In rhetoric, climax is a figure of speech, in which words, phrases, or clauses are arranged in order of increasing importance. It is sometimes used with anadiplosis, which uses the repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses. Rhetoric (from Greek ρήτωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar) in Western culture. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical figure or device, or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ... Anadiplosis is a rhetorical figure of speech that means to double back and repeat a word or phrase that appears at the end of sentence or clause at the beginning of the next sentence or clause. ...

Climax is from the Greek word for "ladder".

Examples:

• "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." 1 Corinthians 13:13
• "I think we've reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only for all humanity, but for life upon the earth." George Wald A Generation in Search of a Future, March 4, 1969.
• "...Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour. William Shakespeare, The Passionate Pilgrim, XIII

Similarly an anti-climax is an abrupt declension (either deliberate or unintended) on the part of a speaker or writer from the dignity of idea which he appeared to be aiming at; as in the following well-known distich:-- George Wald (November 18, 1906–April 12, 1997) was an American scientist who is best known for his work with pigments in the retina. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

"The great Dalhousie, he, the god of war,

Lieutenant-colonel to the earl of Mar."

An anticlimax can be intentionally employed only for a jocular or satiric purpose. It frequently partakes of the nature of antithesis, as--

"Die and endow a college or a cat."

It is often difficult to distinguish between "anticlimax" and "bathos"; but the former is more decidedly a relative term. A whole speech may never rise above the level of bathos; but a climax of greater or less elevation is the necessary antecedent of an anticlimax.

References

• Corbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.
• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.

fuck u fuck u fuck u fuck u fuck u fuck u Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

See also

• Figure of speech