18 Epic Anaphora Examples (+ Tips on How to Use the Device)
As a literary and rhetorical device, anaphora abounds across multiple mediums.
You may have encountered it in literature, where certain words carry more weight.
You may have encountered it in film, where particular phrases heighten emotion.
Even if you haven’t found it across different genres, this very introduction uses the technique.
But if you want more concrete examples, a sprawling list awaits you.
In this blog post, we don’t just offer engaging illustrations of anaphora. We also examine how it’s used, outline its functions, and provide tips on how to incorporate it into your own work.
Ready to dive into the dazzling world of anaphora? Great!
Let’s begin with a helpful definition.
What Is Anaphora?
Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences or clauses.
It’s an effective literary and rhetorical device used to emphasize a point or create an emotional impact.
You can find anaphora in literature, television, and public speaking. Anaphora also emerges in ordinary conversation.
For example, the following expressions use the technique:
- “You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.”
- “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
- “Out of sight, out of mind.”
- “Monkey see, monkey do.”
Although anaphora is considered a type of repetition, it differs from the broader use of repetition because of its intentionality.
For instance, the sentence “I worked out, I exercised, and I ate a sandwich” repeats “I,” but it does so monotonously and indeliberately.
However, we can change the sentence to “I worked out despite nagging fatigue, I worked out despite paralyzing self-doubt, and I worked out despite overpowering reluctance.”
The new line counts as anaphora because it purposely repeats the phrase “I worked out despite” to reinforce the message of committing to something even in the face of hardship.
What’s the Difference Between Anaphora and Epistrophe?
While anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences, epistrophe is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive sentences.
“You is kind, you is smart, and you is important,” a line from the 2011 film The Help, is an example of anaphora. It uses “you is” at the beginning of consecutive clauses.
Conversely, Lyndon B. Johnson’s repetition of “problem” in the following speech acts as epistrophe because it appears at the end of each sentence.
“There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem.”
The combination of anaphora and epistrophe creates symploce, or the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and end of successive clauses.
5 Effective Functions of Anaphora (And Why They Matter)
Since authors, orators, and intellectuals alike use anaphora, it’s worth exploring the different functions the technique serves.
We’ve listed five of them below.
1) Rhythm
When used effectively, anaphora can create a pleasant and engaging rhythm. Repeating a word or phrase may evoke the enticing melody of a musical refrain.
Consider Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain!”
Whitman repeats the title phrase throughout as with “O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done” and “O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells.”
These lines, broken up by mournful couplets, have a lilting quality and continuous flow.
Such characteristics enchant the reader and immerse them in the story.
2) Emotion
Another powerful function of anaphora is to create emotion.
When you continuously draw attention to a particular sentence or clause, especially if the clause contains power words, you encourage the audience’s emotional investment in it.
Take, for example, Elie Wiesel’s speech “The Perils of Indifference.”
During one part of the speech, Wiesel says:
“Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end.”
Because he uses the word “indifference” multiple times and talks about its consequences, the audience feels the guilt that such a word implies.
3) Emphasis
Writers and speakers often use anaphora to emphasize a sentiment or idea.
They may want their audience to remember a specific line or key detail.
Let’s use a quote from the author J.R.R. Tolkien as an example.
“It’s not the strength of the body that counts; it’s the strength of the spirit.”
You can see anaphora in the phrase “the strength of,” but Tolkien isn’t simply stressing the words themselves.
He’s also stressing the idea that a person’s fortitude or tenacity matters more than their physical capabilities.
4) Call to Action
You can also use anaphora to exhort people to take action.
This is common in speeches like a political candidate’s speech encouraging citizens to vote.
To provide another real-life example, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech effectively uses anaphora to urge people to continue their fight against racial injustice.
The activist tells his audience to:
“Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.”
King’s repetition energizes the audience and inspires them to persist in the fight for freedom despite pervasive oppression.
5) Comparison and Contrast
A final way to use anaphora is to compare or contrast ideas, people, and places.
You could compare by repeating a phrase or clause and linking that phrase to related nouns.
In the previous example, Martin Luther King, Jr. uses the phrase “go back” followed by a list of places in America to show how those areas have comparable levels of injustice.
Meanwhile, the opening line to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities demonstrates how you can use anaphora for contrasting purposes.
Dickens begins,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.”
The repetition of “it was” precedes a series of contrasting outlooks, which amplifies Dickens’ message about the tumult of his novel’s time period.
Anaphora Examples in Speeches
Speeches contain some of the most arresting anaphora examples.
Let’s take a look at three of them.
Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream”
As we mentioned previously, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech famously makes use of anaphora. The example lies in the title of the speech itself:
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, 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.”
King reiterates the title phrase to emphasize how he hopes for a more just America.
He adds emotional weight and imagery to his speech by using sensory words like “red hills,” “sweltering,” and “oasis.”
These rhetorical choices allow the audience to visualize the “dream” King himself sees and makes them yearn for such a promising future.
Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”
In her speech for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ inauguration, poet Amanda Gorman repeated the phrase “we will rise” to paint a picture of unity and hope for America.
“We will rise from the golden hills of the West.
We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked South.”
Like King, Gorman couples her use of anaphora with descriptive language like “golden hills,” “windswept,” and “sun-baked,” which makes her speech vivid and memorable.
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Speech
John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address is famous for the first of the following lines:
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
The anaphora “ask not” doubles as an example of chiasmus. It also satisfies the compare and contrast criteria we mentioned earlier.
The words contrast what Kennedy doesn’t want the audience to do (ask what their country can do for them) with what he does want the audience to do (ask what they can do for their country).
In that case, Kennedy’s speech gives a potent call to action as well.
Anaphora Examples in Literature
Literature also boasts a plethora of impactful anaphora examples.
Acclaimed authors like Charles Dickens, Harper Lee, and Margaret Atwood have all incorporated the literary device into their fiction.
Let’s explore how they’ve done so.
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
We already mentioned the opening line to Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, but let’s take a closer look at his use of anaphora.
“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.”
The phrase “It was” coupled with contrasting ideas like “the best of times” and “the worst of times” lets readers know they’re entering a tempestuous fictional world.
His usage is particularly appropriate because A Tale of Two Cities takes place in London and Paris during the French Revolution, a turbulent historical context.
Through Dickens’ juxtapositional approach to anaphora, readers understand that strife, change, and tumult are central elements for the author’s portrayal of the French Revolution.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Among other themes, Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel imparts the importance of morality and justice.
When Atticus forbids his children, Scout and Jem, from shooting at mockingbirds, the family’s neighbor Miss Maudie follows up with an explanation touching on the aforementioned themes.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.”
This instance of anaphora stresses the harmlessness of mockingbirds. Like Scout and Jem, the reader comes to recognize the injustice of harming innocent animals as well as innocent people.
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a futuristic, dystopian world where women lack agency over their lives and bodies.
Atwood’s use of anaphora in narrating her heroine’s thoughts conveys the paranoia of living in a patriarchal, totalitarian society.
“Perhaps he was merely being friendly. Perhaps he saw the look on my face and mistook it for something else. Really what I wanted was the cigarette.
Perhaps it was a test, to see what I would do.
Perhaps he is an Eye.”
The narrator repeats “perhaps” while questioning the man’s intentions.
The word holds significance because it reveals how Atwood’s protagonist must monitor her actions around others to avoid raising the suspicions of “The Eyes” secret police unit.
Anaphora Examples in Poetry
Like novelists, poets can use anaphora to convey the salience of a particular theme or setting.
Below, we explore how the literary device emerges in the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool”
“We Real Cool,” one of Gwendolyn Brooks’ most recognized poems, focuses on a group of pool players.
When asked about her inspiration for the poem, Brooks said she once passed a pool hall full of boys and wondered “how they feel about themselves.”
She interprets the boys’ feelings as such:
“We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.”
The anaphoric use of “we” implies groupthink, where the boys behave irresponsibly (by committing truancy and drinking while underage) to conform to their peers’ expectations.
Given the poem’s ending, Brooks’ repetition also suggests the boys share the same tragic fate.
Langston Hughes, “Let America Be America Again”
Two speakers narrate Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again.”
One exhorts America to return to its earlier values of liberty, equality, and opportunity. Another interrupts the first speaker and asserts that the country never delivered on its promises.
The second speaker, representing a disillusioned, multiracial collective, identifies as follows:
“I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek — ”
The restated phrase “I am” signifies that, although the individuals come from various races, ethnicities, and classes, they’ve come together as one to voice their discontent with America.
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”
The rhythmic function of anaphora reaches its height in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”
Poe’s poem follows a speaker who mourns the loss of his lover, Lenore, and a visiting raven who only says one word: “Nevermore.”
While Poe does repeat “nevermore” throughout his poem, the word only appears at the end of stanzas. Thus, it doesn’t count as anaphora.
However, the final stanza qualifies as such:
“And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted — nevermore!”
Poe reuses “and” at the beginning of multiple lines to show how the narrator’s once-amusing interaction with the titular raven has transformed into a soul-crushing obsession.
Anaphora Examples in Movies
Anaphora doesn’t just appear on the page, it also graces the big screen.
Some of the most memorable scenes in cinema feature the technique. Perhaps, that’s what makes the moments memorable in the first place.
Good Will Hunting
The 1997 film Good Will Hunting contains a beautiful example of anaphora.
Sean, a therapist, poses this dialogue to the intelligent but troubled title character Will Hunting.
“If I asked you about art you could give me the skinny on every art book ever written…
And if I asked you about women I’m sure you could give me a syllabus of your personal favorites, and maybe you’ve been laid a few times too. But you couldn’t tell me how it feels to wake up next to a woman and be truly happy.
If I asked you about war you could refer me to a bevy of fictional and non-fictional material, but you’ve never been in one. You’ve never held your best friend’s head in your lap…”
Sean follows each successive “if I asked you,” with emotional descriptions like waking up with a woman you love and holding your dying friend’s head in your lap.
These descriptions emphasize how Will, although a genius, has not witnessed first-hand the topics he’s learned about.
By using anaphora in this scene, actor-screenwriters Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reinforce the message that education doesn’t equal experience.
10 Things I Hate About You
Kat Stratford, the tempestuous heroine in 10 Things I Hate About You uses anaphora when she recites a poem before her class.
The poem references Kat’s ex-boyfriend and brims with teenage angst:
“I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair
I hate the way you drive my car, I hate it when you stare.”
Not only does the phrase “I hate” nod to the film’s title but it also shows Kat’s aversion to vulnerability.
However, as the poem continues, Kat tears up and looks at her ex-boyfriend, who watches from his desk.
In this case, the screenwriters of 10 Things I Hate About You use anaphora to add emotional tension and illustrate Kat’s character development.
The Color Purple
Sofia’s monologue in the 1985 movie adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple remains a brilliant piece of line delivery.
The speech reveals the combative nature of Sofia’s upbringing:
“All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles.”
The repetition of “I had to fight” paired with its taut elocution makes viewers feel Sofia’s rage and weariness. It also implies that unfortunate circumstances forced her into a life of strife.
Anaphora Examples in Television
Like cinema, television relays anaphora using visual and aural storytelling.
The presence of both sight and sound makes the technique especially resonant because actors can amplify anaphora through gestures, delivery, and other artistic choices.
Naruto
Naruto’s eponymous character proves his determination throughout the anime series.
The following words, spoken about a foe who persuaded Naruto’s friend to abandon their village, encapsulate the character’s rugged tenacity.
If he rips my arms out, I’ll kick him to death!
If he rips my legs off, I’ll bite him to death!
If he rips my head off, I’ll stare him to death!
Naruto begins each clause with “If he rips,” which constitutes anaphora. However, the phrase “to death” forms an epistrophe because the protagonist repeats it at the end of each sentence.
Together, the devices create symploce, further emphasizing Naruto’s drive to defeat his enemy.
Babylon 5
The space opera series Babylon 5 uses anaphora in a similar way to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
Multiple characters quote the line simultaneously to underscore the magnitude of the year 2261.
“It was the year of fire…the year of destruction…the year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth…the year of great sadness…the year of pain…and the year of joy.”
Like A Tale of Two Cities, this anaphora example juxtaposes contrasting ideas like sadness and joy. Again, such a technique indicates to readers that Babylon 5 occurs in a volatile context.
The setting is not only marred by violence and suffering but also marked by hope and renewal. Mentioning these warring concepts and emotions, however, piques the audience’s curiosity.
The Simpsons
Homer Simpson, The Simpsons’ irresponsible patriarch, expresses his desire for adventure using anaphora:
“I want to shake off the dust of this one-horse town. I want to explore the world. I want to watch TV in a different time zone. I want to visit strange, exotic malls.”
Because Homer lives in a suburban neighborhood with his wife and children, the monologue indicates the character seeks respite from his domesticated life.
Notably, he says this to his more level-headed wife, Marge, so the repeated use of “I want” hints at both Homer’s immature and selfish tendencies.
Anaphora Examples in Songs
Popular songs often feature infectious hooks and choruses.
Usually, these hooks and choruses contain anaphora. This time, in the form of catchy refrains listeners will recite for years to come.
Other times, though, the technique emerges in actual song verses.
Below, we illustrate the various ways anaphora manifests in music.
Frank Sinatra, “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”
The classic Christmas jingle “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” re-recorded by Frank Sinatra and countless others, uses anaphora in its first few lines:
“You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout…”
Although most people associate Christmas with merriment and gift-giving, the repetition of “you better” carries an admonishing tone.
The lyrics warn listeners to behave nicely or risk displeasing Santa Claus.
Alicia Keys, “If I Ain’t Got You”
The first verse to Alicia Keys’ Grammy Award-winning record “If I Ain’t Got You” lists some of the motivations that guide how people live their lives:
“Some people live for the fortune
Some people live just for the fame
Some people live for the power, yeah
Some people live just to play the game”
Keys’ emphasis on how “some people live” suggests her reasons for living differ from others’.
In this verse, she notes the desire for fame, fortune, power, and competition as motivating factors for these individuals.
In succeeding verses, however, Keys reveals love as her reason for living.
The singer thus uses anaphora to contrast her desires with people who value shallow notions.
Beyoncé, “Irreplaceable”
Like Keys, Beyoncé places anaphora in her opening verse. The lyrics refer to an unfaithful lover, whom she instructs where to move his possessions:
“To the left, to the left
Everything you own in the box to the left”
Although the words create an appealing rhythm, they also elicit strong emotions from listeners, who may have also experienced betrayal from their partners.
“To the left” signals a severance of romantic ties, which empowers listeners to rebuke their own lovers’ infidelity.
5 Steps for Using Anaphora in Your Own Writing
We’ve examined numerous anaphora examples across multiple genres. Now, it’s time to put your knowledge into action.
Here are a few ways to incorporate the technique into your own writing:
- Think about your message: What do you want readers to take away from your writing? What do you want them to think, feel, or do after encountering your work? For example, your message could promote unity, empathy, hard work, self-belief, or civil engagement.
- Ponder the words or phrases that encapsulate your message: Once you’ve settled on a message, choose the words that will underscore it. If your message focuses on the importance of love, use emotional language and expressions to reinforce that theme.
- Put these words or phrases at the beginning of successive clauses: Let’s say your writing encourages people to commit to their weight loss journey. You want readers to “stop putting off” their fitness goals. In that case, you could begin multiple clauses with that particular phrase.
- Amplify your clauses with descriptive language: To continue with the fitness example, you can enhance your anaphora by adding vivid details about how readers put off their weight loss journey (e.g. by throwing on their sweatpants and binge-watching Stranger Things instead of putting on their leggings and driving to the nearest gym).
- Read your anaphora aloud to assess flow and impact: Read your writing out loud, paying close attention to your incorporation of anaphora. Determine whether it flows or seems forced. Does it sound dull, or does it dance in your ear? Based on your assessment, either revise your anaphora or pat yourself on the back for a job well done!
Use These Anaphora Examples to Enrich Your Writing
You now have all of the examples and tips you need to use anaphora effectively in your writing.
Remember, though: anaphora may be a simple technique to include in your work, but it’s also a powerful rhetorical device found in a wide range of genres.
Anaphora can amplify your message, elicit strong emotions, and inspire audiences to take action.
It can also make your words more memorable and lead others to reflect on them years from now.
So, don’t take the technique lightly. It just might be the missing piece to your storytelling puzzle.
