antithesis vs chiasmus

Glossary of Rhetorical Terms

A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples

This glossary came to us from our late colleague Ross Scaife, who encountered it during his graduate studies at the University of Texas. Chris Renaud gave it to him, stating that it originated with Ernest Ament of Wayne State University. Ross, in turn, added some additional examples.

Phaedrus : That is what those who claim to be professional teachers of rhetoric actually say, Socrates.

--Plato, Phaedrus 272

Note: There are a few links below to Perseus. To see the figures in question, you'll often need to examine the Greek versions of these texts. ( Related sites .)

Alliteration : repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence.

*Let us go forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural

*Viri validis cum viribus luctant. Ennius

*Veni, vidi, vici. Julius Caesar

Anacoluthon : lack of grammatical sequence; a change in the grammatical construction within the same sentence.

*Agreements entered into when one state of facts exists -- are they to be maintained regardless of changing conditions? J. Diefenbaker

Anadiplosis : ("doubling back") the rhetorical repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next.

*Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state; servants of fame; and servants of business. Francis Bacon

*Senatus haec intellegit, consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit? Immo vero etiam in senatum venit. Cicero, In Catilinam

* Aeschines 3.133

Anaphora : the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines.

*We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. Churchill.

*Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas, quod non ego non modo audiam, sed etiam videam planeque sentiam. Cicero, In Catilinam

*Lysias, Against Eratosthenes 21

*Demosthenes, On the Crown 48

Anastrophe : transposition of normal word order; most often found in Latin in the case of prepositions and the words they control. Anastrophe is a form of hyperbaton.

*The helmsman steered; the ship moved on; yet never a breeze up blew. Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

*Isdem in oppidis, Cicero

*Demosthenes, On the Crown 13

Antistrophe : repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.

*In 1931, ten years ago, Japan invaded Manchukuo -- without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia -- without warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria -- without warning. In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia -- without warning. Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland -- without warning. And now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand -- and the United States --without warning. Franklin D. Roosevelt

*Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon 198

Antithesis : opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction.

*Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater

*Brutus: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

*The vases of the classical period are but the reflection of classical beauty; the vases of the archaic period are beauty itself." Sir John Beazley

*Demosthenes, Olynthiac 2.26

Aporia : expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do.

*Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?' Luke 16

*Demosthenes, On the Crown 129

Aposiopesis : a form of ellipse by which a speaker comes to an abrupt halt, seemingly overcome by passion (fear, excitement, etc.) or modesty.

*Demosthenes, On the Crown 3

Apostrophe : a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present.

*For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel. Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Archaism : use of an older or obsolete form.

*Pipit sate upright in her chair Some distance from where I was sitting; T. S. Eliot, "A Cooking Egg"

Assonance : repetition of the same sound in words close to each other.

*Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

*O fortunatam natam me consule Romam! Cicero, de consulatu

Asyndeton : lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words.

*We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural

*But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

*Demosthenes, On the Crown 200

Brachylogy : a general term for abbreviated or condensed expression, of which asyndeton and zeugma are types. Ellipse is often used synonymously. The suppressed word or phrase can usually be supplied easily from the surrounding context.

*Aeolus haec contra: Vergil, Aeneid

*Non Cinnae, non Sullae longa dominatio. Tacitus, Annales I.1

Cacophony : harsh joining of sounds.

*We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will. W. Churchill

*O Tite tute Tati tibi tanta tyranne tulisti! Ennius

Catachresis : a harsh metaphor involving the use of a word beyond its strict sphere.

*I listen vainly, but with thirsty ear. MacArthur, Farewell Address

*Cynthia prima suis miserum me cepit ocellis. Propertius I.1.1

Chiasmus : two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a); from shape of the Greek letter chi (X).

*Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always. MacArthur

*Renown'd for conquest, and in council skill'd. Addison et pacis ornamenta et subsidia belli. Cicero, Pro lege Manilia

*Plato, Republic 494e

Climax : arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power. Often the last emphatic word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the first emphatic word of the next.

*One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Tennyson, Ulysses

*Nonne hunc in vincula duci, non ad mortem rapi, non summo supplicio mactari imperabis? Cicero, In Catilinam

*Facinus est vincere civem Romanum; scelus verberare; prope parricidium necare: quid dicam in crucem tollere? verbo satis digno tam nefaria res appellari nullo modo potest. Cicero, In Verrem

*Demosthenes, On the Crown 179

Euphemism : substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.

*When the final news came, there would be a ring at the front door -- a wife in this situation finds herself staring at the front door as if she no longer owns it or controls it--and outside the door would be a man... come to inform her that unfortunately something has happened out there, and her husband's body now lies incinerated in the swamps or the pines or the palmetto grass, "burned beyond recognition," which anyone who had been around an air base very long (fortunately Jane had not) realized was quite an artful euphemism to describe a human body that now looked like an enormous fowl that has burned up in a stove, burned a blackish brown all over, greasy and blistered, fried, in a word, with not only the entire face and all the hair and the ears burned off, not to mention all the clothing, but also the hands and feet, with what remains of the arms and legs bent at the knees and elbows and burned into absolutely rigid angles, burned a greasy blackish brown like the bursting body itself, so that this husband, father, officer, gentleman, this ornamentum of some mother's eye, His Majesty the Baby of just twenty-odd years back, has been reduced to a charred hulk with wings and shanks sticking out of it. Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff

Hendiadys : use of two words connected by a conjunction, instead of subordinating one to the other, to express a single complex idea.

*It sure is nice and cool today! (for "pleasantly cool")

*I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Psalms 116

*Perfecti oratoris moderatione et sapientia. Cicero, De oratore

Hypallage : ("exchanging") transferred epithet; grammatical agreement of a word with another word which it does not logically qualify. More common in poetry.

*Exegi monumentum aere perennius regalique situ pyramidum altius, Horace, Odes III.30

Hyperbaton : separation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of the separated words or to create a certain image.

*Speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem Vergil, Aeneid 4.124, 165

Hyperbole : exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.

*My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow; An hundred years should got to praise Thine eyes and on thine forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest. Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"

*Da mi basia mille, deinde centum, Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum, Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum. Catullus, to his.

Hysteron Proteron ("later-earlier"): inversion of the natural sequence of events, often meant to stress the event which, though later in time, is considered the more important.

*"I like the island Manhattan. Smoke on your pipe and put that in." -- from the song "America," West Side Story lyric by Stephen Sondheim (submitted per litteram by guest rhetorician Anthony Scelba )

*Put on your shoes and socks!

*Hannibal in Africam redire atque Italia decedere coactus est. Cicero, In Catilinam

Irony : expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another.

*Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Litotes : understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed. (Sometimes used synonymously with meiosis.)

*A few unannounced quizzes are not inconceivable.

*War is not healthy for children and other living things.

*One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day. (meiosis)

Metaphor : implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it.

*Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. Shakespeare, Macbeth

*. . . while he learned the language (that meager and fragile thread . . . by which the little surface corners and edges of men's secret and solitary lives may be joined for an instant now and then before sinking back into the darkness. . . ) Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!

*From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. W. Churchill

Metonymy : substitution of one word for another which it suggests.

*He is a man of the cloth.

*The pen is mightier than the sword.

*By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread.

Onomatopoeia : use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sound to sense.

*At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit. Ennius

Oxymoron : apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words which seem to contradict one another.

*Festina lente.

*I must be cruel only to be kind. Shakespeare, Hamlet

Paradox : an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in it.

*What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young. George Bernard Shaw

Paraprosdokian : surprise or unexpected ending of a phrase or series.

*He was at his best when the going was good. Alistair Cooke on the Duke of Windsor

*There but for the grace of God -- goes God. Churchill

*Laudandus, ornandus, tollendus. Cicero on Octavian

Paronomasia : use of similar sounding words; often etymological word-play.

*...culled cash, or cold cash, and then it turned into a gold cache. E.L. Doctorow, Billy Bathgate

*Thou art Peter (Greek petros), and upon this rock (Greek petra) I shall build my church. Matthew 16

*The dying Mercutio: Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

*Hic est sepulcrum haud pulchrum feminae pulchrae.

Personification : attribution of personality to an impersonal thing.

*England expects every man to do his duty. Lord Nelson

*Nunc te patria, quae communis est parens omnium nostrum, odit ac metuit et iam diu nihil te iudicat nisi de parricidio suo cogitare. Cicero, In Catilinam

Pleonasm : use of superfluous or redundant words, often enriching the thought.

*No one, rich or poor, will be excepted.

*Ears pierced while you wait!

*I have seen no stranger sight since I was born.

Polysyndeton : the repetition of conjunctions in a series of coordinate words, phrases, or clauses.

*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 Bay and she was all right only she was full of water. Hemingway, After the Storm

*omnia Mercurio similis, vocemque coloremque et crinis flavos et membra decora iuventae Vergil, Aeneid 4.558-9

*Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur, nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Cicero, De senectute

Praeteritio (=paraleipsis): pretended omission for rhetorical effect.

*That part of our history detailing the military achievements which gave us our several possessions ... is a theme too familiar to my listeners for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by. Thucydides, "Funeral Oration"

*Let us make no judgment on the events of Chappaquiddick, since the facts are not yet all in. A political opponent of Senator Edward Kennedy

Prolepsis : the anticipation, in adjectives or nouns, of the result of the action of a verb; also, the positioning of a relative clause before its antecedent.

*Vixi et quem dederat cursum fortuna peregi, Vergil, Aeneid 4.653

*Consider the lilies of the field how they grow.

Simile : an explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'.

*My love is as a fever, longing still For that which longer nurseth the disease, Shakespeare, Sonnet CXLVII

*Reason is to faith as the eye to the telescope. D. Hume [?]

*Let us go then, you and I, While the evening is spread out against the sky, Like a patient etherized upon a table... T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Syllepsis : use of a word with two others, with each of which it is understood differently.

*We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin

Synchysis : interlocked word order.

*aurea purpuream subnectit fibula vestem Vergil, Aeneid 4.139

Synecdoche : understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part. (A form of metonymy.)

*Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6

*I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

*The U.S. won three gold medals. (Instead of, The members of the U.S. boxing team won three gold medals.)

Synesis (=constructio ad sensum): the agreement of words according to logic, and not by the grammatical form; a kind of anacoluthon.

*For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6

*Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. Acts 6

Tautology : repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence.

*With malice toward none, with charity for all. Lincoln, Second Inaugural

Zeugma : two different words linked to a verb or an adjective which is strictly appropriate to only one of them.

*Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory.

*Longa tibi exsilia et vastum maris aequor arandum. Vergil, Aeneid

• Literary Terms
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write a Chiasmus

I. What is Chiasmus?

Chiasmus comes from a Greek word meaning “crossed,” and it refers to a grammatical structure that inverts a previous phrase. That is, you say one thing, and then you say something very similar, but flipped around.

For example:

Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet the sweaty

Chiasmus usually occurs on the sentence level, but can also be found in much broader structures – that is, you might have a paragraph that talks about a town, a state, a country, and the world, then goes back down in reverse order at the end. However, these structures are much harder to see (and their rhetorical value is pretty debatable), so this article will focus only on chiasmus at the sentence level.

Chiasmus is also called chiasm or chiasmic structure .

II. Examples of Chiasmus

Live simply so that others might simply live . (Gandhi)

This quote is often attributed to Gandhi, though no one is exactly sure where it comes from. It uses a chiasmus to amplify its moral point, which is that people should not be too caught up in material gain and prosperity, but should live simply and dedicate themselves to helping those in need, those whose very survival may depend on our help.

Ask not what your country can do for you ; ask what you can do for your country .” (John F. Kennedy, 1961)

This line has survived for over half a century as one of the most memorable calls to patriotic sacrifice ever made by a US President. The chiasmus in its structure may help to account for its staying power.

III. The Importance of Chiasmus

The chiasmus creates a highly symmetrical structure, and gives the impression of completeness. We seem to have “come full circle,” so to speak, and the sentence (or paragraph, etc.) seems to tie up all the loose ends. This is, of course, largely an illusion! A chiasmus can easily leave out extremely important details or considerations that make a big difference to the author’s point. But in rhetoric, what matters is the audience’s perception, and chiasmus is a great way to make readers perceive your writing as more complete.

In addition, chiasmus often uses parallelism , one of the most important structures in all of rhetoric. Parallelism is extremely effective because our brains process it much more quickly. After the brain processes that first phrase, it has already “practiced” dealing with that grammatical structure. So when it sees a second phrase with the same grammatical structure, the processing is much more efficient. Sentences with parallelism are often perceived as more memorable, humorous, and persuasive than those without parallelism, probably due to this feature of the reader’s brain.

IV. Examples of Chiasmus in Literature and Philosophy

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); In the pre-capitalist stages of society, commerce rules industry . In capitalist society, industry rules commerce . (Karl Marx, Das Capital)

Karl Marx loved the chiasmus. His books are full of sentences written with this structure, and they’re often pretty confusing. In this case, he’s saying that the production of goods (industry) was once dependent on the needs of shops and buyers (commerce), and thus that the goods produced were primarily valued for their usefulness. In a capitalist society, on the other hand, goods are produced as commodities, and their sale price is more important than their use-value; thus, industry becomes the dominant force and commerce adjusts to its needs instead of the other way around.

The Sabbath was made for man , not man for the Sabbath . (Mark 2:27)

In this passage, Jesus is reminding his followers that religious practices and rituals are important, but not as important as human characteristics like love, charity, and compassion. Although religious law matters, in Jesus’s view it matters far less than being a good person. His chiasmic sentence encapsulates this point quite elegantly.

All for one and one for all ! ( The Three Musketeers )

This very simple chiasmus has become a popular slogan with movements, organizations, and even sports teams.

V. Examples of Chiasmus in Pop Culture

The Russian Reversal is a type of joke that was very popular during the Cold War, and still influences pop culture today. Often associated with the comedian Yakov Smirnoff, this joke involves flipping the subject and object around to create a simple chiasmus. For example: “In America, you can always find party . In Soviet Russia, Party always finds you !” (Referring, of course, to the Communist Party rather than a celebration.)

The things you own end up owning you . (Tyler Durden, Fight Club )

This iconic line sums up the anti-consumerist morality espoused by Tyler Durden in Fight Club . The presence of a chiasmus, in combination with the anti-consumerism, makes the line strongly reminiscent of Karl Marx’s philosophy, and many people have seen Tyler Durden as, among other things, a symbol for an updated version of Marxism.

You can take the tiger out of the jungle , but you can’t take the jungle out of the tiger . (Hobbes, Calvin & Hobbes )

This is Hobbes’ gleeful explanation for why he’s always pouncing on Calvin at random moments. No matter where a tiger goes, it’s still wild at heart. Calvin’s sardonic response is: “But how can you get the tiger back in the jungle?”

VI. Related Terms

• Parallelism

In general, chiasmus is a form of parallelism – that is, the two parts of the chiasmus use the same sequence of parts of speech in the same order. To go back to our first example:

Don’t sweat the petty things Don’t pet the sweaty things

Structure: Don’t [ verb ] the [ adjective ] things

Notice that the Gandhi quote from Section 2 is an example of a chiasmus without strict parallelism – can you see why?

Antithesis is also a two-part structure, and it can look very similar to a chiasmus. But there’s one very important difference: in a chiasmus, the order or relation of the ideas is inverted; in an antithesis, the ideas are replaced with their opposites. Here are a few examples of antithesis:

• “That’s one small step for a man , one giant leap for mankind . ”
• “To err is human ; to forgive , divine .”

Notice that the underlined terms are actually replaced, rather than just being switched around as they would be in a chiasmus. A small step is the opposite of a giant leap; human is the opposite of divine, etc. If the examples were chiasmic instead, they would read:

• “That’s one small step for a man , and one man for a small step .”
• To err is human ; to be human is to err .”
• Juxtaposition

Often, a chiasmus juxtaposes two images. The Gandhi quote from Section 2 is a good example. In this quotation, one image is of “living simply” – that is, choosing to live a modest, humble life without too many frills or material possessions. The other image is of a person “simply living,” i.e. surviving in poverty without much opportunity for prosperity or wealth. When these two images are juxtaposed, it creates a powerful moral image. It forces us to come to terms with the question of whether our wealth and prosperity has been bought at the expense of impoverished people all over the world, and in our own cities and towns.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

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Understanding chiasmus – examples and effects of a rhetorical device

This guide looks at chiasmus, a rhetorical device that is sometimes called chiasm. The word ‘chiasmus’ is derived from an ancient Greek word meaning 'crossing’ or ‘to shape like the letter X’. This article is part of Semantix’s copywriters’ toolkit, but it should be useful for students and other professionals as well.

What is a rhetorical device?

A rhetorical device , sometimes called a ‘figure of speech’, a persuasive device or rhetoric, is a linguistic tool that can be used to evoke a particular reaction from the reader or listener.

There are many types of rhetorical devices that can be used in either writing or spoken communication. If a device is only used in writing, it’s sometimes referred to as a literary device .

Chiasmus: definition

Chiasmus (pronounced kee-az-muss) can be likened to a grammatical mirror: it’s the reversed repetition of the grammatical structure of a phrase or sentence. Unlike other rhetorical devices that include repetition, such as epistrophe and anaphora , chiasmus only has to repeat the structure, not necessarily the words. Although the term ‘chiasmus’ might not be familiar to you, you've probably come across plenty of examples. Chiasmus is often used in literature, song lyrics, performance, speeches and advertising to create emphasis and rhythm. You can find examples almost everywhere, from William Shakespeare’s work to JFK’s speeches and even everyday idioms.

Perhaps you’re familiar with the expression, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’? This is an example of chiasmus, as ‘going’ and ’tough’ swap places in the second clause. You might notice that the reversal is shaped according to an ABBA pattern. This is where the rhetorical device’s name comes from – the reversal creates a kind of X, which is the letter it’s named after (‘chi’ in Ancient Greek).

As a rhetorical device, chiasmus usually takes the form of a sentence or phrase as described above. But it is sometimes applied more broadly and metaphorically to describe inversion in whole passages, plots or even sounds.

There are many types of literary techniques used to create various effects. Although chiasmus isn’t as commonly used as some of the other rhetorical devices covered in this series, it’s a powerful one. If you want to improve your writing or verbal communication skills, a good working knowledge of rhetorical devices such as chiasmus can be a great help.

The purpose of chiasmus

Chiasmus can be used to present a concept and then to deepen or elaborate that concept in subsequent clauses. This is a very persuasive tool and can keep an audience, whether they are reading or listening, engaged with the content. It can also be used to break up complex concepts into bite-sized chunks, using clever structure to emphasise and deepen the connections between each section.

When chiasmus is used well, it can add a pleasing rhythm and verbal harmony to text that gives it an almost musical quality. That having been said, when chiasmus is used by a writer without skill, it can sound old-fashioned and clumsy.

The effect that any rhetorical device has is purely subjective. It relies on the interplay between the writer and the audience. A skilled writer will know their intended audience and have an idea of their likes and dislikes, their societal ideas and preferences. This means that the right rhetorical devices can be chosen to create the desired effect.

What are the rules?

To qualify as chiasmus, symmetry must be apparent in the repeated structures. The clauses themselves need not be symmetrical though. For example, the second clause in a two-part chiasmus might be longer than the first. However, it will mirror the first clause and the concepts in each clause will be connected.

The connection required between the clauses is flexible. The concepts might be directly linked or could be a comparison or juxtaposition. You don’t even need to use the same wording in both phrases to create chiasmus.

For example, if we were to describe Batman’s identity using chiasmus, we might say: ‘A billionaire by day, by night a superhero.’

One reason that chiasmus isn’t a more commonly used rhetorical device is that the inverted grammatical structure can make the phrase sound awkward. When used well it is good; but good it is not when used badly – did you see what we (awkwardly) did there?

Let’s have a look at examples of chiasmus.

Chiasmus examples in literature and poetry

Many skilled writers, both modern and historical, have used chiasmus well.

For example, ‘The instinct of a man is to pursue everything that flies from him, and to fly from all that pursues him.’ – Voltaire.

This memorable piece of writing is made powerful by the opposition between the clauses, which is contrasted by the reversal in structure.

Here’s another example that uses a similar technique to create opposing clauses that are contrasted by the reversal: ‘You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.’ – The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Chiasmus creates great rhythm in writing and is a useful tool in persuasive rhetoric that aims to focus attention. That’s why it’s more common in poetry than many other forms of writing. Many well-known poets, both modern and historical, have used chiasmus to create literary magic.

For example, ‘The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.’ – Paradise Lost by John Milton.

The chiasmus here is created by the ‘make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven’ part of the phrase. Notice how Milton creates opposing parallel concepts. The technique creates a memorable rhythm and deepens the idea through contrast, which makes this a very powerful part of the poem.

If the concepts are similar rather than contrasting, chiasmus creates emphasis.

For men diseased; but I, my mistress’ thrall, / Came there for cure and this by that I prove, / Love’s fire heats water, water cools not love . – Sonnet 154 by William Shakespeare.

In this example, both parts of the phrase have similar meanings. The second clause, ‘ water cools not love’ almost repeats the meaning of the first clause, but reverses the concept, which creates emphasis.

Chiasmus examples in speech and performance

People who deliver speeches that are intended to convince or influence an audience often use rhetorical devices to create impact. Chiasmus creates memorable structures, whether we read or hear them. It’s no accident that some of the best orators are also skilled in the use of chiasmus.

For example, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.’ –John F. Kennedy.

This part of Kennedy’s speech is memorable thanks to the rhythm created by reversed structure and the juxtaposed concepts in the two clauses, which deepen the concept.

Using chiasmus in influencing and marketing

Carefully chosen words and clever literary devices get marketers good results. Successful adverts are often memorable, concise and designed to deliver their message with a punch. Chiasmus gives phrases an appealing rhythm and helps to create adverts that stick in our heads far beyond the timescale of their broadcasting campaign. They also provide the perfect structure for creating effective taglines.

Take a look at these examples:

• ‘There's no question Grape-Nuts is right for you. The question is, are you right for Grape-Nuts?’ – Grape-Nuts cereal, advertising campaign (c.1984)
• ‘Stops static before static stops you.’ – Bounce fabric softener advertising campaign (c.1990)
• ‘The economy of luxury, the luxury of economy.’ – Buget Car Rentals tagline

Antimetabole vs chiasmus

Antimetabole and chiasmus are sometimes confused, and scholars don’t always distinguish between the two. However, an antimetabole is generally seen as a type of chiasmus. Based on this categorisation, every antimetabole is a chiasmus, but not every chiasmus is an antimetabole.

How does that work?

The general rule is quite simple. Remember we said that chiasmus reverses the grammatical structure of a phrase in the second clause? The difference is that an antimetabole reverses the exact same wording in each clause.

For example, JFK’s line, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country’ while indeed being chiasmus, is also an example of antimetabole.

However, ‘A billionaire by day, by night a superhero’ is chiasmus but not antimetabole.

That’s the important difference between antimetabole and chiasmus.

Chiasmus and antithesis

Also sometimes confused with chiasmus is antithesis. Again, the two rhetorical devices are subtly different.

The word ‘antithesis’ means ‘this is the direct opposite’. Antithesis is another useful rhetorical device to have in your writing toolkit. It creates impact by placing opposing words or concepts parallel to each other.

For example:

‘That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ – Neil Armstrong

Other rhetorical devices that use repetition

Epistrophe – the repetition of words, or words with a slight variation, at the end of successive clauses or phrases. Epistrophe is also known as epiphora or antistrophe. For example, ‘Last week, I was fine. Today, I am fine. Next week, I will be fine.’

Anaphora – the repetition of words at the beginning of successive phrases. For example, ‘I will not fail. I will not falter. I will not stop. And I will not give up.’

Alliteration – the repetition of the same consonant sound throughout a phrase. For example, the children’s nursery rhyme ‘She sells seashells on the seashore’.

Learn more about rhetorical devices and how to use them to improve your writing and communication in our list of literary devices .

Semantix creative copywriting

Semantix provides a full range of multilingual copywriting services . We pair you with a copywriter who has specific knowledge and experience in your industry. This means that you’re working with someone who understands your business needs and the language of your target audience.

Using rhetorical devices such as chiasmus works in every language but requires more skill than direct translation . When you’re writing creative marketing material, just substituting a word for one that means the same in another language often results in text that doesn’t make sense or fails to hit the mark. That’s why you need to work with a native-speaking copywriter. Our copywriters use rhetorical devices, among other language tools, to get clients the best results from their marketing material in over 200 languages.

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Further reading.

• A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms – Richard Lanham, University of California Press, 2013
• Simplified Glossary of Literary Terms/Devices: An-easy-to use Source of Definitions, Examples and Exercises For Students and Teachers – Victor Igiri, 2022
• The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (Oxford Quick Reference) 4th Edition – Chris Baldick, OUP Oxford, 2015
• The Elements of Eloquence – Mark Forsyth, Icon Books, 2013
• The Rhetorical Device: Literary Resources for The Writer Vol. 1 of 2 – Paul F Kisak, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016
• Writing with Clarity and Style: A Guide to Rhetorical Devices for Contemporary Writers – Robert A Harris, Routledge, 2017
• The Use of Rhetorical Devices in Selected Speeches by Clinton & Trump: Discourse from the Electoral Campaign 2016 – Larissa Wolf, AV Akademikerverlag, 2018
• www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-antithesis-definition (online blog)
• Voltaire, The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 4 (of 10). Available at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35624/35624-h/35624-h.htm

Related content

A guide to the literary device anaphora – for professional wordsmiths

Literary devices list: examples of literary devices and how to use them

What is antithesis? A guide with examples

Chiasmus Figure of Speech

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In rhetoric , chiasmus is a verbal pattern (a type of antithesis ) in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed. Essentially the same as antimetabole . Adjective: chiastic . Plural: chiasmus or chiasmi .

Note that a chiasmus includes anadiplosis , but not every anadiplosis reverses itself in the manner of a chiasmus.

Examples and Observations

• "You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget."
• "Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good."
• "If Black men have no rights in the eyes of the White men, of course, the Whites can have none in the eyes of the Blacks."
• "The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order."
• Chiasmus as verbal judo "The root pattern is called ' chiasmus ' because diagrammed, it forms an 'X,' and the Greek name for X is chi . When John Kennedy constructed his famous bromide, 'Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country,' he went to the Well of Antithesis for his active ingredient. Where does the 'X' power come from?... Obviously, a verbal judo is at work here. By keeping the phrase but inverting its meaning we use our opponent's own power to overcome him, just as a judo expert does. So a scholar remarked of another's theory, 'Cannon entertains that theory because that theory entertains Cannon.' The pun on 'entertain' complicates the chiasmus here, but the judo still prevails--Cannon is playing with the power of his own mind rather than figuring out the secrets of the universe."
• The lighter side of chiasmus "Starkist doesn't want tuna with good taste, Starkist wants tuna that tastes good!"

Pronunciation

Also known as.

Antimetabole, epanodos, inverted parallelism, reverse parallelism, crisscross quotes, syntactical inversion, turnaround

• Cormac McCarthy,  The Road , 2006
• Samuel Johnson
• Frederick Douglass, "An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage"
• Alfred North Whitehead
• Richard A. Lanham,  Analyzing Prose , 2nd ed. Continuum, 2003
• Antimetabole: Figure of Speech
• Brief Introductions to Common Figures of Speech
• Anadiplosis: Definition and Examples
• The Top 20 Figures of Speech
• Antithesis (Grammar and Rhetoric)
• AP English Exam: 101 Key Terms
• Euphuism (Prose Style)
• What Is Antistasis?
• What Is a Rhetorical Device? Definition, List, Examples
• Motifs in Fiction and Nonfiction
• paired construction (grammar)
• Intertextuality
• What Signifying Means in African American Discourse
• Syncrisis (Rhetoric) Definition and Examples
• Figure of Thought in Rhetoric
• Root Compound

Chiasmus Definition

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect.

Let us try to understand chiasmus with the help of an example:

“Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.”

Notice that the second half of this sentence is an inverted form of the first half, both grammatically and logically. In the simplest sense, the term chiasmus applies to almost all “criss- cross ” structures, and this is a concept that is common these days. In its strict classical sense, however, the function of chiasmus is to reverse grammatical structure or ideas of sentences, given that the same words and phrases are not repeated.

The Difference Between Chiasmus and Antimetabole

Chiasmus is different from antimetabole . An antimetabole is the repetition of words in consecutive clauses, but in an inverted or transposed order. For example:

“You forget what you want to remember , and you remember what you want to forget.”

Antimetabole examples resemble chiasmus, as they are marked by the inversion of structure. In examples of chiasmus, however, the words and phrases are not repeated. Generally, chiasmus and antimetabole are regarded by many critics as similar tools of rhetoric .

Examples of Chiasmus from Greek Sages

The use of chiasmus as a rhetorical device dates back to the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Its traces have been found in the ancient texts of Sanskrit, and also in ancient Chinese writings. Greeks, however, developed an unmatched inclination for this device, and made it an essential part of the art of oration.

Example #1: Aeschylus, 5th Century B.C.

“It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.”

Example #2: Bias, 6th Century B.C.

“Love as if you would one day hate, and hate as if you would one day love.”

Example #3: Socrates, 5th Century B.C.

“Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.”

Examples of Chiasmus from Literature

Example #1: othello (by william shakespeare).

“But O, what damned minutes tells he o’er Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves.”

Example #2: Essay on Man (By Alexander Pope)

“His  time  a  moment , and a  point  his  space .”

Example #3: Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful? (By Oscar Hammerstein)

“Do I love you because you’re beautiful? Or are you beautiful because I love you?”

Example #4: Paradise Lost (By John Milton)

“…in his face Divine compassion visibly appeared, Love without end, and without measure Grace…”

Example #5: Quote (By Judith Viorst)

“Lust is what makes you keep wanting to do it, Even when you have no desire to be with each other. Love is what makes you keep wanting to be with each other, Even when you have no desire to do it.”

Example #6: Quote (By John Marshall)

“In the blue grass region, A paradox was born: The  corn  was full of  kernels  And the  colonels  full of  corn .”

Example #7: Quote (By Alfred P. Solan)

“Some have an idea that the reason we in this country  discard things so readily  is because  we have so much . The facts are exactly opposite – the reason  we have so much  is simply because  we discard things so readily .”

Example #8: Quote (By Voltaire)

“The instinct of a man is to  pursue  everything that  flies from him , and to  fly from  all that  pursues  him.”

Example #9: Quote (By Thomas Szaz)

“When religion was strong and science weak , men mistook magic for medicine; Now , when science is strong and religion weak , men mistake medicine for magic.”

Function of Chiasmus

As the above discussion reveals, chiasmus is a unique rhetorical device that is employed by writers to create a special artistic effect, in order to lay emphasis on what they want to communicate. In his treatise, Analyzing Prose , Richard A. Lanham puts forward his interesting point of view about chiasmus in the following words:

“By keeping the phrase but inverting its meaning we use our opponent’s own power to overcome him, just as a judo expert does. So a scholar remarked of another’s theory, ‘Cannon entertains that theory because that theory entertains Cannon.’ The pun on ‘entertain’ complicates the chiasmus here, but the judo still prevails — Cannon is playing with the power of his own mind rather than figuring out the secrets of the universe.”

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Chiasmus in Poetry ✍🏽

Much like with literature, you have dive deep to find relevant examples of chiasmus in poetry. But we managed. And the winners are:

“Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure” – “Don Juan,” Lord Byron

Ever a favorite, Lord Byron can always be called on for depth, and sometimes, depravity, but in the most sublime way.

“To err is human, to forgive divine.” – “An Essay on Criticism,” Alexander Pope

Pope seems to pop up everywhere, but almost every instance is relevant in some way. After all, nearly everyone has been advised of this bit of advice, even if it is a bit sacrilegious.

“GOOD we must love, and must hate ill” – “Community, John Donne

Ever the  wordsmith, Donne forces the reader to dig deep to unpack the meaning in his words. Thank goodness this one is simple enough …

Cinematic Chiasmus 🎥

When considering how chiasmus can be illustrated in film, you kinda have to step back and think. If it’s worked into the dialogue, sure, but this only really occurs if the film happens to feature famous speeches such as John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech. Enter cinematic chiasmus. An equally rare occurrence, cinematic chiasmus occurs not in dialogue but rather in the structure of the film and occurs when the film is perfectly symmetrical.

Let’s explain.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – A film is symmetrical when the events of the second half mirror the events of the first. To this effect, many consider Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back a perfect example. Ordinarily, this is where a movie clip would be inserted but in this case, the clip would be the entire film. Instead, a breakdown of some of the events will have to do.

Note that each letter corresponds to an event on the other side of the chiasmus:

A . A Star Destroyer sends probes searching for Luke Skywalker

B . Luke communicates with Han Solo by radio and then gets injured C . Han makes it safely back to the Rebel base

C . Everyone but Han makes it safely back to the Rebel Fleet

B . Luke communicates by radio with Lando Calrissian and then gets hurt in a helpful way A . The Millennium Falcon goes searching for Han

As you can see, like a sentence, the events of the film reverse in order, but not in mirror fashion.

Often Confused with … 👥

• Antimetabole – Chiasmus is often confused with antimetabole , in which the second part of a sentence is an exact mirror image of the first. A famous example of antimetabole is the line, “Fair is foul and foul is fair,” from Shakespeare’s MacBeth .
• Epanalepsis – When the initial word, phrase, or clause is repeated at the end of a sentence with intervening words in between. Example: “It doesn’t matter what I do, this class never gets any easier—no matter what I do.”
• Anadiplosis – A form of doubling or repetition . Occurs when a word or phrase of one clause at or near the end of a sentence is repeated at the beginning of the next sentence. Example: “St. Eve,” by John Keats (Even with an example, this one is super tricky and confusing).
• Symploce – occurs when a writer repeats a phrase at the beginning of successive lines AND a different phrase at the end of successive lines. Also described as a combination of anaphora and Epanalepsis.
• Juxtaposition – When two unlike things are placed next together without contrast or seeming connection. Anaphora – Repetition of a word or phrase (or lines in poetry) at the beginning of the next clause. Example: Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” address.

• Philosophy , Rhetoric

Parallelism/Chiasmus: Repeat After Me

Here are two famous quotes that you’re probably familiar with. The first is an excerpt from Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities , which begins with the iconic sentence, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” The second quote is from a much more lighthearted book titled Horton Hatches the Egg , written by the popular children’s author Dr. Seuss: “I meant what I said and I said what I meant...an elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.”

Have you ever questioned why these lines are so catchy, or why they are so beloved by English teachers? After a quick, cursory glance, you might think that these two quotes are similar to each other in that they both make clever use of repetition. Though that is true in a broad sense, upon closer inspection, Dickens and Dr. Seuss don’t use repetition in quite the same way or for the same purpose. 

Explanation

In these quotes from Dickens and Dr. Seuss, the former author uses a technique called parallelism while the latter uses chiasmus . Parallelism is essentially similar or repeating grammatical structures within a clause or sentence, which can also take the form of repeating words or phrases. When Dickens writes, “it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,” he keeps the part of the sentence that reads “it was the age of…” and just replaces the word “wisdom” with a different noun - “foolishness.” The many examples of parallelism in that first sentence from A Tale of Two Cities serve to tie together all the contrasting descriptions of this time period in an easily memorable way. 

The repetition used in chiasmus is slightly different. For one thing, chiasmus reads more like a tongue twister or a riddle. Furthermore, chiasmus reverses the structure or word order of the second of two parallel clauses or sentences to create a slightly different meaning and put emphasis on the specific words that were reversed. In Dr. Seuss’ case, he reversed the words “meant” and “said” to highlight the relationship between the things someone says and the intention behind those words. 

Parallelism/Chiasmus

Parallelism is a literary technique in which two or more consecutive phrases repeat the same grammatical structure with just a few words changed each time. Note that when you’re using parallelism, the “new” words you put in must be the same part of speech as the original words that are being replaced. For example, take a look at Neil Armstrong’s famous quote: “That’s one step for man , one giant leap for mankind .” Both of the phrases here take this structure: “one _______ for _______.” “Giant leap” replaces “step” while “mankind” replaces “man,” and you can see that each noun in the original phrase is substituted with another noun. 

Chiasmus is a literary technique involving two consecutive phrases in which the second phrase’s grammatical structure or word order is reversed. For example, check out President John F. Kennedy’s quote from his address before the United Nations General Assembly: “ Mankind must put an end to war , or war will put an end to mankind .” The words “mankind” and “war” have swapped places as well as grammatical functions in the sentence. 

The History

The word “parallelism” obviously derives from “parallel,” which was in turn adapted from the Greek phrase para allelois , meaning “beside one another.” The roots of the word “parallelism” hint at how this rhetorical device involves clauses that are next to each other. 

The word “chiasmus” originated from the Greek kiasmos , which refers to “diagonal arrangement” or an X-shape. In examples of chiasmus, the author usually swaps the places of two words to create an alternate meaning, and kiasmos refers to how this crossover imitates an X-shape.

So What? 

If you’ve ever heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech, there’s no question as to where the title came from. After all, King repeatedly uses the phrase, “I have a dream....” in parallel structures throughout the piece: “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

After examining King’s speech, it’s clear that parallelism provides a rhythmic flow to any piece of text, written or spoken, and makes the content much more memorable because of the mellifluous quality of repetitive structure. Not only does parallelism make a piece of writing easier to remember, but it also makes the information easier to understand, which is especially important when writing a speech that you want to appeal to a broad audience. Chiasmus (though not featured in King’s speech), creates an impact that is very similar to parallelism, but with the added bonus of sounding wittier and putting emphasis on the two words that swap places. Because of these benefits of both parallelism and chiasmus, it’s not only public speakers that use them, but advertisement campaigns as well.

Think Further

• Name one other example of either parallelism or chiasmus from famous literature. (If you can’t think of one, make up an example of either parallelism or chiasmus.)
• Parallelism and chiasmus often feature in religious texts. Why do you think that is?
• What might be one benefit and one drawback to using more parallelism in your writing?

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Accountability

Antimetabole

Antimetabole Definition

What is antimetabole? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Antimetabole is a figure of speech in which a phrase is repeated, but with the order of words reversed. John F. Kennedy's words, "Ask not what your country can do for you , ask what you can do for your country ," is a famous example of antimetabole.

Some additional key details about antimetabole:

• Antimetabole appears in a wide variety of contexts, from jokes and idioms to political speeches and literature. It can be used to convey paradoxes and irony , to strengthen an argument, or to show in a novel way how two ideas relate to each other.
• Antimetabole is tricky to use: it can be moving, memorable, and persuasive, but it can also feel trite and predictable if used poorly.
• Antimetabole comes from a Greek phrase that means, "turning about in the opposite direction," and which sums up the effect of words being repeated in reverse order, sort of like retracing steps on a path.

Antimetabole Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce antimetabole: an-tee-met- ab -oh-lee

A Closer Look at Antimetabole

There are a few additional nuances of antimetabole that are helpful to know in order to understand it.

The Repeated Phrases of Antimetabole Don't Have to Contain Exactly the Same Words

While symmetry is central to antimetabole because of the way it repeats the same phrase in reverse order, exact symmetry is not required for something to count as antimetabole. In fact, in many cases the repeated phrases wouldn't make grammatical sense if they were simply an exact reversal of the original word order. For instance, in this line from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night , an adjective ("witty") turns into a noun ("wit") when repeated, and a noun ("fool") turns into an adjective ("foolish") so that the sentence will make grammatical sense:

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

In the expression below, the antimetabole is a perfectly reversed repetition, but the subjects of the two phrases are different (one is about the French, the other about Americans), making the two clauses of the sentence slightly asymmetrical:

The French work to live , whereas Americans live to work .

Phrases of Antimetabole are Usually—But Not Always—Back to Back

Typically, antimetabole occurs in adjacent phrases or clauses. But since the heart of antimetabole is the inverted repetition of two phrases or clauses, the repetition can also be spaced farther apart, embedded in longer sentences or even separate sentences. In this quote, Sarah Palin's use of antimetabole occurs at the ends of two separate sentences as opposed to back to back.

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers . And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change .

Antimetabole Can Be Pithy and Powerful, or Trite and Oversimplified

The reason antimetabole is popular in political speeches is the same reason some are skeptical of it. It's useful in reducing a larger argument into a bite-size, catchy phrase, which can be, well, reductive. Take this common expression:

I mean what I say and I say what I mean .

This example takes a statement of integrity and boils it down to a short sentence, but it doesn't really offer any evidence to back up how or why the speaker's words and actions align. Antimetabole can fall flat as empty-sounding claims when the argument's logic isn't further supported or explained.

In addition, because antimetabole is based on a single repetition of a phrase, it can only make, at most, two separate claims. As a result, using antimetabole can result in the exclusion of other possibilities that aren't encompassed by those two claims. This has the potential to create a false dichotomy—a misleading opposition of two ideas that aren't necessarily opposed to each other, leaving out other, more nuanced possibilities. For instance, in the above quote by Sarah Palin about John McCain, she suggests that candidates either "use change to promote their careers," or "use their careers to promote change," as if there can be no overlap or gray area between these two types of behavior. Of course, oftentimes such oversimplification is intended, as speakers may use antimetabole with the intention of making their point persuasive enough to distract from the more complex nature of the subject. Other times, a speaker or writer using antimetabole may not be aware of how they are reducing a complicated topic to something that is overly simplistic.

Antimetabole vs. Chiasmus

Antimetabole is easy to confuse with another figure of speech called chiasmus , which also involves repetition in reverse. However, the two differ in key ways:

• Antimetabole is the repetition of words or phrases.
• Chiasmus is the repetition of similar concepts within a repeated grammatical structure , but doesn't necessarily involve the repetition of the same words.

For instance, in the following line of dialogue from Shakespeare's Othello , the character Iago uses chiasmus when he says:

"Who dotes , yet doubts , suspects , yet strongly loves ..."

This is an example of chiasmus because (as in antimetabole) the same concept is repeated in reverse order, but (unlike in antimetabole) different words are used to express the concept when repeated. "Doting" and "loving" are similar but not the same—and the same goes for "doubting" and "suspecting."

Generally, chiasmus allows more complexity than antimetabole because antimetabole needs to repeat the same words, but for this same reason antimetabole can sometimes seem snappier and more clever than chiasmus.

Antimetabole is a Type of Chiasmus

If you look around the Internet, you'll find that there's a lot of disagreement over whether or not antimetabole is a type of chiasmus. The two sides of the argument can be summed up in this way:

• Stricter definitions of chiasmus maintain that it never involves the repetition of the same words, which would mean that antimetabole could not be a type of chiasmus.
• Most definitions of chiasmus hold that it can involve the repetition of words, in which case antimetabole would be a type of chiasmus.

First, it's worth it to know that this debate exists. Second, we think it makes sense to go with the majority view and treat antimetabole as a specific type of chiasmus. In that view, all examples of antimetabole are also being examples of chiasmus. For instance, had Iago instead said "Who loves, yet doubts — doubts, yet loves , " that change would turn the sentence into an example of both antimetabole and chiasmus because it would repeat both the same words as well as the same grammatical structure and related concepts.

Antimetabole Examples

Antimetabole appears regularly in literature, speeches, common expressions, as well as in jokes.

Antimetabole Examples in Literature

Antimetabole is regularly used in literature, for a variety of different purposes, from exposing a paradox to creating memorable mottos.

Antimetabole in George Orwell's 1984

In George Orwell's book 1984 , the narrator's struggle to come to terms with a paradox is wonderfully captured through the inverse repetition of antimetabole. The paradox is that members of the oppressed working class will continue to go about their lives unquestioningly until they become conscious of their oppression—but it seems that a radical change or revolution would need to take place in order for the oppressed working class to even understand that they are oppressed.

Until they become conscious they will never rebel , and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious .

Note how in this example the phrase "they will never" isn't repeated verbatim, but the same meaning is conveyed through "they cannot."

Antimetabole in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

In Their Eyes Were Watching God , the narrator uses antimetabole to explain how women can construct their own reality by picking and choosing what to remember and what not to.

"Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember and remember everything they don’t want to forget . The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."

The inverted repetition of antimetabole in this quote helps to emphasize the way that the narrator is implying that women have both sides of the equation covered: they both forget what they want to, and remember what they want to, and that total control allows them to create their own truth.

Antimetabole in John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

In this poem, the speaker makes a claim that equates truth and beauty:

When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st ' Beauty is truth , truth beauty ,—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know'

The way that the use of antimetabole here condenses this idea into a concise, declarative statement gives it a feeling of power and gravitas.

Antimetabole in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers

The dashing trio's rallying cry in The Three Musketeers is a famous example of antimetabole. The saying has remained in circulation until today—in part because antimetabole makes it so memorable.

All for one and one for all !

Antimetabole Examples in Speeches

Antimetabole can be a powerfully persuasive tool in oration. Its use of repetition drives concepts home and helps them stick in the memory. It's important to keep in mind that, because antimetabole packs a rhetorical punch, it can permit a speaker to make a claim so powerfully that listeners don't notice that the speaker never offered any evidence or explanation to support their claim. This is, of course, precisely why some orators use antimetabole.

Antimetabole in Malcolm X's 1964 Speech at the Audubon Ballroom

Malcolm X uses antimetabole to concisely argue that American history isn't what it seems. He first makes reference to the predominant narrative of colonialism—that white Europeans discovered America—then reverses the word order to make his own argument: that the arrival of white people to the Americas, along with the intersecting legacies of slavery and colonialism that came with them, wreaked catastrophic damage on entire races of people.

We didn't land at Plymouth Rock . The rock landed on us .

Antimetabole in John McCain's 2008 Republican National Convention Speech

Below, John McCain uses antimetabole to criticize politics' influence on the integrity of lawmakers. In the first clause, he presents how things should be, and then he reversed the word order to say how they are— a common use of antimetabole.

We were elected to change Washington , and we let Washington change us .

Antimetabole Examples in Common Expressions

Antimetabole's repetition and formulaic structure make it perfect for catchy phrases and popular expressions.

• When the going gets tough , the tough get going .
• It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice .
• You can take the girl out of the country , but you can't take the country out of the girl .

Because antimetabole can produce concise and memorable phrases, it can be helpful for developing short phrases that function as a kind of checklist or set of guidelines. For instance, SCUBA divers are taught this pithy phrase to stress the importance of making plans ahead of time and then following through on them:

Plan your dive and dive your plan .

Antimetabole Examples in Jokes

Since comedy is all about the subversion of expectation, it makes sense that antimetabole is common in jokes. The structure of reverse repetition allows a comedian to present a sensible, common phrase, then to twist those same words to produce a surprising effect.

• What's the IRS's motto? We've got what it takes to take what you've got .

The structure of antimetabole also works well for ironic phrases, sometimes in a racy way, such as these famous quotes:

• "I'm not a writer with a drinking problem — I'm a drinker with a writing problem ." –Dorothy Parker
• "It's not the men in my life that count—it's the life in my men ." –Mae West

Why Do Writers Use Antimetabole?

Writers use antimetabole in a wide array of contexts: to produce powerful arguments, to compare two related things or concepts, to present paradoxes , or to generate a comedic effect.

Antimetabole is Great for Pithy, Memorable Arguments

Antimetabole, with its repetition and catchy inversion of words, does wonders to motivate and persuade. It can first present, then challenge, a prominent narrative, the way Malcolm X uses it ("We didn't land at Plymouth Rock . The rock landed on us "). It can also suggest irony at the way things are (compared to expectations). In this quote from cybersecurity expert Dan Greer, he implies that important ideas ought to be appealing, but that the inverse is, ironically, true:

Most important ideas are unappealing and most appealing ideas are unimportant .

Or, antimetabole can cast a claim as obvious, needing no further defense, as in Hillary Clinton's quote:

Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights .

Antimetabole Can Convey Paradoxes

The structure of antimetabole makes it a natural tool in conveying paradoxes , arguments that may seem self-contradictory yet have sound logic. Take this quote by legendary college basketball coach John Wooden:

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail .

By not preparing at all, one in fact is preparing—for failure (there's the paradox). Wooden stresses the link between both preparation and success, as well as preparation and failure. But by using antimetabole, he accomplishes this very concisely, using just two key words.

Here are other examples of paradox in antimetabole:

• " Fair is foul , and foul is fair ." -The Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth
• "He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions ." -The Sphinx in Mystery Men

Antimetabole is Good for Laughs

When antimetabole meets wit, it has a comic effect, largely because it's perfect for ironic statements. Below, the sentence claims an ironic relationship between having money and spending it.

The richer people get, the tighter they become , and the tighter they become, the richer they get .

Other Helpful Antimetabole Resources

• Wikipedia Page on Antimetabole : A breezy definition of the term, but a large stock of examples.
• Manner of Speaking Page on Antimetabole : Short but smart notes on the use of antimetabole. Includes a couple videos of the device in action.
• American Rhetoric Page on Antimetabole : A solid definition and a resource for good examples of antimetabole.
• Slate Article : A smart essay on both the clumsy and graceful uses of antimetabole in the 2008 presidential campaign.
• Star Tribune Article : A clever, light piece on the difference between antimetabole and chiasmus.

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Chiasmus and antimetabole, what is chiasmus, or antimetabole for that matter these words are not readily recognizable, though you're about to learn how common the techniques they stand for are. you may be surprised to realize that you've seen them before -- you just didn't relate the concepts to the grammar they're attributed to..

Chiasmus Chiasmus (pronounced ki-AZ-muss) is an ancient literary device, as old as ancient Greek verse and Hebrew scripture, which when used appropriately can be an effective way to transform your writing. It is basically, a rhetorical figure of speech (language that intends to effect its audience in some way) represented as a two-part sentence or phrase, where the second part is a reversal of the first. For those familiar with the terms, perhaps it is helpful to know it is a form of a form of antithesis: specifically, reverse parallelism (AKA syntactical inversion) and that it goes hand-in-hand with juxtaposition. Also, all chiasmus utilizes anadiplosis to some degree (the repeating of a word, phrase, or structural syntax used at [or near] the end of clause, back at [or near] the beginning of a subsequent clause). But to simplify comprehension, chiasmus is a mirroring of related concepts by repeating elements of a sentence in order to emphasize meaning in a particular pair of phrases - thus there must be an element of symmetry despite the phrases potentially being contrasting . This mirrored structure resembles an 'X,' when diagrammed, and 'chi' is the Greek letter, x. Chiasm, translated in Latin from Greek, means crossing or diagonal arrangement. Relatedly, medical folks will no-doubt know of the optic chiasm, -the part of the brain in which the optic nerves partially cross- and essentially in grammar, chiasmus is the crossing of phrase structures to make a point. Perhaps some examples will better illustrate the concept. Examples: ● "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy ● "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life. - Oscar Wilde ● "The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth." - Lao Tzu ● It's hard to save time, but to waste it is easy. The 4th example may not appear to belong in the same company as the others but it is important to note that chiasmus does not require using the same words in both phrases to be chiastic. Examples: ● "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints." - Billy Joel ● "Genuine righteousness leads to life, but the pursuit of evil brings death." - Proverbs 11:19 ● Dedication must be your tunnel to success: achievement occurs through commitment ● I'll have some "champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends." - 19th century toast As shown chiasmus can also use synonyms (particularly ex. 7) or related language -instead of the same wording- as long as the concept is properly inverted. The above chiasmus examples indicate how the grammatical structures or ideas are flip-flopped, without word repetition, to the preservation of a main idea. The last one being quite witty and amusing. Antimetabole This leads me to the other term in this article: antimetabole (an-tee-meh-TA-bo-lee). There is a lively debate in scholarly circles that it is, in fact, a form of chiasmus (as there's no denying their similarity) but the consensus is that it is a subtype of the former. Actually, the first 3 (initial) examples - given above - are also antimetabole and demonstrate there is a common overlap. Antimetabole is easy to spot, practically universal in most languages, and can be applied in a myriad of contexts. Antimetabole, from the Greek for "turning about in the opposite direction," is the reversal of the exact same wording in successive clauses. A statement qualifies as antimetabole if the wording is the same or similar (as grammar rules apply) in the respective phrases to persuasive effect. Examples: ● "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - Albert Einstein ● “Mankind must put an end to war – or war will put an end to mankind.” - speech made by JFK ● "It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them." - Mark Twain ● "I'm not a writer with a drinking problem; I'm a drinker with a writing problem." - Dorothy Parker ● I have not the mind of many men, but l'm a man of many minds. Obviously, the reusing of words in instances of antimetabole makes the text stand out more, and is an enticing technique that can leave a solid impression on the reader. It can also dramatically enhance a lecture or speech to stimulate the listeners' capacity to remember what they heard. The following is another example of chiasmus in the form of antimetabole.: “He knitted a good deal, he would tell you if you asked him, to keep himself from smoking, adding that he also smoked a good deal to keep himself from knitting.” - P.G. Wodehouse, Cocktail Time - Literary instances such as this are not few and far between and serve to illustrate that the two devices are not so distinct at times. Indeed the rule of thumb is that: all antimetabole is chiasmus, but not all chiasmus is antimetabole....(humorously --the preceding sentence also happens to be a marked example of antimetabole!) Conclusion: Is it Chiasmus or Antimetabole? Chiasmus and antimetabole are often used interchangeably and are easily confused with one another. But, there is a difference. Chiasmus is the repetition of similar concepts in similar structures (and does not mandate the repetition of the same exact words). Antimetabole is, exclusively, the repetition of words or phrases in an A B - B A structure. Chiasmus is not as obvious as antimetabole and can therefore be harder to spot and break down, however with this device, there is much more flexibility and creativity at one's disposal. Chiasmus looks like antimetabole except for the fact that different words are used to express the same, similar, or opposing concepts. It allows for more complex phrases and is a powerful poetic and rhetorical tool for engaging an audience (whether reading or speaking) and establishing impactful points. It commonly takes the form of well-known axioms and is found in the rousing speeches typical of the late Reverend King and President Kennedy. e.g. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” - Dr Martin Luther King While antimetabole is more geared towards a single, cogent, and identifiable statement that can allow writers or speakers to build charisma and illuminate irony, paradoxical ideas, or contradicting arguments in a way that makes the concepts streamlined, memorable, and thought-provoking. It can usually be more evident and carry more significance when read on the printed page. e.g. "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." - Albert Einstein

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What Is the Difference between Chiasmus and Antimetabole?

Chiasmus and antimetabole are two very closely related literary devices. Many literary scholars use these terms interchangeably, though each term refers to a different literary device. Scholars generally know that chiasmus occurs when a phrase is repeated, but reversed, to make a point or emphasize an action. Antimetabole is very similar to chiasmus, but the words and grammatical structure must be reversed, since simply reversing the meaning is not enough. Knowing this, scholars may discover that all instances of antimetabole are also chiasmus, but the reverse is not always true.

The definition of chiasmus is a clause that is inversely repeated. The only requirement of a chiastic phrase is that the two clauses within the sentence must have opposite meanings. For instance, Havelock Ellis’s famous quote, “Charm is a woman’s strength, strength is a man’s charm,” is an example of chiasmus only. Here, the meanings in the two clauses are opposite, but the grammatical structure and the wording are different, meaning it cannot be an example of antimetabole.

Antimetabole is defined as a literary device that reverses the word order in a phrase to juxtapose the meaning. One example is Mae West’s catchphrase, “It’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men." Here, the exact same words, grammatical structure, and rhythm are used create the second clause with the opposite meaning. Many scholars view this device as a subcategory of chiasmus because its rules are stricter and very closely defined.

The humorous phrase “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy,” is chiastic only. Here, the comedian switches the sounds and words to make a point. The clauses are rhythmic and grind against each other nicely. Chiastic structure can also be used to reverse entire poems because its definitions and rules are so loose. Judith Vorst gives a good example in her short poem: “Lust is what makes you keep wanting to do it, even when you have no desire to be with each other. Love is what makes you keep wanting to be with each other, even when you have no desire to do it.” Changing the wording puts this verse in the chiastic category.

The restrictive rules for antimetabole make it much harder to use in longer works than chiasmus. Scholars usually save antimetabole for shorter phrases like “Home is where the great are small and the small are great.” Both devices are used to great effect in older works, such as the King James Bible, Shakespeare ’s plays, and Alexander Pope’s poetry. Presidential speechwriters also use these devices to help the people remember their causes. One lasting example of this is John F. Kennedy’s famous phrase “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

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Related Articles

• What Are the Different Uses for Chiasmus?
• What Is a Rhetorical Device?
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• What is Antimetabole?
• What is a Chiasmus?

Discussion Comments

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• By: Smithsonian Institution An example of chiasmus includes Havelock Ellis's quote, "Charm is a woman’s strength, strength is a man’s charm."
• By: kate gabrielle Mae West utilized antimetabole in her catchphrase, “It’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men."
• By: ビッグアップジャパン Presidential speechwriters use chiasmus and antimetabole frequently, including the famous phrase spoken by President John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
• By: Georgios Kollidas William Shakespeare used chiasmus and antimetabole in his plays.
• By: Georgios Kollidas Alexander Pope used both chiasmus and antimetabole in his poetry.