Lesson 5

• Anaphora

  A rhetorical device in which a word or expression is repeated at the beginning of a number of sentences, clauses, or phrases
• Example #2 Nessa by Paul Durcan


  • The speaker uses anaphora with the repetition of "And" to describe metaphorical events in the relationship with Nessa
• Example #3 Sekhmet, the Lion-headed Goddess of War by Margaret Atwood


  • The poet uses anaphora with the repetition of "And" to present an idealized image of the goddess Sekhmet
• Anaphora in Literature


  • Example #1 Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth
  • Example #2 Nessa by Paul Durcan
  • Example #3 Sekhmet, the Lion-headed Goddess of War by Margaret Atwood
• Anastrophe

  The deliberate changing of normal word order for emphasis or another rhetorical effect
• Example #1 Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth


  • The speaker, Wordsworth, expresses nostalgia and focus on the progression of time and change through the repetition of "Five years" and "five summers"
• Anastrophe


  • Used to bring attention to specific concepts
  • Used to set apart a character
  • Character's speech may be distinguished by frequent use of anastrophe
• Epistrophe is derived from a Greek word that means “turning upon,” which indicates the same word returns at the end of each sentence
• Portia: 'If you had known the virtue of the ring, Or half her worthiness that gave the ring, If you did know for whom I gave the ring And would conceive for what I gave the ring And how unwillingly I left the ring When nought would be accepted but the ring You would abate the strength of your displeasure.'
• Epistrophe


  • Important in both everyday conversation and more formal speeches
  • Simple but effective way of emphasizing a certain idea
  • Used often by speechmakers to emphasize ideas and arouse emotion in listeners and readers
  • Adds rhythm to a passage creating a more enjoyable and memorable phrase
• Epistrophe


  • Example 1: "Last week, he was just fine. Yesterday, he was just fine. And today, he was just fine."
  • Example 2: "I’m tired of this job. I’m over this job. I’m done with this job!"
  • Example 3: "The award for best hair went to Josh. The award for most likely to succeed went to Josh. And the award for most charming? It went to Josh!"
• Tom Joad: 'Then I'll be all around in the dark—I'll be everywhere—wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beaten' up a guy, I'll be there...I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'—I'll'
• Anastrophe is the deliberate changing of normal word order for emphasis or another rhetorical effect
• Epistrophe

  The repetition of phrases or words at the ends of the clauses or sentences
• This way of being would be for her
• Anastrophe


  • "And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: Nine bean-ros will I have there." (Irish poet William Butler Yeats)
  • "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing." (Writer Edgar Allan Poe)
  • "It only stands our lives upon, to use our strongest hands." (Playwright William Shakespeare)
  • "Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer." (Prime Minister Winston Churchill)
  • "Intelligent she was not. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction." (American writer Max Shulman)
• Epistrophe

  Also called "epiphora"
• Epistrophe in Literature


  • Epistrophe examples from drama, prose, and poetry
• Antithesis helps readers and audience members define concepts through contrast and develop an understanding of something through defining its opposite
• Antithesis is a literary device that refers to the juxtaposition of two opposing elements through parallel grammatical structure
• D's farewell dialog with his mother: 'Then I'll be all around in the dark—I'll be everywhere—wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beaten' up a guy, I'll be there...I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'—I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready. An' when our folk eat the stuff they raise n'live in the houses they build—why, I'll be there.'
• Epistrophe creates emphasis and urgency, puts persuasive focus on particular ideas, and can capture the attention and sentiment of a crowd
• Lincoln's repetition of "the people" in the Gettysburg Address


  Emphasizes his belief in the founding idea of the United States and serves as a rallying cry for the American people to persevere and continue the work of those who died in the Civil War
• Epistrophe in Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself": 'I resist any thing better than my own diversity, Breathe the air but leave plenty after me, And am not stuck up, and am in my place. (The moth and the fish-eggs are in their place, The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot see are in their place, The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place.)'
• Antithesis is an effective literary and rhetorical device that pairs exact opposite or contrasting ideas by utilizing parallel grammatical structure
• Antithesis creates a clear, memorable, and lyrical effect for the reader by setting human error in contrast to divine forgiveness
• Joad's repetition of his presence wherever poor people need help

  Emphasizes his dedication to the cause he believes in and turns him into an almost mythological or godly presence who is always there to protect and support the downtrodden
• Epistrophe in Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863): 'It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain— that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.'
• The word antithesis, meaning absolute opposite, is derived from Greek for “setting opposite,” indicating when something or someone is in direct contrast or the obverse of another thing or person
• Antithesis establishes a repetitive structure that makes for rhythmic writing and lyrical speech
• Antithesis in everyday speech


  • Go big or go home
  • Spicy food is heaven on the tongue but hell in the tummy
  • Those who can, do; those who can’t do, teach
  • Get busy living or get busy dying
  • Speech is silver but silence is gold
  • No pain, no gain
  • It’s not a show, friends; it’s show business
  • No guts, no glory
  • A moment on the lips; a lifetime on the hips
  • If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail
• Chiasmus


  • “Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.”
  • “Some have an idea that the reason we in this country discard things so readily is because we have so much. The facts are exactly opposite – the reason we have so much is simply because we discard things so readily.” (Alfred P. Solan)
  • “The instinct of a man is to pursue everything that flies from him, and to fly from all that pursues him.” (Voltaire)
  • “When religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; Now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.” (Thomas Szaz)
• Antithesis


  • Creates a clear, memorable, and lyrical effect for the reader
  • Sets human error in contrast to divine forgiveness, allowing readers to understand that it is natural for people to make mistakes and worthy for others to absolve them
• Common examples of Antithesis from famous speeches

  • “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.” (Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream”)
  • “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” (Abraham Lincoln “The Gettysburg Address”)
  • “‘Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'” (Edward Kennedy quoting Robert F. Kennedy during eulogy)
  • “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change.” (John F. Kennedy “Presidential Inaugural Speech”)
• Polysyndeton


  • Stylistic device using several coordinating conjunctions in succession to achieve an artistic effect
• Polysyndeton examples are found in literature
• Antithesis in everyday speech

  • Conveys opposing ideas in a concise and expressive way
  • Statements are not meant to be understood in a literal manner
• Chiasmus


  • Grammar of one phrase is inverted in the following phrase, two key concepts from the original phrase reappear in the second phrase in inverted order
  • Rhetorical device balancing two or more clauses against each other by the reversal of their structures to produce an artistic effect
• Polysyndeton

  Several coordinating conjunctions used in succession to achieve an artistic effect
• Polysyndeton in Shakespeare's Othello


  • Used for a short but exhausting list, makes the list seem overwhelming to capture the character's fears