RRhetoric
← The Field GuideThe Rhetoric Field Guide

Repetition & Refrain

Conduplicatio

kon-doo-plih-KAH-tee-oh / ˌkɒndjuːplɪˈkɑːtioʊ

Repeating a key word from one sentence prominently in the next. Repeating the full word, instead of using a pronoun, keeps attention on that idea.

"This afternoon, this Easter afternoon, I saw a friend die. A friend I had known…"

Don't confuse it with Anadiplosis. Anadiplosis requires the repeat at the exact seam (last word → first word); conduplicatio just needs the key word to recur early in the next unit.

Drill its family — Repetition & Refrain

Examples

Trust made the agreement possible. Without trust, no signature would have mattered.
Practice example · written for this exercise

The key word “trust” is repeated prominently in the next sentence; it does not sit at an end-to-start seam.

The rest of the family

Anaphora Epistrophe Symploce Epanalepsis Anadiplosis Gradatio / Climax Epizeuxis Diacope Polyptoton