A youth ministry initiative by RBC Ministries
where you can find devotionals and resources for youth.
A youth ministry initiative by RBC Ministries
where you can find devotionals and resources for youth.
By Isaac Tan, Singapore
“Stop! I say Stop!”
As a child, we’ve been psyched to recognize that there is a purpose behind repetition—it is for emphasis.
God in His perfect wisdom, inspire His writers to use repetition to drive home a salient point too. For example, in 1 Corinthians 13:11:
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child,
reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. (NASB)
Given that the word “child” appears five times in this sentence, one would be blind/deaf (as the letter would have been read aloud to its first audience) to identify the idea of childlikeness as the issue at hand. In addition, it created an impact.
Another good example from the Bible is from 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 7:
If you read through these few verses aloud you would see that a climatic effect is achieved through placing points in increasing order of importance. The group of “it is not/does not” ends on a climax with verse six “it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”
However, as with many techniques, repetition is not spared from the susceptibility of abuse. In such cases, repetition can be irritating.
What then is “bad” repetition?
Read the paragraph given below and give me your opinion. Share with me how you would improve it.
“Many things in life happen almost immediately. Sometimes things can get so immediate that people who are still stuck in the past find it so difficult to live life. Immediacy can cause life to feel so rushed and this more often then not happens for those who experience the daily city life. This life of immediacy is one that I am not spared from. It is so immediate that this passage was not even spared from the stress that I have from having to experience from such immediacy.”
Filed under Writing and tagged with Isaac, Writing Skills.
