#Repetition

#Repetition

#Repetition

Prepared by:

RUEL L. MONTEFOLKA

Repetition Definition

Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer. There are several types of repetitions commonly used in both prose and poetry.

As a rhetorical device, it could be a word, a phrase or a full sentence or a poetical line repeated to emphasize its significance in the entire text. Repetition is not distinguished solely as a figure of speech but more as a rhetorical device.

Types of Repetition

ANAPHORARepetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several subsequent lines.

Martin Luther King Junior’s speech “I Have a Dream” is a famous example, as he repeats “I have a dream” at the beginning of several

lines.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

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.

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…

ANADIPLOSIS OR GRADATIORepetition of the last word of one line as the

first word of the next. 

For example, the proverb

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Line 1Repeated word

ANTISTASISMore extreme than antanaclasis, this is the

repetition of words in opposite senses.

For example:“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most

assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”(Benjamin Franklin)

DIACOPESimilar to epizeuxis, this is the repetition of a

word or phrase with only one or two words between the repeated words.

“Diacope” comes from the Greek for “to cut in two.”

The famous line from Shakespeare’s rendition of the St. Crispin’s Day speech in Henry V is

an example:

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”We the repeated words

the repeated words followed w/ 2 or 3 words

As well as to the third phrase

EPANALEPSISRepetition of the first word or words of a line

also at the end of that line.

For example:

“Nothing can be created out of nothing.” (Lucretius)

EPIMONERepetition of a phrase question for emphasis

or to dwell on a point. From the Greek for “delay.”

An example of epimone is Sojourner Truth’s speech from the Women’s Convention in 1851 where she repeated the rhetorical question “And ain’t I a woman?” several

times over.

Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

EPISTROPHE/EPIPHORARepetition of a word at the end of every line or

clause.

For example:(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within

us.”

EPIPHORA AND ANAPHORA

Epiphora is an exact counterpart of another figure of speech anaphora.

An anaphora is repetition of the first part of successive sentences whereas in an epiphora repetition occurs in the last part of successive clauses and sentences.

For example:1. “Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and

better”example of anaphora because the word “every” is repeated in

the successive clauses.2. “I am an American, he is an American and everybody here is an

American,”exhibits epiphora as the repetition is in the last part of the

successive clauses. Despite being different in their structures, both anaphora and epiphora have the same function of laying emphasis on a particular point.

MESODIPLOSISRepetition of a word in the middle of every line

of clause.

For example:

2 Corinthians 4:8 “we are perplexed, but not in

despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”

EPIZEUXIS OR PALILOGIA

Repetition of the same word or phrase without any words in between.

For example:

“Row, row, row your boat.”

Function of Repetition

The beauty of using figurative language is that the pattern it arranges the words into is nothing like our ordinary speech. It is not only stylistically appealing but it also helps convey the message in much more engaging and notable way. The aura that is created by the usage of repetition cannot be achieved through any other device. It has the ability of making a simple sentence sound like a dramatic one. It enhances the beauty of a sentence and stresses on the point of main significance. Repetition often uses word associations to express the ideas and emotions in an indirect manner. The beauty of reading a piece with repetition in it is the balance where we, as readers, have to decipher such associations and understand the underlying meanings…

…Repetition as a literary term can be used both constructively and destructively. The constructive usage encompasses functions such as, putting emphasis on a point, confirming a fact or an idea, cohesion, mimesis, transition, showing impartiality and or describing a notion. The same literary device when used destructively can disintegrate the entire piece of writing. Erasure, redundancy, continuous present, fragmentation, copying and habitual misuse of the literary device are among the destructive effects.

References:http://literarydevices.net/repetition/

http://www.literarydevices.com/repetition/