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Year 10
Edexcel

Considering and emulating the use of anaphora in speech writing

I can use anaphora and a refrain to write an engaging speech that reinforces a central message throughout.

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Year 10
Edexcel

Considering and emulating the use of anaphora in speech writing

I can use anaphora and a refrain to write an engaging speech that reinforces a central message throughout.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Anaphora is the repetition of words that come at the beginning of a sentence, designed to grab the listener’s attention.
  2. A refrain is a repeated idea or phrase that occurs throughout a speech.
  3. Repetitious methods like anaphora and refrains help to engage the audience and reinforce central ideas.
  4. In both cases, the repeated ideas should be important words/phrases that are key to the main argument of your speech.

Keywords

  • Impactful - having a strong effect or influence

  • Rhetorical devices - techniques used in writing or speaking to persuade or enhance communication

  • Emphasise - to give special importance or prominence to something when speaking or writing

  • Anaphora - when a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of a number of sentences or clauses

  • Refrain - a word or phrase that is repeated several times in a piece of writing

Common misconception

Anaphora and refrain are the same. They are both types of repetition.

While both anaphora and a refrain are both types of repetition, they function differently. Anaphora occurs when the beginning of a sentence is repeated, whereas a refrain when a key idea is repeated throughout a text, like a chorus in a song.


To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Considering and emulating the use of anaphora in speech writing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

This lesson includes breaking down lots of student work (e.g. parts of speeches). You may wish to revisit a recent speech students have written throughout - improving it in response to the learning cycles in the lesson.
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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
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Supervision

Adult supervision required

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What should you aim to achieve in the introduction of a speech?
Correct answer: grab the audience's attention
include a catchy, memorable slogan
state your argument clearly
include lots of statistics and evidence to support your ideas
Q2.
What is direct address?
a prompt urging immediate response or engagement from the audience
pronouns that refer to specific people or things (e.g., I, you, he, she)
Correct answer: speaking personally to another person or group of people, often by name
a question designed to make listeners think - it doesn't need a verbal response
Q3.
Why is tone important in a speech?
it makes you sound like an expert in the subject you're talking about
Correct answer: you can adapt your tone to suit your audience
it allows people to hear you more clearly
you can use tone to speed up or slow down the pace of your speech
Q4.
'He', 'she', 'you' and 'me' are all examples of personal .
Correct Answer: pronouns
Q5.
When planning your speech, a great first step is to...
decide which methods you'll use to engage the audience.
decide how you will perform the speech to suit your audience.
decide how many paragraphs you''ll use.
Correct answer: decide on your initial response to the statement/question/topic.
Q6.
What is repetition?
the use of metaphors to create imagery
Correct answer: the consistent use of the same word or phrase to emphasise a point
the technique of introducing new topics abruptly
the practice of summarising the main points at the end of a speech

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does impactful mean?
too long and difficult to follow
full of weak or inaccurate arguments
Correct answer: having a strong effect or influence
interesting and well-delivered
Q2.
What does it mean to emphasise something?
to briefly mention it in passing
to ignore it completely
to contradict it intentionally
Correct answer: to highlight its importance or significance
Q3.
Which of these is the correct definition of anaphora? When a word or phrase is...
Correct answer: repeated at the beginning of a number of sentences or clauses.
repeated at the end of a number of sentences or clauses.
repeated it the middle of a number of sentences or clauses.
appears only once in a speech - not repeated at all.
Q4.
What is a refrain?
a brief summary at the end of a speech
Correct answer: a repeated line or group of lines in a text or speech
a type of question you can ask at the beginning of a speech
the final paragraph of a speech where you summarise your ideas
Q5.
How could the sentence 'Time is running out.' be an impactful refrain?
it emphasises how long the audience have been listening to the speech
Correct answer: it emphasises the urgency of the issue and encourage listeners to take action
it encourage listeners to feel bad for not doing anything to help sooner
Q6.
What do anaphora and refrains have in common?
They are both types of figurative language.
Correct answer: They are both types of repetition.
They are both methods linked to the use of rhyming words.
Correct answer: They are both methods used to emphasise a particular idea or message.