Coenotes (cee’-no-tees): Repetition of two different phrases: one at the beginning and the other at the end of successive paragraphs. Note: Composed of anaphora and epistrophe, coenotes is simply a more specific kind of symploce (the repetition of phrases, not merely words).
I was going grocery shopping damnit. I got a cart. I looked at my shopping list. I started to roll. First stop, produce. A bunch of bananas. Iceberg lettuce. Carrots. Potatoes. Baby spinach. There was one avocado left. I turned my cart and headed for it. I felt somebody coming up behind me. I turned around and there was a middle-aged woman rushing toward me. She yelled: “Get back shithead, that’s my avocado. You touch it and you’ll have my shopping cart up your ass!” “Sorry, my avocado!” I yelled. The woman yelled obscenities at me as I took off, almost running, toward breakfast cereals. I’d let nothing deter me.
I was going grocery shopping, damnit. I was not going to let the avocado incident affect my resolve. I’d made it to breakfast cereals. There was a whole aisle stocked with cereal—from Alpine Muesli to Zebra Grunts. Unbelievable! I started looking for my brand: “Uncle Joe’s Organic Grass Clippings.” I looked for fifteen minutes and couldn’t find them. So, I pressed the help button. A teen aged boy came around the corner. He looked at me and said, “We here at Roscoe’s Horn of Plenty are dedicated to feeding you what you like and making sure your cleaning products are where you need them, when you need them..” I asked him where the “Uncle Joe’” was. He told me they had discontinued stocking it because it was determined only one customer was purchasing it. He gave me a gift certificate for “Mover” bran flakes. I tore it up and threw it at him, I grabbed a box of “Organic Sugar Bombs’ and headed for the fresh fish counter. I’d let nothing deter me.
I was going grocery shopping, damnit. “I’ll have a side of cod.” The fish monger said, “There’s no such thing. A cod is a fish, not a cow.” All the fish mongers behind the counter stated laughing and making mooing sounds. I pressed the help button and the same teenager showed up and started spouting the “Horn of Plenty” credo. I jumped over the counter, grabbed a salmon, and slammed it across the wise ass monger’s face. I ran out of the grocery store, taking the avocado with me. I’d let nothing deter me.
I was going grocery shopping damnit. I was on line. Everything was there. It would be delivered to my door. “E-Food” was my new grocery store. I’d let nothing deter me!
Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
The Daily Trope is available on Amazon in paperback under the title of The Book of Tropes for $9.95. It is also available in Kindle format for $5.99.
The Daily Trope 