Literary notes about repeat (AI summary)
In literature, "repeat" is employed for a variety of expressive purposes. It can evoke nostalgia and oral tradition, as when a cherished family verse is recalled time and again to conjure memories of the past [1]. At times, it emphasizes thematic or emotional points—reinforcing a character’s conviction or underscoring a critical argument, as seen when a speaker reiterates a personal truth [2] or insists on the weight of memory and imagination [3]. Moreover, repetition is used as an instructional or rhythmic tool, inviting both characters and readers to engage with recited words that build a sense of ritual, cadenced storytelling, or even dramatic tension [4, 5, 6]. This versatile device thus serves not only as a means of emphasis but also as a method to deepen the narrative’s connection to tradition and internal logic.
- I often and often think of the old verse my aunt used to repeat: There never was a goose so gray but sometime soon or late
— from Anne's House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery - ‘I will, but only to repeat what I said before, that I am certain we were not made for each other.’
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë - The faculty, by which we repeat our impressions in the first manner, is called the MEMORY, and the other the IMAGINATION.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume - Placing the palm of your hand on top of your head, repeat this humming exercise.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - Repeat this exercise rapidly, giving the lips as much exercise as possible.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - I repeat, then, that I speak of these things only as of coincidences.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe
