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1. Investigating Structure 57
surer results by looking at the meaning of the passage in question and
asking about the sequence of thought, the purpose of the arrangement
and so on.
Structure and Probability
Many works on structure seem to assume that any regular structure
that is discovered is likely to be significant and intended by the
author/editor. It has been demonstrated above, that coincidences are
quite likely to occur. We may make some further remarks on the
probability that a regular structure is intentionally so.
1. Given a unit in which we detect four elements aabb, there are
only three distinct ways of arranging them:
aabb abab abba (bbaa, baba, baab are the same)
It is obvious, then, that wherever two pairs of elements can be
discovered there is a one in three chance of finding a chiastic abba
structure. If it is absolutely clear that the a's and b's are intended to
correspond to each other, then we should still say that the author had a
concern for structure. If, as is often the case, the correspondence of
the a's and/or the b's is doubtful, then the proposed chiasmus is likely
to be worthless.
2. If we find aabbcc, then there will be twelve distinct combinations.
I list them below, together with ways of arguing that they form
regular structures.
1 aabbcc Three parallel pairs (= bbaacc etc., aaccbb)
2 ababcc Two parallel pairs (Put ab = x —> xxcc)
3 abacbc Two chiasmuses with corresponding centres
4 abaccb Basically bccb with the first b also made the centre of a chiasmus
5 abbacc Chiasmus plus a parallel pair
6 abbcac Similar to 4: abb(c)a(c)
7 abbcca Inclusio with two parallel pairs
8 abcabc Repeated three line sequence
9 abcbac Chiasmus abcba with centre repeated
10 abcbca Chiasmus ayya (y = be)
11 abccab xccx (cf. 2 above)
12 abccba Chiasmus
Thus it is more difficult to produce an arrangement which is in no
sense chiastic than it is to produce a chiasmus of some sort. Moreover,