Wow, great sentence. I completely agree with your analysis. What I also liked is the way the parenthetical is added, with commas instead of ems or dashes, so that the parenthetical is softly rather than harshly interjected, and its creation through two parts, 'no doubt with hopes,' and 'for who can prevent the human heart from hoping,' which pauses the thought a second time as the thinker adds contemplatively to his/her own first thought. The parenthetical also has the strongest use of sound - alliteration and polyptoton - while the rest of the sentence uses balance and series. Because of this, the parenthetical has more feel of voice than analysis or observation. All the hope is parenthetical. I'm not sure if I consider the sentence to be the context and the parenthetical the thought or the parenthetical is the real context and the sentence is just a thought.
I too love polyptoton, because how can one help loving a variation on a theme and a musical misalignment and the joy of not-exactly-repeating? I think I love polysyndeton too -- and getting to know these terms through your posts! Thank you.
It's an amazing sentence. And so difficult to emulate. I had a try, and I know I haven't followed the pattern exactly, but I did attempt to put the focus on the parenthetical, and use some alliteration and polyptodon. Love these terms. Here's my sentence:
I clung to my faith, for such faith was a given, a faith instilled in me by my parents, stemming from their own desperate need to believe, in the great and glorious and dazzling destiny that would open up before me any day now.
Wow, great sentence. I completely agree with your analysis. What I also liked is the way the parenthetical is added, with commas instead of ems or dashes, so that the parenthetical is softly rather than harshly interjected, and its creation through two parts, 'no doubt with hopes,' and 'for who can prevent the human heart from hoping,' which pauses the thought a second time as the thinker adds contemplatively to his/her own first thought. The parenthetical also has the strongest use of sound - alliteration and polyptoton - while the rest of the sentence uses balance and series. Because of this, the parenthetical has more feel of voice than analysis or observation. All the hope is parenthetical. I'm not sure if I consider the sentence to be the context and the parenthetical the thought or the parenthetical is the real context and the sentence is just a thought.
I too love polyptoton, because how can one help loving a variation on a theme and a musical misalignment and the joy of not-exactly-repeating? I think I love polysyndeton too -- and getting to know these terms through your posts! Thank you.
It's an amazing sentence. And so difficult to emulate. I had a try, and I know I haven't followed the pattern exactly, but I did attempt to put the focus on the parenthetical, and use some alliteration and polyptodon. Love these terms. Here's my sentence:
I clung to my faith, for such faith was a given, a faith instilled in me by my parents, stemming from their own desperate need to believe, in the great and glorious and dazzling destiny that would open up before me any day now.