Chiasmus is a type of parallelism that reverses the order of elements in a sentence. Consider the following formulas.
Parallelism
Formula | Example | A | B | A | B |
AB AB | He gratefully accepted the money and quickly ran to the store. | gratefully | accepted | quickly | ran |
Chiasmus
Formula | Example | A | B | B | A |
AB BA | He gratefully accepted the money and ran to the store quickly. | gratefully | accepted | ran | quickly |
Chiasmus offers an alternative route to balance your sentence. To use it strategically, you should identify the most important element of your sentence, and place it at the end for emphasis. Remember, the last part of a sentence always carries the most weight. For example, which of these two sentences sounds stronger?
a) Cassie smiles at the children, but she screams at the kittens.
b) Cassie smiles at the children, but at the kittens she screams.
Sentence b (chiasmus) sounds stronger than sentence a (parallelism) for a couple of reasons. First, the rhythm of the sentence is such that the last syllable receives a strong accent. Second, it places the important element (she screams) at the end. Say the sentences aloud and you can feel the differences.
Parallelism
AB AB | A | B | A | B |
Cassie smiles at the children, but she screams at the kittens. | smiles | at the children | screams | at the kittens |
Chiasmus
AB BA | A | B | B | A |
Cassie smiles at the children, but at the kittens she screams. | smiles | at the children | at the kittens | screams |
Try using chiasmus to change these parallelisms. Have fun! Sometimes alternative routes are more amusing than standard routes.
1. Please take the trash out tonight and vacuum the rugs tomorrow morning.
2. When Tiffany visits her mother, she feels happy. However, when she spends time with her dad, she feels sad.
3. Brush your teeth before you go to bed, and wash your face when you wake up.
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