Balance & Opposition
Chiasmus
Reversing the order of corresponding elements in two phrases or clauses: A–B, then B–A. When the same words repeat in reverse order, the pattern is also antimetabole.
"Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country." — JFK
Don't confuse it with Antimetabole. Antimetabole reverses the *same words*; chiasmus may invert grammar or concepts without exact lexical repetition.
Examples
She smiled with patience; with fury he shouted.
Subject and action precede the manner phrase in the first clause; that order reverses in the second.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as chiasmus.
Anaphora 13 Polysyndeton 8 Antithesis 6 Metaphor 6 Passive Voice 5 Parallelism 5 Parataxis 5 Synecdoche 4
The rest of the family
Antithesis Parallelism Isocolon Antimetabole Juxtaposition Oxymoron Paradox