Epistrophe Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: RL.9-10.4

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

This is a rhetorical device that you may come across in various forms of literature when you sense a rhythm that is present. This is the production of a repeated phrase. Epistrophe occurs at the end of a sentence or series of clauses that follow one another. When you use this technique in your writing it adds a bit of flare or emphasis on what you are focused on repeating. Using this type of practice in your writing can help you sell your reader on what is being emphasized. The worksheets that you will find here will help you learn how to adjust this technique to your own writing and way of communicating.

Epistrophe Worksheets To Print:

In Action - The repetition is both rhythmic and serves to emphasize what is being repeated.

Where Is It? - Underline the use of this technique in each set of sentences.

Put It Apart - Write the words/phrases in the box beside each passage.

Overall Effect - Read the poem "The Rebel" by D.J. Enright. Write down each example of epistrophe in the poem.

Anaphora - Differentiate between these closely related concepts.

Composition - Write several sentences that use epistrophe.

President's Words - Read the excerpt below from a speech given by John F. Kennedy.

Barak Obama - See how he uses this technique in his speech to the American people.

My Text - You will see how this technique seems to work in most texts you come across.

Song - We will explore how this is used in music from most eras.

Speeches - Imagine you are going to give a speech to your classmates. The purpose of the speech is to persuade them to join you in doing something you feel passionate about. Write down what you might say.

Caeser - We will look at how William Shakespeare used this strategy in his work.

Off Pictures - Using each picture as inspiration, write a few lines that contain epistrophe in the box beside each picture.

Why - Which look for the instances where it makes perfect sense to use this technique.

Emphasis - Write a persuasive paragraph about something that you feel strongly about. Use this rhetorical device in your paragraph to add a level of emphasis.

What Is an Epistrophe?

An epistrophe can be defined as the repetitive use of any word or expression used at the end of successive sentences, clauses, verses, or phrases. It is most commonly used when being used rhetorically or poetically. The word epistrophe comes from an ancient Greek word that can be loosely translated to ‘turning back upon.' An epistrophe, as opposed to an anaphora, is found at the end of a sentence, phrase, or line.


There is a very common usage of this technique in former president Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Here, he ended his speech with “a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, shall not perish from this earth.” You can see that the repetitive usage of ‘the people' is the epistrophe. Another way to identify this is by the fact that it is at the end of the phrase instead of the beginning. One more usage of strategy can be found in Plato's allegory of the cave. He talks about how people who wish to find enlightenment should look away from the world that is outside of themselves. He explains that if we wish to find the truth, we should ‘go back' to our more independent and logic-based selves. As you can see, it can either be a literary device or it could be a philosophy.


You will be able to understand and recognize the use of this technique by reading these examples and seeing it used.


In Speeches


- And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. - Abraham Lincoln


- For no government is better than the men who compose it, and I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best. - John F. Kennedy


- There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. - Bill Clinton


- ... every child has a dream about where they can go or what they can become. Whether that dream is to invent something, start something, build something, or create something, it all starts with the basic skills and confidence that only a good education can provide. - Mitt Romney


In Literature


- If you had known the virtue of the ring, Or half her worthiness that gave the ring, Or your own honor to contain the ring, You would not then have parted with the ring. - The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare


- Where affections bear rule, their reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, goodwill is subdued, and all things else that withstand evil, forever are subdued. -The Art of Rhetoric, Thomas Wilson


In Entertainment


- Don't you ever talk about my friends! You don't know any of my friends. You don't look at any of my friends. And you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends.- John Bender, The Breakfast Club, 1985


- I'm a Pepper, he's a Pepper, she's a Pepper, we're a Pepper. Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too? Dr. Pepper. - Dr. Pepper jingle