Polysyndeton: Polysyndeton is a list or series of words, phrases, or clauses
that is connected with the repeated use of the same conjunction. The most common conjunctions used
with polysyndeton are and and or.
The citizens of the
small town demanded a new sheriff and mayor, hoping the change would lead to
the elimination of deception and fraud and corruption.
The purpose of the
word and is to link two or more
words, phrases, or clauses, but, importantly, and signifies that the items that are linked are equal in some way.
In business, academic, or creative writing, each word or group of words
connected by the and is more
emphasized than it would be without the and.
The primary effect of polysyndeton is to slow readers down so they
can take in all the information. Take the following example, for instance,
which could be found in a recommendation letter.
John West has excellent organizational
skills and superb interpersonal skills and outstanding written
communication skills.
Kolln discusses that
the repetition slows the reader down because each word in the series or list is
read “with a fairly equal beat” (p. 184). In this example, those organizational
and interpersonal and written communication skills have the same weight or importance
(grammatically speaking, because they’re parallel ideas).
Notice that,
rhythmically, polysyndeton is not only an equalizer of meaning, but also an
equalizer of tempo. In this case, polysyndeton creates a feeling of endless
continuity or breathlessness because all of those things are happening one
right after the other. We get the feeling that John West’s lists of skills
could go on.
Polysyndeton can also be used effectively in speeches, as shown in
the following example from
“In years gone by,
there were in every community men and women who spoke the language of duty and
morality and loyalty and obligation.”
Extended use of
polysyndeton creates a kind of sing-song rhythm in the sentence that generates a
particular kind of emotional charge and sometimes a ritual quality. While it’s
rare that a writer would need to generate those effects in a business or
academic document, this effect can be useful in short stories, novels, and so
on.
Ernest Hemingway used polysyndeton in the following passage from “After
the Storm”:
I said, "Who
killed him?" and he said, "I don't know who killed him but he's dead
all right," and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and
no lights and windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down
and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where
I had her inside Mango Key and she was all right only she was full of water.
This quotation from
Hemingway juxtaposes many things: destruction, darkness, death, description of
scenery, and personal actions. They all are based on each other and are thus connected
and emotionally dulling as they act as a build-up of details that work together
in giving the full scene in a way that marks them all as equals (meaning that
nature’s destruction is as meaningful as finding a boat).
