Definition:
The placement of words and ideas in key positions to give them special weight and prominence. Adjective: emphatic.
Etymology:
From the Greek, "to display, exhibit"Examples and Observations:
- "Two positions in a clause or sentence are more emphatic than any others--the opening and the closing. . . .
"Opening with key words has much to recommend it. Immediately, readers see what is important. E.M. Forster, for example, begins a paragraph on 'curiosity' with the following sentence, identifying his topic at once:Curiosity is one of the lowest human faculties.
Putting the essential idea first is natural, suited to a style aiming at the simplicity and directness of forceful speech. . . .
Postponing a major point to the end of the sentence is more formal and literary. The writer must have the entire sentence in mind from the first word. On the other hand, the final position is more emphatic than the opening, perhaps because we remember best what we have read last:So the great gift of symbolism, which is the gift of reason, is at the same time the seat of man's peculiar weakness--the danger of lunacy."
(Thomas Kane, The New Oxford Guide to Writing. Oxford Univ. Press, 1988) - "Putting strong stuff at the beginning and the end helps writers hide weaker stuff in the middle. . . .
"What applies to the sentence also applies to the paragraph."
(Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools. Little, Brown, 2006) - "A piece of writing may be unified and coherent and still not be effective if it does not observe the principle of emphasis. . . .
"Flat statement, order of importance, proportion, and style are major means of emphasis, but there are certain minor ones. For instance, repetition of an idea can give it prominence. . . . Or there is the device of the short, isolated paragraph."
(Cleanth Brooks, Fundamentals of Good Writing. Harcourt, 1950)
Pronunciation: EM-fe-sis
