Sunday, May 15, 2011

Rhetoric - anaphora



anaphora [əˈnæfərə] n.

1.) Rhetoric. The emphatic repetition of a sound, word, or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, verses, or sentences (Garner's Modern American Usage 3rd Edition).

Etymology: Latin anaphora, adoption of Greek ἀναϕορά, a carrying back, from ἀνά, back + ϕέρειν, to bear.

"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." ("I Have A Dream", Martin Luther King Jr., 1963).
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Here is the second installment of my "Sunday rhetoric" feature. Last week's was on metonymy, in case you missed it. Thanks for reading!

32 comments:

Once Upon A Time... said...

appreciate your help, challenge would be next time...when you least expect it :p

anaphora is most effective in poems...especially when one needs to emphasize a concept.

jos xx

Drake Sigar said...

Best example ever.

Nom de Plume said...

Cool! :)

In other news, MLK clearly spends too much time napping!

i said...

Wow, I never knew there was a word for that kind of wordplay. And a very recognizable example too, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Perfect example for anaphora! When done well, when the words are chosen carefully, it can be so effective.

Melanie said...

thanks!

Fang said...

Oh, interesting. Brain-washing properties included?

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Thanks for the audio pronunciation of the words! It helps tremendously. I've always been plagued by knowing a written word yet not having the first clue how to pronounce it properly.

Dejch said...

nice! :)

thanks for sharing

Lhosreiff said...

I remember talking about this in high school.

DEZMOND said...

interesting, E!

Zombie said...

I have no idea how to put this into a sentence! lol.

Z said...

HUH! I do that all the time! Who knew!! There was word for it.

Mercurio said...

Now I know how to mane that.

123 said...

You will listen.
You will obey.
You will get me a sandwich.
You will watch me eat the sandwich.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Unknown said...

This kind of made my Monday morning. What I really like is the fact that you present such brilliant examples.

Endless said...

good example ^^

Joel C Anatoli said...

Morpheous in the Matrix revolutions did an anaphora

Astronomy Pirate said...

Great example. Another concept that I would have never thought to name.

Dave said...

I used to know a girl with a name that sounded like anaphora.

Kicking Rocks said...

good word!

An intellectual blog said...

Anaphora's most used in poetry. lines or verses like
"We saw...
We thought..."
is probably one of the most common phrases. Good definition and examples tho!

Unknown said...

I just found your blog and I love it. Knowledge is power, thank you for giving me more.

Chris Phillips said...

Now I have a 5th grade vocab + the word anaphora! At first I was unclear about the difference between this and alliteration/assonance, but the MLK speech helped a lot.

Jay said...

anaphoric! ;)

Anonymous said...

The media uses a lot of anaphora!

HiFi said...

A new word for me, even though I have seen usage of it many times before. Now I know what to call it!

Daniel Smotherman said...

Good post.

Jennifer Fabulous said...

I'm not sure I will ever be able to use this word in a sentence. It will have to be a very random moment...lol.

Meri said...

I would have to guess these are most common in public speaking, law, things like that?

themajessty said...

I love the sound of the word.

I'm still trying to imagine how awesome your vocabulary probably is.

Intraman said...

great word!

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