What Is Anaphora?

Last week, we explored indirect foreshadowing, how to plant clues, leaving breadcrumbs that only get exposed in hindsight. So this week, we’re turning our attention to a more lyrical yet powerful device: Anaphora.

Anaphora is a form of repetition. It’s syntactical. So, where does the repetition happen with anaphora?

At the beginning of a sentence or clause. Like all the devices, it’s used to build emotion, to emphasize, and create intensity.

Writers can use it in their narration and in scenes through character dialogue. It also calls attention to important matters such as injustice, longing, irony, or determination.

It’s a literary beat your reader can’t help but feel.

Anaphora at the Beginning of a Story:

You can use anaphora early in your story to build curiosity and anticipation. Whether through a narrator’s voice or a character’s obsessive thoughts or even dialogue in medias res: the repetition of a phrase or idea makes readers ask:

Why does this matter? What is this leading to? Who is she talking about?

Here’s a simple example from a fictional narrator:

She warned me. She warned all of us. She warned the night before the fire, and the night before the storm, and the night before we vanished.

No details. Just repetition. But suddenly, we need to know who she is, and what she knew.

That’s the power of anaphora: emotional foreshadowing. Even if nothing has happened yet, the mood is already tense.

Anaphora Creates Empathy

Anaphora is also a tool of emotional connection. When a character repeats the same plea, question, or observation, it hones in on the human emotion. These emotions show frustration, yearning, heartbreak, and desperation.

Consider the emotional impact of:

“When is it my turn? When will I be chosen? When will I matter? When will someone see me?”

Or:

“They get to be happy. They get the job. They get the applause. They get the love. And I’m just… here.”

With each repetition, emotion builds, not just for the character, but in the reader. We don’t just hear their struggle. We feel it.

From Heartbreak to Revolution: Anaphora in Nonfiction

Writers of speeches, especially political, use anaphora rhetorically. It’s the extremely persuasive power of repetition. One of the most famous uses of anaphora appears in “The Declaration of Independence.”

Thomas Jefferson builds momentum and rage by listing the grievances with the simple phrase:

 “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance…

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people…

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”

Each repetition adds weight. By the end, the audience isn’t just convinced—they’re ready to fight!

So whether you’re trying to stir empathy or even start a revolution, anaphora taps into our deepest emotions. Just imagine what it can do for your fiction, both through character dialogue and narration.

How to Use Anaphora in Your Story

Try anaphora in:

Narration, to repeat something that’s coming but leave the details out

Character’s inner thoughts through monologue or dialogue with another character

Flashbacks or trauma loops (repeating a sensory phrase or image)

Themes, to anchor your story’s central emotional truth

Anaphora is super versatile. It can create mystery or anger. It can evoke longing, determination, or even hope. This depends on what you’re repeating and how you build around it.

Coming Next Week: Refrain

If anaphora repeats a phrase at the beginning of sentences or clauses, then Refrain often ends with it.

It can also appear as phrases repeated throughout your story. It can even show up in different scenes, situations, or character dialogue or interactions. They help you turn a simple moment into a lasting memory.

I’ll explain how to do this next time.

Until then, don’t forget: Repetition builds rhythm and emotion. Repetition also builds deep meaning…

And anaphora is your way in.

Happy Writing!

~M.C. Convery