On this date in 1940, Winston Churchill addressed the House
of Commons and the British people.
France
had fallen to Nazi Germany, but all was not lost:
over 300,000 allied soldiers had been
successfully evacuated from Dunkirk.
Churchill’s purpose in this speech was to buoy
the spirits of the British people.
Europe had fallen, but the British Empire would not give up and would
not go down without a fight.
In the final paragraph, or preoration, of his speech, Churchill unleashed one of history's most dramatic finishes:
We shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight
with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,
we shall defend
our island, whatever the cost may be.
We shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on
the landing grounds,
we shall fight in
the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in
the hills;
we shall never
surrender . . . .
There's a fine line between repetition and redundancy, but as demonstrated by Churchill, when employed at the right time and at the right place, repetition can create the kind of dramatic emphasis that rolls and resonates like ocean waves repeatedly crashing on the rocky shore. Churchill, a master of rhetoric, knew what he was doing. He knew the just when and just where to employ this echo effect for maximum impact.
Another element of Churchill's mastery is his use of succinct, simple language. As he explains in his "Scaffolding of Rhetoric," published when he was 23 years old:
The shorter words of a language are usually the more ancient. Their meaning is more ingrained in the national character and they appeal with greater force to simple understandings than words recently introduced from the Latin and the Greek. All the speeches of great English rhetoricians--except when addressing highly cultured audiences--display an uniform preference for short, homely words of common usage--so long as such words can fully express their thoughts and feelings....
Today's Challenge: Repetition for a Reason
Some of the best known sayings, expression, titles, and aphorisms in the English language use repetition for effect:
No pain, no gain
First come, first served
United we stand, divided we fall
Put up or shut up
Never Say Never Again
Celebrate Repetition for Effect Day by adding to this list. How many more can you find?
Today's Quote: Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king. He is an independent force in the world. --Winston Churchill
