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Literature Glossary

Don’t be an oxymoron. Know your literary terms.

Over 200 literary terms, Shmooped to perfection.

Anastrophe

Definition:

An ordinary English sentence goes a little somethin' like this: subject, then verb, then object. When you intentionally switch that order up, that's anastrophe.

As a figure of speech, anastrophe is primarily used to add emphasis. It's most commonly found in poetry and… Star Wars.

No, really. Yoda is the master of anastrophe. Or, as Yoda might say, "Master of anastrophe, Yoda is."