Chiasmus Examples: Reverse Structure for Impact

What is Chiasmus?

Chiasmus reverses the structure of parallel clauses. The second phrase mirrors the first in reverse order, creating an ABBA pattern.

The formula: A-B // B-A structure with related concepts

Example: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." (JFK)

• First half: what country can do for you (A-B)
• Second half: what you can do for country (B-A)
• Pattern: Reversal creates emphasis

What's NOT chiasmus:

• Simple repetition ("I came, I saw, I conquered")
• Antithesis without reversal ("To be or not to be")
• Unrelated reversals ("I like cats. Dogs like me.")

Types of Chiasmus by Structure

Simple Reversal

Two elements swap positions.

Example: "Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you."

• A = fool
• B = kiss
• Pattern: fool kiss // kiss fool

Conceptual Reversal

Related ideas reverse, not identical words.

Example: "Love without end, and without measure Grace." (Milton)

• A = love/grace (related virtues)
• B = without end/without measure (related infinities)
• Pattern: virtue infinity // infinity virtue

Extended Reversal

Multiple elements create a complex pattern.

Example: "Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure." (Byron)

• A = pleasure
• B = sin
• Pattern: A is B, and sometimes B is A
• Effect: Complete moral inversion

Chiasmus vs Antimetabole

These terms confuse students. Here's the difference.

Antimetabole

A specific TYPE of chiasmus that repeats the same words in reverse.

Example: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

• Same words: going/tough repeated
• Perfect reversal
• This IS both chiasmus AND antimetabole

Chiasmus (broader)

Can use related concepts in reverse, not just identical words.

Example: "His time a moment, and a point his space." (Alexander Pope)

• Related concepts: time/space, moment/point
• Reversed structure
• This IS chiasmus but NOT antimetabole (different words)

How to Identify Chiasmus While Reading

Step 1: Look for Parallel Phrases

Two balanced phrases or clauses, usually connected by a conjunction or punctuation.

Example: "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us." (Churchill)

Step 2: Check for Reversal

Do the key elements swap positions? Map it out.

Churchill example:

• First: we shape buildings
• Second: buildings shape us
• Reversal: subject and object swap

Step 3: Verify Related Concepts

The reversed elements must be related or connected thematically.

Not chiasmus: "I like pizza. Cars drive fast."

• Unrelated concepts
• No meaningful reversal

Is chiasmus: "I like what I eat; I eat what I like."

• Related concepts (liking and eating)
• Meaningful reversal

Step 4: Test the Impact

Does the reversal emphasize a point or create memorability? If removing the reversal weakens the impact, it's an effective chiasmus.

How to Use Chiasmus in Your Writing

Step 1: Identify Your Core Relationship

What two elements do you want to reverse?

Examples:

• Cause and effect
• Subject and object
• Action and reaction
• Means and ends

Step 2: Create the First Phrase

Write your idea in natural order.

Example: "We shape our tools"

Step 3: Reverse It

Flip the subject and object (or main elements).

Example: "Then our tools shape us"

Step 4: Connect Smoothly

Add transitions or conjunctions to link the phrases naturally.

Final: "We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us."

Step 5: Test for Impact

Read it aloud. Does the reversal feel satisfying? Does it emphasize your point? If not, adjust.

When to Use Chiasmus

In Persuasive Writing

Create memorable statements that stick with readers.

Example: "Don't sweat the small stuff, and most stuff is small."

In Poetry

Add musicality and structural elegance.

Example: "His time a moment, and a point his space."

In Speeches

Make quotable phrases that audiences remember.

Example: "It's not about your circumstances; it's about your circumstances about you."

In Arguments

Emphasize logical relationships through reversal.

Example: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Famous Chiasmus Examples from Speeches

Politicians use chiasmus to create quotable, memorable statements.

Presidential Speeches

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address (1961): "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

The reversal:

• A = what [subject] can do
• B = for [object]
• Pattern: A B // B A
• Effect: Flips responsibility from country to you = you to country

Barack Obama, 2008 New Hampshire Primary: "We have been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."

The reversal:

• A = false
• B = hope
• Pattern: "false hope" = "false about hope" (reverses relationship)
• Effect: Reclaims "hope" from criticism

Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Address (1860): "Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."

The reversal:

• Traditional saying: "Might makes right"
• Lincoln's reversal: "Right makes might"
• Effect: Moral authority over physical force

Civil Rights Movement

Mae West: "It's not the men in your life that count, it's the life in your men."

The reversal:

• A = men
• B = life
• Pattern: "men in life" = "life in men"
• Effect: Substance over quantity

Socrates (attributed): "Eat to live, not live to eat."

The reversal:

• A = eat
• B = live
• Pattern: A B // B A (perfect reversal)
• Effect: Purpose vs excess

Chiasmus Examples from Literature

Writers use chiasmus for poetic balance and emphasis.

Shakespeare

"Othello": "Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves."

The reversal:

• A = dotes (loves blindly)
• B = doubts
• Then reverses: suspects (doubts) // loves
• Effect: Shows contradiction in jealous love

"Macbeth": "Fair is foul, and foul is fair."

The reversal:

• A = fair
• B = foul
• Pattern: A is B // B is A
• Effect: Nothing is what it seems; witches invert morality

"Much Ado About Nothing": "Serve God, love me, and mend." Followed later by: "I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes."

The reversal:

• A = live in the heart
• B = die in lap
• Pattern reverses life/death imagery
• Effect: Love encompasses both life and death

Classic Literature

John Milton, "Paradise Lost": "Adam, first of men, / To first of women, Eve."

The reversal:

• A = first of men
• B = Adam
• Then: first of women // Eve
• Effect: Parallel creation, equal importance

Alexander Pope. "An Essay on Criticism": "The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, / And wretches hang that jurymen may dine."

The reversal:

• A = judges' sign
• B = jurymen dine
• Pattern: Legal duty reversed with selfish motive
• Effect: Justice corrupted by hunger

Samuel Johnson: "By day the frolic, and the dance by night."

The reversal:

• A = day
• B = frolic/dance
• Pattern: time activity/activity time
• Effect: Endless pleasure cycle

Modern Writers

Mae West: "When women go wrong, men go right after them."

The reversal:

• A = women go wrong
• B = men go right
• Pattern: "go wrong" // "go right" (but with twist)
• Effect: Wordplay on moral/directional meanings

Common Mistakes with Chiasmus

Mistake #1: Calling Every Reversal Chiasmus

Not chiasmus: "I went to the store. The store I went to."

• Just awkward rephrasing
• No rhetorical purpose

Is chiasmus: "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Rock landed on us." (Malcolm X)

• Reverses actor/acted upon
• Creates powerful meaning shift

Mistake #2: Forgetting the Related Concepts Rule

Wrong: "Dogs bark. Trees grow tall."

• Reverses sentence order but concepts unrelated
• Not chiasmus

Right: "You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl."

• Related concepts throughout
• Meaningful reversal

Mistake #3: Confusing with Antithesis

Antithesis: Parallel contrast without reversal

• "To be or not to be"
• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

Chiasmus: Reversal pattern

• "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"

Key difference: Chiasmus flips the structure; antithesis just contrasts.

Downloadable Resource

The Bottom Line

Chiasmus transforms balance into memorability through reversal. The ABBA pattern creates satisfying symmetry while emphasizing relationships between concepts.

The best chiasmus feels inevitable, like the second half must follow the first. Structure and meaning mirror each other, making ideas impossible to forget.

Master chiasmus, and you master memorable phrasing. Whether writing speeches, essays, or poetry, strategic reversal creates impact.

Want more structural techniques? Explore our complete literary devices guide with examples.