Tag Archives: figures of speech

Anamnesis (an’-am-nee’-sis): Calling to memory past matters. More specifically, citing a past author [apparently] from memory.  Anamnesis helps to establish ethos [credibility], since it conveys the idea that the speaker is knowledgeable of the received wisdom from the past.

“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.  Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.” To these three options, Camus could have added a fourth: “Betray me and these boots are going to walk all over you.” However, it wasn’t until 1966 that Nancy Sinatra made explicit and popularized this profoundly negative ‘way of walking’ in her hit song titled “These boots are made for walking.” What remains to be considered, though, is the ethical import of “walking all over” another person and whether betrayal provides justifiable ‘grounds’ for doing so.

• Post you own anamnesis on the “Comments” page!

Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu). Gorgias has inserted the bracketed words [apparently] and [credibility].

Quotation from “The Quotations Page” (quotationspage.com)