知名寫作書籍《Writing Tools》當中提到，重複關鍵字、片語、句型可以製造出一種結構、節奏、步調，類似往前推進的鼓聲，以強化我們想表達的核心主題，並製造出一種實境對話的效果。重複 (repeat) 不論在音樂、文學、廣告、笑話、演講、教學都是常用的技巧，在英文寫作上，重複的技巧常搭配平行結構 (parallelism) 使用，以讓讀者更容易理解並達到強調的效果。
請看以下二個範例：(筆者在重複之處做｛ ｝的標記 )
1. If there is anyone out there ｛who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible｝, ｛who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time｝, ｛who still questions the power of our democracy｝, tonight is your answer. — Barack Obama
說明：這段歐巴馬勝選的演講文字中，連續重複了三次類似的句型 “who still…”，以達到一種引人注目、鏗鏘有力的效果來說服別人。
2. Mikhail Bakhtin, the Russian philosopher and literary critic, recognized the lure of the forbidden a century ago, writing about the deep appeal of the carnival, a space ｛where everything banned is suddenly allowed｝, ｛where eccentricity is permitted｝, ｛where profanity defeats piety｝. The Trump administration is like that: ｛Nothing means anything｝, ｛rules don’t matter｝, ｛and the president is the carnival king｝. — The Atlantic
說明：這段文字中連續使用了三次 “where…” 的關係子句來修飾先行詞 space，用重複的方式進行強調，讓讀者對於這個地方的特性有更深的了解。另外，在這段文字的最後，用逗號連接三個類似的短句 “Nothing means anything, rules don’t matter, and the president is the carnival king.”，以重複的技巧有力地作結，最後一句 “ and the president is the carnival king” 雖然稍微打破了平行結構，相較前二句稍微長了一點，但在平行結構的最後做一點變化卻可以達到強調句尾的效果。(此外，這些短句中含有相反對比的概念，有映襯的效果)
3. The Russian language, he notes, has a word — prisposoblenets — that means “a person skilled in the act of compromise and adaptation, who intuitively understands what is expected of him and adjusts his beliefs and conduct accordingly.” In Putin’s Russia, anyone who wants to stay in the game — to remain close to power, to retain influence, to inspire respect — knows the necessity of making constant small changes to one’s language and behavior, of being careful about what one says and to whom one says it, of understanding what criticism is acceptable and what constitutes a violation of the unwritten rules. Those who violate these rules will not, for the most part, suffer prison — Putin’s Russia is not Stalin’s Russia — but they will experience a painful ejection from the inner circle. — The Atlantic
此段文字從句 (subordinate clauses) 的使用華麗，讓語句間的連貫性 (cohesion) 非常好，筆者特別想提當中的一句：
“In Putin’s Russia, anyone who wants to stay in the game — to remain close to power, to retain influence, to inspire respect — knows the necessity of making constant small changes to one’s language and behavior, of being careful about what one says and to whom one says it, of understanding what criticism is acceptable and what constitutes a violation of the unwritten rules.”
說明：這個複雜的句子使用了許多從句 (subordinate clauses) 、重複 (repeat)、平行結構 (parallelism) 的寫作技巧。筆者參考經典寫作書籍《Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace》當中 “Coordinate” 的方式，將其結構做了一張分析圖，希望幫助讀者理解這個句子平衡與對稱的美感。
這個句子在主詞的形容詞子句中連續使用了四次 "To + V..." 的不定詞片語作重複，受詞則連續使用了三次 "Of + Ving" 的介詞片語作重複，此外，這些 “Of + Ving” 的介詞片語中還包含了二對 Wh- 疑問詞開頭的名詞子句作重複並搭配平行結構，透過這樣的結構與技巧傳達了許多資訊，讓讀者更清楚而全面地了解身在政治中複雜敏感的分寸拿捏，有力而均衡地用一個句子表達出來。
小結：英文寫作上重複的技巧常搭配平行結構使用，類似中文排比的修辭，以達到強調的效果。但重複的技巧如果用在不重要或無關主題的地方，卻容易造成冗贅、乏味、失焦的效果。因此需要練習適時適當地使用。
由於政治演說常用重複的技巧，本文所選的引文稍微敏感一點，但本文的目的是在分析文字的寫作技巧，引文的內容並不代表筆者立場，以上僅為筆者的閱讀分享，若有疏失，還請多多指教。
參考資料：《Writing Tools》、《Style & Difference》、《The Atlantic》、《Barack Obama 2008 presidential election victory》、《Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace》
