Question

How does anastrophe affect meaning?

Answer 1

Hint: Anastrophe refers to the process of inversion of the typical word order that a sentence follows. Writers and speakers make use of anastrophe to highlight specific concepts, but also to set apart a character. A character's speech may be distinguished to make it unique in a text by frequent use of anastrophe. We will discuss the effect of anastrophe in the complete answer below.

Complete answer:
Let us discuss the effect of anastrophe in the meaning of literary text with the help of some examples.
Some Examples of Anastrophe are:
1. Excited the children were when Santa brought the gifts.
2. Patience I have.
3. A turkey is what we will have for dinner.
4. In the night sky twinkled the stars.
5. Into the water swam the boy.

Examples of Anastrophe in Literature:
i) "Strong in the force, you are." This is by Yoda, Star Wars.
ii) "And a small cabin built there, of clay and wattles made: Nine bean-rows will I have there." William Butler Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree''
iii) " Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing." Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"
iv) "It only stands our lives upon, to use our strongest hands." Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
v)"Her mother is the lady of the house, And a good lady, and wise and virtuous. I nursed her daughter that you talked with. I tell you, he that can lay hold of her, Shall have the chinks." Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

Anastrophe sets apart a particular character or highlights a particular message in literary works. It is a way to make the text attractive and to leave an impact on the readers by affecting its meaning in a more creative way.

Note: Anastrophe, the word derived from the greek meaning turning back, is a figure of speech in which the normal order of the word that is, of the subject, the verb, and the object is changed.
For example, subject–verb–object ("I like tomatoes ") might be changed to object–subject–verb ("Tomatoes I like").