Learn about the use of Polysyndeton in your writing

Polysyndeton is the rehashed utilization of conjunctions to enumerate various items in a sentence. The reiteration of conjunctions—and, in any case, or, nor—in close progression is an intentional choice to put accentuation on each word. The impact is frequently an genuine state of mind.

Here are five polysyndeton models from incredible works of fiction:

Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son: Charles Dickens as often as possible utilized polysyndeton all through his work. In this story, Dickens utilizes the artistic tool to underline decay in a town that is impervious to change. “There were frowzy fields, and dairy animals houses, and dunghills, and dustheaps, and dump, and gardens, and summer-houses, and rug beating grounds, at the very entryway of the Railway.”

Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Maya Angelou’s utilization of polysyndeton in her self-portrayal makes a metered mood like lovely section. The conjunctions exert pressure onto the following word. As Angelou rattles off the advantages that white individuals have that individuals of color don’t, it bolsters the force of her experience of prejudice and isolation in America.

Ernest Hemingway, After the Storm: Hemingway utilizes polysyndeton to assemble tension in this short story by intensifying numerous functions into a continuous flow that matches the clamorous scene. A character, winded after a bar brawl, is searching for his boat in the prompt outcome of an overwhelming storm; he depicts the scene in a sudden spike in demand for sentence, with brief picture hefty expressions connected by the combination “and.”

William Shakespeare, Othello: Shakespeare utilizes polysyndeton when Othello records the quantity of painful approaches to pass on as he attempts to decide whether his significant other has been untrustworthy. The aggravating impact of this rundown stresses Othello’s nervousness: “If there be ropes, or blades, or toxic substance, or fire, or choking out streams, I’ll not suffer it.”

James Goldman, The Lion in Winter: This dramatic play utilizes an emotional case of polysyndeton. Sovereign Eleanor is addressing her children, alluding to them as her piglets. To stress that people are the birthplaces of war, she records powers that in themselves are not the reason for war, all connected by the combination “nor.”