Anaphora

Anaphora is the repetition of a Word (or sequence of words) at the beginning of clauses.

Think about it this way, it is the repetition of a word (or sequence of words) at the beginning of each sentence or phrase.

Process for identifying anaphora:

This has several steps:

1.- You look for a repetitive word or set of words.

2.- Make sure that it is at the beginning of the clause(s) (At the beginning of a sentence or after a comma).

3.- Pick out each instance that word or set of words repeated in the same exact way over and over again.

Function

Anaphora serves the purpose of giving artistic effect to passages of prose and poetry. As a rhetorical device, anaphora is used to appeal to the emotions of the audience, in order to persuade, inspire, motivate, and encourage them.

It could be the repetition of a noun:

We had to hire a cab. The cab was shabby.

An independent nominal:

He is a colleague of ours. The fool still thinks he is above the rest of the department.

An anaphoric pronoun:

I came across the new doctor this morning. She told me to be more optimistic.

These types of pronouns are precisely characterized by not having an independent reference and must rely on an antecedent. 

EXAMPLE: 

 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

The repetitive phrase or sequence of words is "It was the". It is repeated in the beginning of every phrase, the sequence of words.

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Activity about Anaphora for students:

It is aimed at students so that they can demonstrate the skills they have learned during the development of the subject.