaning within the passage from My Life?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Upon close examination of the seemingly unconnected sentences, there’s a sense of vertical and horizontal communication. Disjointed by sentence breaks, these collected images do combine to form a splintered picture.

5. My Life – Author’s Purpose • What do you believe is the author’s overall purpose or message within the example work?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • How is the poetic message supported by the author’s distinct syntactical pattern? (Hint: Consider how the scattered narrative might reflect the experience of real life.)___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The major theme is that human existence is a splintered mass of memories, faded images, and almost-forgotten recollections. The poet is communicating both the fractured nature of these moments and the combined weight of their totality – that life, despite its broken nature, is an astounding experience when considered in full. Much like her message concerning the broken and simultaneous whole nature of life, Hejinian’s work is both splintered and threaded together with subtle connotations.

6. Answer the essay question below: • In Lyn Hejinian’s challenging work My Life, the author represents a fractured image of her recollections in splintered and rambling prose. In a well-organized response, complete with direct text evidence and relevant commentary, explain how the mirrored nature of subject and structure strengthens the impact of the author’s meaning. Red – Major Writing Task Blue – Minor Insights/Instructions