Literary notes about Emphatically (AI summary)
In literature, the adverb "emphatically" is used to underscore certainty or to inject a heightened sense of urgency into both dialogue and narrative description. It serves to intensify a character’s tone or a moment’s significance by suggesting that an action or statement is carried out with deliberate force or conviction, as when a character turns a key or declares a rule with resolute finality [1], [2]. The term also appears in reflective commentary to emphasize a quality or conclusion, reinforcing ideas with unmistakable authority [3], [4]. Whether accentuating a dramatic gesture or a firm assertion, "emphatically" helps create a vivid and memorable stylistic impact that deepens the reader's engagement with the text [5], [6].
- When Fred had ended, there was a pause of nearly a minute, during which Mr. Vincy replaced a book in his desk and turned the key emphatically.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - He looked steadily at Mr. Grummer for a brief space, and then said emphatically, ‘This is a private room, Sir.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.
— from The Essentials of American Constitutional Law by Francis Newton Thorpe - Though often misled by prejudice and passion, he was emphatically an honest man.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Catherine declared, emphatically: and she seemed to speak sincerely.
— from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - The doctor expressed his opinion positively and emphatically.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
