Anaphora
Anaphora is a literary device where the same word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences. It is used to create emphasis, rhythm, and emotional impact in writing. Anaphora is commonly employed in poetry, speeches, and other forms of literature to draw attention to key ideas and evoke a sense of unity and progression.
5 Key excerpts on "Anaphora"
eBook - ePubA Leader's Guide to Giving a Memorable Speech
How to Deliver a Message and Captivate an Audience
- Donald J. Palmisano(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Skyhorse(Publisher)
...Anaphora is one of my favorite devices and, I suspect, a favorite of many. Anaphora is a rhetorical device you will notice often in speeches once you are familiar with its cadence. It gives emphasis like a chorus in a song, as in a portion of the first sentence of A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. . . And we all recognize these words of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. spoken on August 28, 1963, in Washington, DC: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. And who can forget these words spoken forty years after a heroic epic event: These are the boys of Pointe-du-Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war. President Ronald Reagan said this at Pointe du Hoc in Normandy at the 40th Anniversary of D-Day speaking to the Rangers who survived the perilous climb of Pointe du Hoc despite German machine gun fire raining down on them from the top of the cliff. Another powerful use of Anaphora is by abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison with his words in the inaugural issue of The Liberator in 1831. I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation...
eBook - ePubWriting with Clarity and Style
A Guide to Rhetorical Devices for Contemporary Writers
- Robert A. Harris(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The structure of Anaphora can be shown in a diagram, where the boxes represent the repeated words, and the dashes represent the other words that are not repeated: □——— □——— □———. Often, the word or phrase repeated embodies a concept that the writer desires to emphasize. In the following example, the idea of ignorance or lack of knowledge is stressed. Slowly and grimly they advanced, not knowing what lay ahead, not knowing what they would find at the top of the hill, not knowing that they were so near to the outpost. In the example below, Richard de Bury repeats the word books to maintain focus on the concept of books themselves as he discusses the value of their variety. In books I find the dead as if they were alive; in books I foresee things to come; in books warlike affairs are set forth; from books come forth the laws of peace. Note in the following example how Sir Joshua Reynolds strengthens the idea of presenting an alternative view by repeating the phrase instead of. The wish of the genuine painter must be more extensive: instead of endeavoring to amuse mankind with the minute neatness of his imitations, he must endeavor to improve them by the grandeur of his ideas; instead of seeking praise, by deceiving the superficial sense of the spectator, he must strive for fame by captivating the imagination. Anaphora is highly flexible and can be used with many kinds of construction. An often powerful use is to combine it with climax or with a focusing in or widening out to give a sense of context. Note in the following example how the concept moves from general to specific, while the repetition of the same word maintains thematic commonality. This has been a difficult time for the economy, a difficult time for the retail industry, and a difficult time for our clothing stores. Anaphora can be used with questions that begin with the same word (such as will, did, who, what, when, where, how, why). Even after this victory, several issues remain unresolved...
- Shawn O'Bryhim(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
...Glossary of Terms Anaphora The repetition of a word at the beginning of successive lines or phrases. See lines 121–123. Caesura A break between words within a foot. E.g. | īndĕ || pĕr |. Chiasmus The repetition of a grammatical structure in reverse order. E.g. nunc arbor, puer ante (adverb–noun, noun–adverb). Emphasis The use of a word that has both an obvious and an implicit meaning. Enjambment The continuation of a sentence or clause into the next line, often for emphasis. E.g. fessus in herbosa posuit sua corpora terra | cervus (128–129). Figura etymologica The use of two etymologically related words in close proximity to each other. E.g. voce vocatur. Hapax legomenon A word that occurs only once in the extant records of a language. Hyperbaton The separation of a noun from its adjective by several words. Metonymy The substitution of an attribute or property for a related entity. E.g. the use of “crown” for “king.” Parataxis The avoidance of subordinate clauses in favor of coordinate clauses. Pleonasm The use of more words than is necessary to convey an idea. E.g. muta silentia. Proleptic A reference to something that has not yet occurred. E.g. Pygmalion is called “Paphian hero” before his daughter, Paphos, has been born. Transferred epithet This occurs when an adjective that describes one noun is transferred to another. E.g. copia digna procorum instead of copia dignorum procorum. Tricolon Three parallel words or phrases in immediate succession. E.g. iam iuvenis, iam vir, iam se formosior ipso. Zeugma A rhetorical device in which a literal and a figurative meaning are linked. E.g. hanc [ feminam ] simul et legem Rhodopeius accipit heros....
eBook - ePubUnderstanding Public Speaking
A Learner's Guide to Persuasive Oratory
- Braj Mohan(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge India(Publisher)
...This strategy is used for enhancing and elaborating the issue and for emoting and motivating the audience. Martin Luther King Junior used Anaphora in repeating the clause “I have a dream” so successfully that his speech was named after it and has been ranked first in the survey of American Rhetoric. Jones and Wareing argue that “repeating certain phrases contributes towards making the idea contained in them seem ‘common sense’” (1999:39). In long speeches, this repetition can be used to hold the speech together and to emphasize moral values (Beard 2000:39). Please note the following lines from the speech of Martin Luther King Junior. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., 8 August 1963 Richard Dowis (2000) places special stress on a variety of Anaphora called rhetorical triad, also called a three-part list. A rhetorical triad is the expression of related thoughts or ideas in a group of three, often with the initial words or sounds the same for all three (Dowis 2000:17). According to Charteris-Black (2005), the first part is supposed to initiate an argument, the second part emphasizes or responds to the first and the third part reinforces the first two. Thus, the third part of the list indicates that the argument has been completed and assists the audience by suggesting when it is appropriate to applaud (Charteris-Black 2005:6). 7. Anadiplosis Anadiplosis is also a figure of repetition...
eBook - ePubSpanish contemporary poetry
An anthology
- Diana Cullell(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Manchester University Press(Publisher)
...List of rhetorical and metrical terms alliteration: the repetition of the same sound in two or more words in close succession. allusion: a brief reference to a person, event, object or play for symbolic meaning. anadiplosis: the repetition of the last word of a clause or phrase at the beginning of the next clause or phrase. Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a sequence of clauses or lines. antithesis: the opposition or contrast of ideas in a parallel construction or clause. aphorism: a concise statement embodying a general truth or principle. apostrophe: a turn from the general audience to address a person, thing or abstract idea that might be absent or present. asyndeton: the omission of conjunctions or connecting particles in a line to make it more dynamic. caesura: a break in a line of poetry. ellipsis: the suppression of words in a line (without altering the meaning) to make it more lively, energetic or forceful. encomium: an expression of eulogy and praise. enjambment: the continuation of a sentence or clause beyond the end of a line without a punctuated pause. epanalepsis: the repetition of a word at the beginning and at the end of a line. epigraph: a quotation at the beginning of a composition that sets the tone or suggests a...
