Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

*Through Me Pass into the Painful City,
Through Me Pass into Eternal Grief,
Through Me Pass among the Lost People. . . .

Before Me Nothing Was Created That
Was Not Eternal, and I Last Eternally.
All Hope Abandon, You Who Enter Here.*

At the gate of Hell, Dante sees this inscription that he calls “hard to take." How does the use of anaphora affect the impact of the inscription?

Answer 1

The use of anaphora effects this inscription because it is written in second person. The author of this piece is not only talking about himself here, but also someone else at the same time to keep it from sounding repetitive.