Tactical Purpose
A writer uses a periodic sentence when he/she is trying to create suspense in their writing because the reader would have to wait for the end of the sentence to reveal what the sentence is about. This would put the reader on edge and deepen the reader's connection to the text. Usually the writer would use a periodic sentence during the climax or a big reveal to eager the reader on what to come or satisfy their rising action.
The writer is also able to use a periodic sentence as a persuasive tool by stating all of the evidence before getting to the final idea. This allows for flexibility when a writer is trying to use the periodic sentence, and can be used to create different scenarios, all with different depth. Although the use of the periodic sentence is rare, writers can elevate their work with the various uses of the periodic sentence.
Steps for analysis
Reader must read the sentence and find what the author is trying to point out with the periodic syntax.
a. Find the verb at the end and subject at the start of the sentence
The reader must look for words that the author might've used to make the reader think about a certain point.
a. Find words that solidify the emphasis the writer is trying to build up to
Finally the reader must identify the dependent and independent clauses, and analyze what effect the author was trying to extract from the reader, like anxiousness, fearfulness, excitement, or hopefulness.
a. The reader must reflect on how the sentence(s) made them feel and look back at how the writer made the feeling happen
Example from The United States' Constitution:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
"The Constitution of the United States." 17 Sept. 1787. National Archives, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript. Accessed 6 Sept. 2022.
Literary Analysis
The United States’ constitution is one of the most important documents to ever exist in American history because it established how the government should operate for the people instead of one ruler. The Constitutional Convention started with a simple unifying subject which allows for the citizens of the United States to feel relevant to the document. The convention then goes on to list the reasons which they are writing the document by using concrete words like “more perfect” and “insure.” These specific words were chosen by the convention to make the citizens feel doubtless whether the document will provide what the convention is promising.
During the time the Constitution was being drafted there had been multiple rebellions and divisions of ideas spurring out everyday. The indecisiveness of the states led to the creation of the Constitutional Convention and the constitution. The convention knew that this document would need to unite people on all fronts to assure the nation could thrive and thus chose to reveal the verbs, “ordain and establish” the constitution until the end because the reader can build up to what will provide all the great, promised policies. The convention hoped to sound resolved by keeping the verb until the end and the subject at the start because they knew this would be a foundation to what the United States would become.