Stylistic classification of the english vocabulary

h) Climax (Gradation)

Climax presents a structure in which every successive sentence or phrase (new concept) is emotionally stronger or logically more important than the preceding one. E.g.:

1. 
   "For that one instant there was no one else in the room, in the house, in the world, besides themselves..." (Wilson)
   
2. 
   It was a lovely city, a beautiful city, a fair city.
   
3. 
   The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed, -
   

The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasu­res

Whose charms were broken if revealed. (Ch.Bronte)

Correspondingly, in the third example each word of the structural unit coming one after the other (the tho­ughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures) is understood to be more convincing in the revealing the author's idea.

Such an organization of the utterance creates a gra­dual intensification of its significance, both the logical and emotive and attracts the reader's attention more com­pletely.

Of course, there are no objective linguistic criteria to estimate the degree of importance or significance of each constituent. It is only the analysis of synonym that helps us to feel the increase.

There is also a case when every successive part of a climax is expressed by a word presenting a less significant concept, so that instead of increase there is a certain dec­rease of logical importance and emotion:

"No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass...that was not owned". (Galsworthy)

A gradual increase in significance may be maintained in three ways; logical, emotional and quantitative.

Logical climax is based on the use of a successive unit which is stronger than the preceding one from the point of view of its meaning:

"Threaten him, imprison him, torture him, kill him; you will never induce him to betray his country".

The word "kill" is the strongest in meaning among all these contextual synonyms.

Emotional climax is based on the relative emo­tional tension produced by words of emotional meaning.

Your son is very ill - seriously ill - despera­tely ill.

Of course, emotional climax, based on synonymous words with emotional meaning will cause certain semantic differences in these words - such is the linguistic nature of stylistic synonyms, but emotional meaning will be the prevailing one. Here is another example:

"He was pleased when the child began to adventure across floors on hand and knees; ne was gratified, when she managed the trick of balancing herself on two legs; he was delighted when she first said "ta-ta", and he was rejoiced when she recognized him and smiled at him". (Alan Paton)

Very often every successive member of a climax is a natural logical consequence of the preceding one:

"I swear to God I never saw the beat of this winter. More snow, more cold, more sickness, more death". (M. Wilson)

Quantitative climax presupposes the use of hyperbole:

1. 
   "Farmers' wives who had strength, endu­rance and energy of locomotives and the appetites of dinosaurs". (B. Macdonald)
   
2. 
   "They looked at hundreds of houses; they climbed thousands of stairs; they inspected in­numerable kitchens". (S. Maugham)
   

Climax like many other stylistic devices, is a means by which the author discloses his world outlook.

The main syntactical pattern of climax consists of a clause or sentences based on lexical repetition.

The stylistic function of this stylistic device is to show the importance of things in the utterance, to show the significance of things described and to show the dyna­mic development of the same process.