Anaphora examples

Anaphora is one of the oldest patterns in speechmaking. Each time the phrase returns, the audience gets a handhold, and the idea behind it grows. The anaphora examples below show it in speeches, in a novel and in everyday talks.

Anaphora examples from famous speeches

"I have a dream", Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

King repeats "I have a dream" eight times (Stand Up, Speak Out), and each return adds a new picture of the America he hoped for. Near the end he does it again with "Let freedom ring" (NPR).

"We shall fight on the beaches", Winston Churchill, 1940

"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets" (International Churchill Society).

The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863

Lincoln opens three short clauses in a row with the same words: "we can not dedicate", "we can not consecrate", "we can not hallow" this ground (Abraham Lincoln Online). Each repeat is stronger than the last.

Anaphora examples in literature

The opening of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is built on it: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness" (Project Gutenberg). The repeated "it was" sets up pairs of opposites, so the line uses anaphora and antithesis at once.

Everyday anaphora examples for your own speech

You don't need a historic occasion. Short, plain anaphora examples work in any talk:

• Wedding toast: "She makes us laugh. She makes us brave. She makes every room better."
• Team update: "This quarter we shipped on time. This quarter we kept every customer. This quarter we hired three people."
• Class presentation: "Every year the river rises. Every year the town rebuilds. Every year it costs more."

Anaphora vs epistrophe

Anaphora repeats at the start of each clause; epistrophe repeats at the end (Dictionary.com). Lincoln uses epistrophe in the same speech: "government of the people, by the people, for the people" (Abraham Lincoln Online). See more rhetorical devices.

How to use it

Pick the line you most want remembered. Repeat it at the start of three or four short, parallel sentences, each one moving the idea forward. Then stop. Used too often, it starts to sound like a stunt. More on the speeches above in famous speeches.