Being a writer, journalist, or digital editor today means facing obstacles that didn’t exist before.
The sudden rise of artificial intelligence, the sense of urgency and immediacy for news, the need to write something profitable and measurable through metrics, or simply the famous FOMO, make this job increasingly complex.
Good writers maintain their sources and can even earn more money, but unfortunately, mediocre ones will be absorbed by artificial intelligence or the job market, leaving only the most capable.
The more prepared those who work with language are, the longer they will endure in the market, which is why there are many literary devices one must know how to use well.
One of these devices is called epistrophe or epiphora, and here we tell you more about it.
Are you interested? Let’s begin!
Epistrophe definition
Epistrophe, also called epiphora, is a literary device that consists of repeating a word or phrase at the end of successive sentences, phrases, or clauses.
This repetition is used to emphasize a point of view or reinforce the message, as it serves as a conclusion for each line.
Let’s look at an example below from a significant Nirvana song written by Kurt Cobain, Lithium:
I like it, I'm not gonna crackI miss you, I'm not gonna crackI love you, I'm not gonna crackI killed you, I'm not gonna crack
The artist uses this epiphora to give weight to the message he wants to convey.
As Kurt stated in an interview in 1992, this song fictionally narrates how a man turns to religion as a last resort to stay alive after his girlfriend’s death.
Epistrophe is a majestic device to give a more forceful sense or to continuously reinforce an idea, while adding style and linguistic beauty to the message.
In poetry, in a song, or in narrative, it works wonderfully for moments when you want to deepen the message or ensure it is not overlooked.
In politics, it is ideal for emphasizing ideas, confrontations, or highlighting key points intended to persuade the audience.
Examples of epistrophes
In music, there are hundreds of other examples, but here are two more from Eminem and Bob Dylan songs you probably know.
Bob Dylan, in one of his hits Just Like a Woman, also offers this literary device:
She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.
The rapper Eminem in his song The Way I Am:
And I am whatever you say I am
If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news, every day I am
I don’t know, that’s just the way I am.
In literature, of course, there are also millions of examples, such as this one from William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice:
If you had known the virtue of the ring,
Or half her worthiness that gave the ring,
If you did know for whom I gave the ring,
And would conceive for what I gave the ring,
And how unwillingly I left the ring,
When nought would be accepted but the ring,
You would abate the strength of your displeasure.
Also in politics, such as Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address:
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Or in poetry, as in the case of Walt Whitman in Song of Myself:
I resist any thing better than my own diversity,
Breathe the air but leave plenty after me,
And am not stuck up, and am in my place.(The moth and the fish-eggs are in their place,
The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot see are in their place,
The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place.)
Differences between anaphora and epiphora
Epistrophe is the repetition of words or phrases at the end of a sentence, phrase, or clause.
Meanwhile, anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence, phrase, or clause.
Continuing with the example of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, singer Bob Dylan:
An anaphora can be seen in his song Buckets of Rain:
Buckets of rain
Buckets of tears,
Got all them buckets comin’ out of my ears,
Buckets of moonbeams in my hand.
Conclusions
Adapting to today’s world requires maximizing knowledge and available resources to face artificial intelligence and the job market that is no longer what we once knew.
In this sense, as a writer, it is necessary to use various literary devices such as epistrophe, anaphora, antithesis, and others to improve the quality of your texts.
Epistrophe or epiphora is a key tool to highlight and give a strong, precise sense to your message.
We hope this article has been helpful and that you can apply these techniques as soon as possible.
