ENG401B.1002//James L’Angelle//University of Nevada, Reno//Dr. L. Olman//07 Sept 2020
Para/Hypotaxis: Cambodian Incursion Address, President Richard M. Nixon, 30 April 1970
Parataxis: "defined as a rhetorical term in which phrases and clauses are placed one after another independently, without coordinating or subordinating them through the use of conjunctions." (https://literarydevices.net/parataxis/)
"And now, let me give you the reasons for my decision. A majority of the American people, a majority of you listening to me are for the withdrawal of our forces from Vietnam. The action I have taken tonight is indispensable for the continuing success of that withdrawal program. A majority of the American people want to end this war rather than to have it drag on interminably. The action I have taken tonight will serve that purpose. A majority of the American people want to keep the casualties of our brave men in Vietnam at an absolute minimum. The action I take tonight is essential if we are to accomplish that goal."
Not only does the president connect a string of sentences in short, staccato method to emphasize a sense of confident decision making, he utilizes repetitive phrases with parallelism, in doing so;
"a majority of the American people," "a majority of you listening," "a majority of the American people," and "the action I have taken tonight," "the action I take tonight."
"Parallelism becomes an especially strong adhesive device when a structure echoes a structure from a previous sentence or paragraph." (Kolln, Gray, 153)
The paragraph also uses repetition;
"The repetition of words from one sentence to another is an obvious cohesive link, one that logically occurs in a paragraph on a particular topic." (142)
The particular paragraph from the president's speech doesn't quite fit a strict definition of parataxis with respect to "clauses and phrases" but does so by the concise order in which the sentences are placed. In addition, the president speaks in the first person and briefly addresses his audience in the second person. The verb changes from "have taken" to "take" indicate the deliberative mode of his action.
Hypotaxis: "subordination of one clause to another, or when the clauses are coordinated or subordinated to one another within sentences." (https://literarydevices.net/hypotaxis/)
"The question all Americans must ask and answer tonight is this: Does the richest and strongest nation in the history of the world have the character to meet a direct challenge by a group which rejects every effort to win a just peace, ignores our warning, tramples on solemn agreements, violates the neutrality of an unarmed people, and uses our prisoners as hostages? If we fail to meet this challenge, all other nations will be on notice that despite its overwhelming power the United States when a real crisis comes will be found wanting."
Again parallel structure reveals the antithesis of the "richest and strongest nation in the history of the world" as opposed to the "group" that "ignores, tramples and violates."
As defined in Rhetorical Grammar, antithesis is;
"the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel" (133)
One might draw the conclusion from the above that para- and hypo- taxis are subordinate to other syntactic structures such as parallelism, repetition and antithesis in order to achieve the intended results.
Cited:
Nixon on Cambodia, https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/richardnixoncambodia.html
Kolln, M., Gray, L., Rhetorical Grammar, 8th Edition, 2016, Pearson, Boston
ENG401B.1002//James L’Angelle//University of Nevada, Reno//Dr. L. Olman//07 Sept 2020