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Repetition
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a discursive strategy that emphasizes key points and seeks to implant them in audience memory
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Example
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if there's... (3)
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America (10)
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... states (11)
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hope (13)
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belief (5)
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If you don't repeat, you can't compete.
Purpose
Repetition is a strategy or scheme rather than a figure of speech. But many figures and literary devices repeat content. Repetition takes three main forms:
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Repeat Words or Structures
For example, anaphora and epistrophe, antithesis and chiasmus, parallelism and isocolon, rhyme |
For example, rhetorical questions, thesis statements, epimone - repeating a plea with similar words
Usage
- Repeat to be remembered: Audiences remember better repeated terms, patterns and structures.
- Repeat to be believed and understood: Audiences more likely believe messages they hear repeatedly. Politicians repeat. Advertisers repeat. Warnings repeat. Teachers repeat.
- Repeat to frame issues: Repeat main issues, problems, message, etc. Repetition 'frames' how people think about and remember things.
- Repeat to cement ideas: Messages that repeat help stick texts together:
- Advertisements repeat the message throughout
- Speeches repeat ideas throughout and amplify them at the end
- Essays give a thesis statement at the start, develop it in the middle and repeat it at the end
Tell the audience what you're going to say, say it; then tell them what you've said.
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This advert follows Carnegie's advice and repeats 'the prices are down' message throughout.
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In Something Fresh, P.G. Wodehouse captures the 'efficient' and 'pottering' essences of two characters through repetition.
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I was in England again a
few weeks ago, mostly in small towns, but here's some of what I noticed:
* Almost everyone is very polite
* The food is generally outstanding
* There are no guns
* There are too many narrow stairs
* Everything is just a little bit different
* The pubs close too early
* The reason they drive on the left is because all
their cars are built backwards
* Pubs are not bars, they are community living
rooms.
* You'd better like peas, potatoes and sausage
* Refrigerators and washing machines are very small
* Everything is generally older, smaller and
shorter
* People don't seem to be afraid of their neighbors
or the government
* Their paper money makes sense, the coins don't
* Everyone has a washing machine but driers are
rare
* Hot and cold water faucets. Remember them?
* Pants are called "trousers", underwear
are "pants" and sweaters are "jumpers"
* The bathroom light is a string hanging from the
ceiling
* "Fanny" is a naughty word, as is
"shag"
* All the signs are well designed with beautiful
typography and written in full sentences with proper grammar.
* There's no dress code
* Doors close by themselves, but they don't always
open
* They eat with their forks upside down
* The English are as crazy about their gardens as
Americans are about cars
* They don't seem to use facecloths or napkins or
maybe they’re just less messy than we are
* The wall outlets all have switches, some don't do
anything
* There are hardly any cops or police cars
* 5,000 year ago, someone arranged a lot of rocks all
over, but no one is sure why
* When you do see police they seem to be in male
& female pairs and often smiling
* Black people are just people: they didn't quite
do slavery here
* Everything comes with chips, which are French
Fries. You put vinegar on them
* Cookies are "biscuits" and potato chips
are "crisps"
* HP sauce is better than catsup
* Obama is considered a hero, Bush is considered an
idiot.
* After fish and chips, curry is the most popular
food
* The water controls in showers need detailed instructions
* They will boil anything
* Folks don't always lock their bikes
* It's not unusual to see people dressed different
and speaking different languages
* Your electronic devices will work fine with just
a plug adapter
* Nearly everyone is better educated then we are
* If someone buys you a drink you must do the same
* There are no guns
* Look right, walk left. Again; look right, walk
left. You're welcome.
* Avoid British wine and French beer
* It's not that hard to eat with the fork in your
left hand with a little practice. If you don't, everyone knows you're an
American
* Many of the roads are the size of our sidewalks
* There's no AC
* Instead of turning the heat up, you put on a
jumper
* Gas is "petrol", it costs about $6 a
gallon and is sold by the liter
* If you speed on a motorway, you get a ticket.
Period. Always
* You don't have to tip, really!
* Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall really are
different countries
* Only 14% of Americans have a passport, almost
everyone in the UK does
* You pay the price marked on products because the
taxes (VAT) are built in
* Walking is the national pastime
* Their TV looks and sounds much better than ours
* They took the street signs down during WWII, but
haven't put them all back up yet
* Everyone enjoys a good joke
* There are no guns
* Dogs are very well behaved and welcome everywhere
* There are no window screens
* You can get on a bus and end up in Paris
* Everyone knows more about our history then we do
* Radio is still a big deal. The BBC is quite good
* The newspapers can be awful
* Everything costs the same but our money is worth
less so you have to add 50% to the price to figure what you're paying
* Beer comes in large, completely filled, actual
pint glasses and the closer the brewery the better the beer
* Butter and eggs aren't refrigerated
* The beer isn't warm, each style is served at the
proper temperature
* Cider (alcoholic) is quite good.
* Excess cider consumption can be very painful.
* The universal greeting is "Cheers"
(pronounced "cheeahz" unless you are from Cornwall, in which case
it's "chairz")
* The money is easy to understand: 1-2-5-10-20-50
pence, £1-£2 coins and £5-£10, etc bills. There are no quarters.
* Their cash makes ours look like Monopoly money
* Cars don't have bumper stickers
* Many doorknobs, buildings and tools are older
than America
* By law, there are no crappy, old cars
* When the sign says something was built in 456,
they didn't lose the "1"
* Cake is pudding, ice cream is pudding, anything
served for desert is pudding, even pudding
* BBC 4 is NPR
* Everything closes by 1800 (6pm)
* Very few people smoke, those who do often roll
their own
* You're defined by your accent
* No one in Cornwall knows what the hell a Cornish
Game Hen is
* Football is a religion, religion is a sport
* Europeans dress better than the British, we dress
worse
* The trains work: a three minute delay is
regrettable
* Drinks don't come with ice
* There are far fewer fat English people
* There are a lot of healthy old folks around
participating in life instead of hiding at home watching tv
* If you're over 60, you get free tv and bus and
rail passes.
* They don't use Bose anything anywhere
* Displaying your political or religious
affiliation is considered very bad taste
* Every pub seems to have a pet drunk
* Their healthcare works, but they still bitch
about it
* Cake is one of the major food groups
* Their coffee is mediocre but the tea is wonderful
* There are still
no guns
* Towel warmers!
* Cheers