20. Repetition devices

Repetition is the deliberate use of a word or phrase more than once in a sentence or a text to create a sense of pattern or form or to emphasize certain elements in the mind of the reader. Repetition is one of the devices, having its-origin in the emotive language. We can name such types of repetition devices as:

• Epizeuxis or palilogia is the repetition of a single word, with no other words in between. This is from the Greek words, "Fastening Together"

"Words, words, words." (Hamlet)

• Conduplicatio is the repetition of a word in various places throughout a paragraph.

"And the world said, 'Disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences'—and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world." (George W. Bush)

• Anadiplosis is the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. The word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence.

"This, it seemed to him, was the end, the end of a world as he had known it..." (James Oliver Curwood)

• Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of every clause. It comes from the Greek phrase, "Carrying up or Back".

"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." (lWinston Churchill)

• Epistrophe is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of every clause.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

• Mesodiplosis is the repetition of a word or phrase at the middle of every clause.

• Diaphora is the repetition of a name, first to signify the person or persons it describes, then to signify its meaning.

• Epanalepsis is the repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or sentence at the end.

"The king is dead, long live the king."

• Diacope is a rhetorical term meaning uninterrupted repetition of a word, or repetition with only one or two words between each repeated phrase.

21. Peculiar use of Colloquial constructions (Ellipsis, Break-in-the-Narrative, Question-in-the-Narrative )

Emotional syntactical, structures typical of the spoken variety of language are sometimes very effectively used by men-of-letters to depict the emotional state of mind of tha characters; they.may even be used, in particular-cases, in the narrative of the author. But even when used in the dialogue of novels and stories these emotional constructions, being deprived of their accompaniment—intonation—assume a greater signifi­cance and become stylistically marked. Here the emotional structures stand out more conspicuously, because they are thrown into prominence not by the intonation pattern but by the syntactical pattern.Consequently, it will be found necessary to classify some of the most typical structures of these kinds, in spite of the lurking danger of confus­ing idiomatic phrases (set expressions, phraseological units) with abstract patterns.a) One of the most typical patterns is a simple statement followed by the pronoun that+noun (pronoun)+verb to be (in the appropriate form), for example:"June had answered in her imperious brisk way, like the little embodiment of will that she was." (Galsworthy) b) Another pattern is a-question form with an exclamatory meaning expressing amazement, indignation, excitement, enjoyment, etc., for example:"Old ladies, Do I ever hate them?" (Betty Smith) c) The third pattern is a morphological one (generally use of contin­uous forms), but mentioned here because it is closely connected with syntactical structures, inversions, repetitions and others, for example:"You are not being silly, are you?" (Leslie Ford) d) The fourth pattern, also very common in colloquial English, is a construction where a noun or pronoun subject followed by the verbs to have (noun+object) or to be (noun+predicative) ends with the two com­ponents in inverted order, for example:

"She had a high colour, had Sally"

"He has a rather curious smile, has my friend"

"She is a great comfort to me, is that lass" (Cronin)

Among other cases of the particular use of colloquial constructions are 1) ellipsis, 2) break-in-the-narrative, 3) question-in-the-narrative, and 4) represented speech.

Ellipsis is a typical phenomenon in conversation, arising out of the situation. We mentioned this .peculiar feature of the spoken language when we characterized its essential qualities and properties. But this typical feature of the spoken language assumes a new qual­ity when used in the written language. It becomes a stylistic device inasmuch as it supplies suprasegmental information. An elliptical sentence in direct intercourse is not a stylistic device. It is simply a norm of the spoken language. "So Justice Oberwaltzer — solemnly and didactically from his high seat to the jury." (Dreiser)

Break-in-the-Narrative (Appsiopesis)Aposiopesis is a device which dictionaries define as "A stop­ping short for rhetorical effect." This is true. But this definition is too general to' disclose the stylistic functions of the device.In the spoken variety of the language, a break in the narrative is usually caused by unwillingness to proceed; or by the supposition that what remains to be said can be understood by the implication embodied in what has been said; or by uncertajnty as to what should be said.In the written variety, a break in the narrative is always a stylistic device used for some stylistic effect. It is difficult, however, to draw a hard and fast distinction between break-in-the-narrative as a typical feature of lively colloquial language and as a specific stylistic device. The only criterion which may serve as a guide is that in conversation the implica­tion can be conveyed by an adequate gesture. In writing it is the context, which suggests the adequate intonation, that is the only key to de­coding the aposiopesis.

Question- in- the- narrative changes the real nature of a question and turns it into a stylistic device. A question in the narrative is asked and answered by one and the same person, usually the author. It becomes akin to a parenthetical statement with strong emotional implications. Here are some cases of question-in-the-narrative taken from Byron's "Don Juan":

1) 'Tor what is left the poet here?

For Greeks a blush—for Greece a tear."

2) "And starting, she awoke, and what to view?

Oh, Powers of Heaven. What dark eye meets she there? 'Tis—'tis her father's—fix'd upon the pair."