Talk:Chiastic structure

Merge?

The following discussion is closed and will soon be archived.

Perhaps this article should be merged with Chiasmus? 128.151.130.160 18:14, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I don't think so. They both derive their name from Chi, and are similar in some respects, but they are different. Chiasmus, especially in its classical sense. It is narrower and used only for emphsis as opposed to drawing attention to a specific point. E=MC^2 T@lk

Need example

Resolved

This article is pretty worthless. Could it maybe give an example of what chiastic structure looks like? I mean an actual example, not "ABBA" or something cryptic like that.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.255.8.109 (talk • contribs) 22:09, 19 October 2006 (UTC).

An example is:

Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country

The second sentence is an inverse of the first sentence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.211.198.34 (talk) 20:39, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Example book

I removed this unwikiformatted text from the article, added by 89.128.208.101 on 15:48, 30 March 2007 (UTC):

Example: Book of Jonah

A. God’s message to the prophet — Grace for Nineveh (1:1.2) B. God uses forces of the nature to redirect His servant (1:3–13.17) b1. God uses the great wind (1:4)

	b2. God uses the great fish (1:17)

C. The repentance of the sailors (1:14–16)

   	c1. God’s intervention on behalf of the sailors (1:15)

c2. Prayer to the Lord (1:14)

   	c3. Sacrifice and promises — ceremonial elements (1:16)   

D. Jonah’s repentance and God’s recommission ( 2:1 – 3:4) D1. Changing of mind (2:1–9) D2. The God of the second chance(2:10–3:2).

The core of the book: 3:1 “the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time”

D1’ Changing of doings (3:3.4) C.’ The repentance of the Nineveh’s people (3:5–10)

   	c3.’ Feast and humbleness — ceremonial elements (3:5–7)
   	c2.’ Prayer to the Lord (3:8.9)

c1.’ God’s intervention on behalf of the Ninevites (3:10)

B’. God uses forces of the nature to redirect His servant (4:5–8)

b2’. God uses the little worm (4:7)

b1’. God uses the hot wind (4:8)

A’. God’s message to the prophet — Grace for Nineveh (4:10.11)ESG.MA iR

---

"The Literary Structure of the Old Testament: A Commentary on Genesis — Malachi" by David A. Dorsey is a great resource for more information on chiastic structures.

-- JHunterJ 11:24, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Music

I would like to see something in here about it's use in music. A piece is cyclical if it uses the same material at the beginning and the end, like in the Mozart Requiem, but chiastic can be used as a musical devise if something is built with a palindrome like structure. This occurs in the Faure Requiem when the structure is presented in the following way:

1. Introit and Kyrie - SATB choir 2. Offetory - baritone and choir 3. Sactus - SATB choir 4. Pie Jesu - Soprano Solo 5. Agnus Dei - SATB choir 6. Libera Me - baritone and choir 7. In Paradisum - SATB choir

--Barber86 (talk) 15:56, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Observation

I have no idea what this article is talking about. I came here wondering what "ring structure" in a narrative meant. This needs to be explained in layman's terms, especially the first paragraph.

Hearthmoon (talk) 02:07, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

• I see your point. No promises, but I'll try to take a look later, although I'm not a linguist. Feline Hymnic (talk) 07:57, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

• • @Hearthmoon: I've just edited the opening of the article. I hope the opening is clearer, without losing accuracy. Feline Hymnic (talk) 12:36, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Al-Baqara

He could never have a design plan in place for the Qur’an because the revelation of many of its verses depended on events that were out of his control.

Our observation of the element of design in this Surah must lead to the inevitable conclusion that the tradition of its composition over many years is obviously mistaken.

And what could be the purpose of such a design? Only to ease recitation (indeed, recitation is what Qur'an literally means). Then why must we cling to the tradition of it being received by prophetic dictation? Doesn't it instead give every indication of having been an oral text communicating large portions of another unwritten epos, a kind of Arabic Al-Injīl? Nuttyskin (talk) 00:15, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

The Verse of the Throne

"The verse contains 9 sentences which exhibit chiasmus" Do you mean in each one, or over the entire verse? The latter is more likely, but only roughly. Anyway, this should be explained. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:7081:5D07:E706:5453:F2A4:4AE9:F9D3 (talk) 23:33, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

Discussion of the chiastic structure in the Harry Potter series

I came across this discussion of the use of the device in the Harry Potter series:

• Shaw, Angel (2024-08-13). "This Moment In The Harry Potter Books Was Way More Important Than I Ever Realized". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-08-17.

I then further searched & found some other citations:

• Granger, John (2024-01-22). "19. The Story Turn: Parallels in the Pivotal Texts of Harry Potter and Cormoran Strike". In Whited, Lana A. (ed.). The Ivory Tower, Harry Potter, and Beyond: More Essays on the Works of J. K. Rowling. University of Missouri Press. pp. 325–340. ISBN 978-0-8262-7496-0. OCLC 1417470005. Retrieved 2024-08-17 – via Project MUSE. It is available via the WP:Wikipedia Library at muse-jhu-edu.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/pub/254/edited_volume/chapter/3745161
• Groves, Beatrice (2017). Literary Allusion in Harry Potter. Abingdon, Oxon : New York: Routledge. pp. 8–9, 16, 136, 138, 139–140. doi:10.4324/9781315269337. ISBN 978-1-315-26933-7. OCLC 1110588373.
• Lee, J. Steve (2011). "There and Back Again: The Chiastic Structure of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series". In Prinzi, Travis (ed.). Harry Potter for Nerds: Essays for Fans, Academics, and Lit Geeks. Unlocking Press. ISBN 978-0-9829633-2-6. OCLC 808682358.

Given the popularity of the Harry Potter series, perhaps someone who has an interest & access to the sources will want to take this Quidditch ball & score with it, metaphorically speaking. Peaceray (talk) 17:54, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

Onion rings?

At 1:32, 9 Dec 2019, OukBeta2020 added an uncited reference to the "onion-ring" chiastic structure. Is this a real term or their idea of a joke? Searches have only brought up a few webpages that lifted the text directly from this Wikipedia article.

The sole reason I didn't just go ahead and delete it as vandalism is that the rest of OukBeta's edits on 9 Dec 2019 appear to be in good faith and accurate. Is anyone familiar with this term being used in literary criticism? 2600:100A:B1C3:DA2E:0:27:6CCD:5601 (talk) 16:42, 19 September 2024 (UTC)

I removed it, as there is no mention of "onion-ring compositions" in the body of the article, either. Peaceray (talk) 22:50, 19 September 2024 (UTC)