Anaphora is a rhetorical device involving the repetition of words at the beginning of neighboring clauses for emphasis. Examples are provided from works by William Blake and Charles Dickens, which illustrate how anaphora draws attention to specific details. An exercise is included for identifying anaphora in 'Frederick Douglass' by Robert Hayden, focusing on its contribution to the poem’s meaning.

1. Anaphora

2. Anaphora Definition
Anaphora is a rhetorical device that
consists of repeating a sequence of
words at the beginnings of neighboring
clauses, thereby lending them
emphasis.

3. Anaphora Examples
– What the hammer? what the chain?
– In what furnace was thy brain?
– What the anvil? what dread grasp
– Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
— William Blake, "The Tyger"

4. Anaphora Examples
– 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, we had
everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all
going direct the other way...
— Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

5. Anaphora’s Purpose
Anaphora draws attention and
emphasis to the word or phrase that it
repeats. This focuses the reader on
essential details.

6. Anaphora Exercise
 Find 1 example of anaphora in “Frederick
Douglass” by Robert Hayden. On a separate
sheet of paper, write down the word(s) that is
repeated, which line(s) the word appears on,
and how many times per line it is repeated.
 For your example, write what detail the
anaphora draws us to, and how that
contributes to the poem’s overall meaning.