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Literary notes about repeated (AI summary)

In literature, the term “repeated” functions as a versatile tool, serving not only as a simple dialogue tag but also as a means to accentuate emotion, reinforce rhythm, or underline the significance of a recurring idea. For instance, it often appears in dialogue to indicate a character’s mechanical or habitual response, as seen when Sisa blandly echoes an exclamation [1] or when a princess calmly repeats her invitation while opening the door [2]. At times, repetition heightens the dramatic effect; characters may reiterate a phrase dreamily to convey inner conflict or longing, as with Chambers’s “beautiful and cruel” [3], or with Dostoyevsky’s incredulous inquiry, “Who is the murderer?” [4]. Beyond conversation, authors employ “repeated” in narrative descriptions to emphasize actions or events, such as in Dewey’s account of observational patterns [5] or in Thomas Jefferson’s methodical recitation of instructions [6]. This varied usage—from dialogue cues to narrative emphasis—demonstrates how a single word can enrich both character development and thematic structure across genres [7, 8, 9, 10].
  1. “Mother of the thieves!” repeated Sisa mechanically.
    — from The Social Cancer: A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal
  2. “Come in, gentlemen,” repeated the princess, opening the door herself.
    — from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
  3. "Beautiful and cruel," she repeated dreamily, "beautiful and cruel."
    — from The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
  4. “Who is the murderer?” he repeated, as though unable to believe his ears.
    — from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  5. They had learned from repeated observations that things happened in about such and such a fashion.
    — from How We Think by John Dewey
  6. He repeated her instructions to himself several times, for fear of forgetting anything, and then went to sleep.
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  7. “I repeated them as I understood them.
    — from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  8. he repeated in a whisper.
    — from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  9. ‘That’s my way,’ repeated Mr. Snevellicci.
    — from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
  10. 'Harmoon's,' repeated Mr Rokesmith, seeming to have caught the sound imperfectly, 'Harmarn's.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

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