The Value of Repetition and Suggestion
Thomas Dooley expressed the value of repetition and suggestion when he wrote: "I belave annything at all, if ye only tell it to me often enough."
In public speaking and conversation there are many ideas which must be repeated over and over again before they obtain the proper maximum effect.
This was illustrated in the climax of Senator Thurston's oration, "A Plea for Cuba," where the repetition of the word "force " added greatly to the emphasis of the idea.
Similarly, Webster's celebrated sentence, the climax of his great speech on "American Institutions" said:
"Our government can stand trial, it can stand assault, it can stand adversity, it can stand persecutions, it can stand everything but the weakness of our own strength, it can stand everything but disorganization, disunion and nullification."
The reiteration of the same word gives strength and consistency to the sentence, and the word "stand" repeated again and again, comes at last to be like the blows of a hammer, riveting attention to the subject.
In public speaking and conversation there are many ideas which must be repeated over and over again before they obtain the proper maximum effect.
This was illustrated in the climax of Senator Thurston's oration, "A Plea for Cuba," where the repetition of the word "force " added greatly to the emphasis of the idea.
Similarly, Webster's celebrated sentence, the climax of his great speech on "American Institutions" said:
"Our government can stand trial, it can stand assault, it can stand adversity, it can stand persecutions, it can stand everything but the weakness of our own strength, it can stand everything but disorganization, disunion and nullification."
The reiteration of the same word gives strength and consistency to the sentence, and the word "stand" repeated again and again, comes at last to be like the blows of a hammer, riveting attention to the subject.
posted by Lyn Devon at 1:48 AM
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