Which device is demonstrated by the sentence: But all you have to do is knock on any door and say, 'If you let me in, I'll live the way you want me to live, and I'll think the way you want me to think, and all the blinds'll go up and all the windows will open and you'll never be lonely ever again'?

Which device is demonstrated by the sentence: But all you have to do is knock on any door and say, 'If you let me in, I'll live the way you want me to live, and I'll think the way you want me to think, and all the blinds'll go up and all the windows will open and you'll never be lonely ever again'?

• A. Anaphora
• B. Parataxis
• C. Polysyndeton
• D. Metonymy

Answer: (C)

Polysyndeton is the device shown here: the sentence chains together a long sequence of actions with the repeated conjunction and. Each item—knock on any door and say, I’ll live the way you want me to live, and I’ll think the way you want me to think, and all the blinds’ll go up and all the windows will open and you’ll never be lonely again—is joined by and, piling up the elements and creating a steady, insistent rhythm. This buildup emphasizes the promises and the sense of inevitability or pressure behind them. This isn’t anaphora, which would repeat the same word at the start of successive clauses, or parataxis, which would present clauses in sequence with little or no conjunctions. It also isn’t metonymy, which would substitute one thing for another related thing.

Polysyndeton is the device shown here: the sentence chains together a long sequence of actions with the repeated conjunction and. Each item—knock on any door and say, I’ll live the way you want me to live, and I’ll think the way you want me to think, and all the blinds’ll go up and all the windows will open and you’ll never be lonely again—is joined by and, piling up the elements and creating a steady, insistent rhythm. This buildup emphasizes the promises and the sense of inevitability or pressure behind them.

This isn’t anaphora, which would repeat the same word at the start of successive clauses, or parataxis, which would present clauses in sequence with little or no conjunctions. It also isn’t metonymy, which would substitute one thing for another related thing.