Close Echo

1. Close Echo “A writer will often repeat words or phrases very close together when it is not necessary to do so, creating an echo in the text. Often, you will see these repetitions in places where a conjunction could easily be used to tie text elements to one key word or phrase, but instead the key words are repeated. This lets the writer both call attention to words and repeat text rhythms because the number of syllables is repeated.”

2. Literary Examples Close Echo • Night in the Country (1986) by Cynthia Rylant: “There is no night sodark, so black as night in the country” • The Whales (1996) by Cynthia Rylant: “…someone is standing on a shore and his heart is filling up. Filling up and ready to burst. Whales do not know how they change people, how they make them better, how they make them kind” • Miz Berlin Walks (1997) by Jane Yolen: “Without missing a step, without missing a word…” • Dreamplace(1993) by George Ella Lyon: “…and see for the first time across the trees: like a dream, like a sandcastle this city the Pueblo people built under a cliff” • Water Dance (1997) by Thomas Locker: “ I wind through broad, golden valleys joined by streams, joined by creeks”

3. TECHNIQUE Close Echo Good writing shows, not tells. Picture your favorite spot in your home or in the world. Describe it for us in a few lines trying to incorporate this technique. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________