Name: __________________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: __________
Anaphora - Notes
An anaphora is a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses, sentences or
verses to emphasize an image or a concept. The effect is to influence the person reading it.
Examples: “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been
seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled
by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely
island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing
in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize
a shameful condition…”
Effect?
Famous example is from Winston Churchill:
“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we
shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be,
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.”
Effect?
From Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can
long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final
resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we
should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little
note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here…”
Effect?
Epistrophe – Notes
An epistrophe is the rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences.
Examples:

"For no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve
the best." (Senator John F. Kennedy, speech at Wittenberg College, Oct. 17, 1960)

"For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that
we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we
can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.
"It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes,
we can.
"It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an
unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
"It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our
new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to
justice and equality… (President Barack Obama)

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." —Emerson

"...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." – Lincoln

Where affections bear rule, there reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things else that
withstand evil, forever are subdued. — Thomas Wilson
“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King – American Rhetoric, Contrasts/Antithesis
Part I. Contrasts/Antithesis
Antithesis – the opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite.
Directions: Find the rhetorical contrast in the images and details of the speech. These contrasts (antithesis examples)
reveal the disparity between the promise of the declaration of freedom and the reality of America’s racism. The “reality”
column has been done for you. Students should find the contrasting promise in the same paragraph.
Paragraph
Number
2
Reality of America’s racism and
the lives of African Americans
Long night of captivity seared in flames of
withering injustice
3
Lonely island of poverty and exile
4
Defaulted on one bad check and insufficient funds
5
Bank of injustice is bankrupt
6
Dark and desolate valley of segregation
6
Quick sands of racial injustice
7
Sweltering summer of discontent
7
Whirlwind of revolt
What is the effect of King’s use of antithesis?
Promise of Freedom
Part II. Repetition
Anaphora = the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed…”
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia…”
“I have a dream that my four little children…”
“I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama…”
“I have a dream that one day ever valley shall be exalted…”
1. What is the effect of Dr. King repeating “I have a dream” at the beginning of sentences?
2. Find two additional examples of anaphora in the complete speech. Explain the rhetorical effect of anaphora.
How does this kind of repetition relate to the point King is trying to make?
A.
B.
Part III. Tone --List three quotes that help King convey an optimistic tone.
1.
2.
3.
Part IV. Allusions -- Find examples of three allusions that King uses in his speech. Many are religious, others are
historical and literary. Explain the effect of each allusion in the speech.
Allusion (quote)
Effect of Allusion
1.
2.
3.
Part V. Ethos -- How does Dr. King unite all Americans? Find two quotes that purposely try to unite us.
1.
2.
Part VI. Parallelism/Parallel Structure
Parallelism = two or more words or constructions stand in identical grammatical relationship to the same thing, creating a
balanced sentence wherein all components of the sentence are of equal importance.
1.
Give one example of parallelism in King’s speech: