English Literature GCSE
Chiasmus
What Chiasmus means in English Literature GCSE, as defined for Eduqas, OCR.
Definitions of Chiasmus
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
A rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by reversing their structures. In Sonnet 18, 'So long lives this, and this gives life to thee' is chiasmic.
A rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order.
Topics that use Chiasmus
- Excerpt from The Prelude (Eduqas GCSE)
- Sonnet 18 (OCR GCSE)
Related terms
- Oxymoron
- Personification
- Deictic Demonstrative
- Enjambment
- Eternalising Metaphor
- Extended Metaphor
- Iambic Pentameter
- Petrarchan Blazon
Using Chiasmus in the exam
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