Writing The Rhetorical Devices Of Doubling And Book Ends

By Author: Jesse Simmons
Total Articles: 35
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1. Doubling
The Romans called this Conduplicatio
A related tool is the repetition of a preceding key word (not just the last word) from a preceding phrase, clause, or sentence, at the beginning of the next.
It was not often that anger influenced his actions. But anger eventually caused his downfall.
The heat of the chile peppers is no excuse for panting and moaning. True gourmets enjoy the heat as part of the dining experience.
It is acceptable to look for wealth as a means to personal growth; to seek wealth for itself is shameful.
Like the other repetitive device of above, doubling serves as an effective way to focus your argument because with it you can pull out a key idea from the sentence before and put it clearly at the beginning of the new sentence, leading the reader to what he should be concentrate on.
Since good writing implies keeping the reader focused on a thread of thought, this tool can be especially helpful to clarify the writer's intention when the first sentence has two or more possible main points, only one of which the writer wants to stress. For example, if your first ...
... sentence is complex, such as the following:
The election of judges by a popular vote in a regular election has the danger that both their campaign and the people's choice could be based on their popularity with special interests and not on the personal assets and qualifications of the best candidate.
In the above example, the next sentence could begin with, "Special interests... " or "The best candidate... "or "Therefore judges are best selected by the executive branch... " all depending on which concept you wish to develop.
This repetition of the idea in which the writer is most interested helps the reader focus on this idea which is carried forward and developed in the second sentence.
Remember, the Romans called this Conduplicatio
...
2. Book Ends
The Greeks called this Epanalepsis
You can repeat the beginning word of a clause or sentence at the end. Since the beginning and the end are the two positions of strongest emphasis in a sentence, if you write the same word in both places, you call special attention to it:
Religion helps many people and many others are harmed by religion.
To err is human, but a human approaches the divine by trying not to err.
Many writers use this device to send two messages between the bookends: a. to mention a well accepted fact and, b. to place the fact in context.
Many people loudly announce their principles but the slightest inconvenience leads them to abandon their principles.
Agreement in a crisis is hard to attain, although often the only way out of the crisis is by reaching agreement.
In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. --John 16:33
Remember, the Greeks called this Epanalepsis

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