Writing Help 129 | - Freelance Writer
Mar 25, 2013 | #1
Using Advanced Rhetorical Devices to Surprise and Delight
Since the taxonomies of rhetorical language are so extensive (this series represents only a fraction of all possible devices), it is not surprising that some devices stand in very close relation to others, differing by only a slight amount. I have avoided covering many of these in this series, choosing instead to cover a central term with a given effect and mentioning the very closely related terms in the more general article as subtypes or antonyms. However, sometimes a given device, while structurally very similar to another, has such a different effect (by type or degree) that it demands inclusion as its own entity. Epistrophe is just such an example.
In as far as people know rhetorical terms at all, epistrophe is relatively underused while its sister anaphora is widely known. As we discussed in a previous article, anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive textual units like sentences, clauses, or lines. Epistrophe is highly similar, consisting of the repetition of words or phrases in successive textual units, but at the end of these rather than at the beginning. Some of the effects, as you would imagine, are similar, but there is a shift in magnitude which makes an important difference.
For example, consider the following sentences: "The children ate underground, the women worked underground, and we laughed, cried and sang underground. Our people are born underground and we will die underground. Our breath and blood is the underground." This example meets the criteria for epistrophe, as the word underground ends successive phrases as well as all of the sentences. This serves most obviously to make the word underground stand out and demand our attention, but because of its location at the ends of textual units it gains further effectiveness.
In English, much of the emphasis falls on the ends of sentences, since with normal word order, this is where things happen and get commented on most frequently. The subject leads the sentence, but the predicate, which describes the subject or her actions in some way, finishes things off, giving it an added importance. If you think of every sentence as a very very short story or film, it is where the suspense gets resolved and you can connect all that has gone before. Therefore, epistrophe is a device especially well designed to add emphasis, as the memorable conclusion of each successive textual unit is repeated again and again, dramatically extending and underlining the rise and fall of the section of text in question. In the example above, after the first repetition, you begin to expect underground to occur again, and the way you read the sentences changes into a more metrical arrangement to give the repeated word its proper emphasis.
As with anaphora, epistrophe is a good friend of poets and politicians, but it is more common in everyday speech. I think the likely reason for this is that, since it occurs at the ends of textual units, the speaker requires less planning in order to make the repetitions work. The sentence is already in full swing before you need to decide to employ the device, and its momentum can carry you through several repetitions without much foresight or planning. Keep in mind that this device is most effective in the service of emotionally-charged content, and while it can be employed to create humor through wit, it is far better at expressing more extreme and powerful feelings.
Epistrophe
Since the taxonomies of rhetorical language are so extensive (this series represents only a fraction of all possible devices), it is not surprising that some devices stand in very close relation to others, differing by only a slight amount. I have avoided covering many of these in this series, choosing instead to cover a central term with a given effect and mentioning the very closely related terms in the more general article as subtypes or antonyms. However, sometimes a given device, while structurally very similar to another, has such a different effect (by type or degree) that it demands inclusion as its own entity. Epistrophe is just such an example.
In as far as people know rhetorical terms at all, epistrophe is relatively underused while its sister anaphora is widely known. As we discussed in a previous article, anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive textual units like sentences, clauses, or lines. Epistrophe is highly similar, consisting of the repetition of words or phrases in successive textual units, but at the end of these rather than at the beginning. Some of the effects, as you would imagine, are similar, but there is a shift in magnitude which makes an important difference.For example, consider the following sentences: "The children ate underground, the women worked underground, and we laughed, cried and sang underground. Our people are born underground and we will die underground. Our breath and blood is the underground." This example meets the criteria for epistrophe, as the word underground ends successive phrases as well as all of the sentences. This serves most obviously to make the word underground stand out and demand our attention, but because of its location at the ends of textual units it gains further effectiveness.
In English, much of the emphasis falls on the ends of sentences, since with normal word order, this is where things happen and get commented on most frequently. The subject leads the sentence, but the predicate, which describes the subject or her actions in some way, finishes things off, giving it an added importance. If you think of every sentence as a very very short story or film, it is where the suspense gets resolved and you can connect all that has gone before. Therefore, epistrophe is a device especially well designed to add emphasis, as the memorable conclusion of each successive textual unit is repeated again and again, dramatically extending and underlining the rise and fall of the section of text in question. In the example above, after the first repetition, you begin to expect underground to occur again, and the way you read the sentences changes into a more metrical arrangement to give the repeated word its proper emphasis.
As with anaphora, epistrophe is a good friend of poets and politicians, but it is more common in everyday speech. I think the likely reason for this is that, since it occurs at the ends of textual units, the speaker requires less planning in order to make the repetitions work. The sentence is already in full swing before you need to decide to employ the device, and its momentum can carry you through several repetitions without much foresight or planning. Keep in mind that this device is most effective in the service of emotionally-charged content, and while it can be employed to create humor through wit, it is far better at expressing more extreme and powerful feelings.