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Anaphora
Epistrophe
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to repeat the same word or word group at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses; from the Greek ana 'repeat' and phero 'to carry'
to repeat the same word or word group at the end of successive phrases or clauses; from the Greek epi 'upon' and strophe 'turning'
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Examples
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Anaphora
Casblanca Film Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. Edmund Burke It is a luxury, it is a privilege, it is an indulgence for those who are at their ease. Winston Churchill We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. Homer Simpson I want to shake off the dust of this one-horse town. I want to explore the world. I want to watch TV in a different time zone. I want to visit strange, exotic malls. |
Epistrophe
Samuel Beckett Where now? Who now? When now? Aetna Life Insurance He's learning fast. Are you earning fast? Shakespeare I'll have my bond! Speak not against my bond! J.F. Kennedy For no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best. George Santayana To the good American many subjects are sacred: sex is sacred, women are sacred, children are sacred, business is sacred, Mason lodges and college clubs are sacred. |
Martin Amis
Donald Trump is le néant. There’s nothing there. No shame, no honor, no conscience, no knowledge, no curiosity, no decorum, no imagination, no wit, no grip, and no nous. Into this spotlessly empty vessel, certain Americans contrive to pour their anger, their resentments, their ambitions, and their hopes.
Barack Obama
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can. It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can. It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
Purpose
Repetition, Rhythm & Memory
Anaphora and epistrophe seek to move the emotions with rhythm and implant into memory the phrases and clauses they repeat. They emphasize effectively because they occur in emphatic locations naturally: first and last positions in clauses - see also hyperbaton.
Figures of music and repetition work well in spoken and written texts. The rhythmic patterns of anaphora and epistrophe push the arguments and audience along in lapping waves. We can even hear Obama's audience caroling 'Yes, we can'.
Figures of music and repetition work well in spoken and written texts. The rhythmic patterns of anaphora and epistrophe push the arguments and audience along in lapping waves. We can even hear Obama's audience caroling 'Yes, we can'.
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Barack Obama, victory speech, Chicago, 2008
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Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns
The actions of the people in this book were both universal and distinctly American. Their migration was a response to an economic and social structure not of their making. They did what humans have done for centuries when life became untenable — what the Pilgrims did under the tyranny of British rule, what the Scotch-Irish did in Oklahoma when the land turned to dust, what the Irish did when there was nothing to eat, what the European Jews did during the spread of Nazism, what the landless in Russia, Italy, China, and elsewhere did when something better across the ocean called to them.
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Usage
Use anaphora and epistrophe to beat out a rhythm: to place ideas in order and to plant memories in minds. Use anaphora and epistrophe artfully in poems, lyrics or any texts we want audiences to remember. Anaphora and epistrophe particularly suit pathos appeals, especially when slowly and determinedly leading toward climax, as in Obama's peroration above and in Eric's song below. See also parallelism.
Eric uses epistrophe to denounce Kyle's mum
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Paramount Pictures, 1999
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Paramount Pictures, 1999
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"Kyle's mom's a bitch! She's a big fat bitch! She's the biggest bitch in the whole wide world! She's a stupid bitch! If there ever was a bitch! She's a bitch to all the boys and girls!" |
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Strunk and White used anaphora and metaphor to describe the difficulty of defining 'style'.
There is no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who thinks clearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocks the door, no inflexible rule by which the young writer may shape his course. He will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.