1. Repitition

 

Definition: repeated utterance; reiteration.

 

Quote: "From that day on, the oasis would be just an empty place for her. From that day on, it was the desert that would be important...From that day on, the desert would represent only one thing for her: the hope of his return."

 

Commentary: In this part of the book, Santiago is leaving the oasis to fulfill his Personal Legend by going to the Egyptian Pyramids. "From that day on" represents the day that Santiago left. While he was at the oasis, he met and fell in love with a girl named Fatima. The repetition of these words is important because it symbolizes the love that she had for Santiago and that she was willing to wait for him.

 

 

2. Epanalepsis

 

Definition: repetition of a word or a phrase with intervening words setting off the repetition, sometimes occurring with a phrase used both at the beginning and end of a sentence.

 

Quote: “One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” (122)

 

Commentary: The use of epanalepsis in this quote is effective because it emphasizes and reinforces the fact that love doesnt have a meaning or a set of rules it just happens.

 

 

3. Alliteration

 

Definition: the repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of an English language phrase.

 

Quote: “The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it.” (Coelho, 103, 10-11)

 

Commentary: Coelho uses this rhetorical device to further emphasize the idea that the present is the only thing that should matter. He manipulated the language that would typically be used to express the idea, and added an “eye catcher” within the phrase.

 

 

4. Anadiplosis

 

Definition: the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause

 

Quote: "The miner was about to give it all up, right at the point when, if he were to examine just one more stone- just one more- he would find his emerald." (24)

 

Commentary: The use of anadiplosis really emphasizes just how close the man is to finding his emerald. This man had spent years of his life looking for fortune when one day he was about to give up on finding it. This relates to Santiago finding his Personal Legend because you never know how close you are to achieving your goals.

 

 

5. Rhetorical Question

 

Definition: a question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply

 

Quote: "What is love, the desert asked." (144)

 

Commentary: It's an arbitrary question that serves to help portray the vastness of the question at the heart of his own journey.