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epistrophe

/əˈpɪstrəfi/
IPA guide

When you repeat a word or phrase again and again at the end of a series of sentences, that's epistrophe. You can use epistrophe as a rhetorical device when you give a speech, to emphasize your ideas.

Epistrophe works especially well when it's used by public speakers who want to add emphasis and excitement to their speeches. Politicians use epistrophe all the time — one example is President Barack Obama's repetition, at the end of sentence after sentence, of the phrase "Yes, we can." As a literary tool, epistrophe is gives lines a dramatic emphasis and a repetitive rhythm. In Greek, epistrophe means "a turning about," from epi, "about," and strophe, "a turning."

Definitions of epistrophe
  1. noun
    repetition of the ends of two or more successive sentences, verses, etc.
    synonyms: epiphora
    see moresee less
    type of:
    repetition
    the repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device
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