Anadiplosis (an’-a-di-plo’-sis): The repetition of the last word (or phrase) from the previous line, clause, or sentence at the beginning of the next. Often combined with climax.
“Things you can do with dead lobsters“
I am in Maine for the summer for at least the fiftieth time. My family settled here in the 1690s and built boats until my great-great-great grandfather burnt the ship yard down while heating beans in a wooden bucket. There was no insurance back then so they were screwed. Two of their boats are on display in the “Not Very Seaworthy” section of the Maine Maritime Museum. They were both hoisted off the bottom of Penobscot Bay where they sunk “of their own volition” while “running from the British” during the Revolutionary War battle at Bagaduce. My ancestors claimed they were sunk by British canon fire so they would be paid for their part in the battle. Cabin Boy Edward “Corkskrew” Boothbay squealed on my anscestors and they were sentenced to six months hard labor in Thomaston Crown Prison, which had been captured by the rebels. Their “hard labor” consisted of making lobster traps for the Continental Fishing Corps—a fleet of small vessels commandeered by rebel military forces to provide seafood to the starving troops. Troops whose boots were turning to mush and whose greatcoats had turned into filthy flapping rags.
Upon his release from prison, my great-great-great grandfather was able to rebuild one of the ship yard’s outbuildings. He used his new found “hard labor” skill to build himself 25 lobster traps. Then, he went lobstering.
There, in that outbuilding, he invented the lobster roll. People came all the way from Boston to eat them. His nickname was “Lobstah King” and people loved him. However, he still boiled lobsters. Whether it was for a sandwich or a plain boiled lobster, he hated the squealing sound they made when he cooked them. So, he wore big earmuffs to deaden the sound—he looked crazy, and he was. He started making Christmas tree ornaments and ashtrays out of lobster claws, pencil holders out of lobster tails glued to barnacle-covered pieces of wood, toothpicks from lobster antennae, what he called “drop ear-ins” from lobster legs, and finally, flour scoops out of lobster carapaces. He called what he did with the lobster parts “recycilation” and he sold his creations via catalogue all over the world. He became fabulously wealthy and moved to Portland, ME where he enjoyed watching the sunset over the clam flats and smelling the richly scented air.
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu)
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