Last updated on August 25th, 2021 at 09:50 am
Anaphora is a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. It is a literary device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginning of neighbouring clauses. This deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence is used in order to lay emphasis on the idea we want to convey or serves to achieve an artistic effect on passages of prose and poetry. In literature, anaphora adds rhythm, thus making it more pleasurable to read, and easier to remember.
Example 1:
- What is the main cause? What is the main effect, and what is the main measure to be taken?
- Yes, we agree with you, yes, we can do it, yes, we will always do it.
- Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better.
- My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.
- The wrong person was selected for the wrong job, at the wrong time, for the wrong purpose.
- Their property was sold, their homestead was sold, and their everything was sold for want.
- Who is to blame, who is to look to, who is to turn to, in a tough situation like this.
- Everything looked dark and bleak, everything looked gloomy, and everything was under a blanket of mist.
- All the people were moving in the same direction; all the people were thinking about the same thing; and all the people were discussing the same topic.
- The players were much excited for the tour; the players wished to do a lot of shopping; the players planned to go sightseeing.
- The young writer was given the award for his best seller. The young writer was excited to get the reward, and he decided to celebrate the occasion in a fitting manner.
- Tell them to be good, tell them to follow their elders, and tell them to mind their manners.
Example 2: The beloved by Fulani
“her smell is sweet and gentle
She never thinks of fish
She never breathes sweat”
Example 3: The graceful giraffe cannot become a monkey by Okot p’Bitek
“My mother is woman of Koc!
I am a true Acoli
I am not a half-caste
I am not a slave-girl:
My father was not brought home
By spear.”
Example 4: Africa by David Diop
“Africa my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in the ancestral savannahs
Africa of whom my grandmother sings.”
Example 5: Protest from a Bushman by Albert Malikongwa
“I have lived in this land
And hunted all over these mountains
And have looked at the skies
And wondered how the stars
And the moon and the sun and the
Rainbow and the Milky Way rush.”
Example 6: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Examples 7:1940 Speech to House of Commons by Winston Churchill
“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, 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. We shall never surrender.”
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