| Appositio (apposition): Figure of addition in which words are placed side by side (in apposition to) each other with one word describing or clarifying the other; adjacent nouns or noun substitutes with one elaborating the other. |
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"I,
Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker."
-- Barbara Jordan, 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote Address |
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"I am elated by the knowledge that for the first time
in our history a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, will be recommended to share our
ticket."
-- Jesse Jackson, 1984 Democratic National Convention Address |
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"And
I will carry this: It is the police shield of a man named George
Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It
was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud
memorial to her son." -- George W. Bush, 9-20-01 Address to Congress and the Nation |
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"Here,
in the great, liberal state of Massachusetts, the cradle
of liberty and abolitionism, a woman was arrested on a minor
criminal charge."
-- Pauli Murray Note: Here is a case of chained appositions with the "great, liberal state..." set in apposition to "Here" and the "cradle of liberty" set in apposition to Massachusetts. |
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"And so I ask you
tonight, the people of Massachusetts, to think this through
with me. In facing this decision, I seek your advice and opinion. In
making it, I seek your prayers." -- Edward M. Kennedy, Chappaquiddick |
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"John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
a great and good President, a friend of all people of
goodwill, a believer in the dignity and equality of all human
beings, a fighter for justice, an apostle of peace, has been snatched from
our midst by the bullet of an assassin."
-- Justice Earl Warren, Eulogy for John F. Kennedy Note: This case of linked appositives is different from the first. Here, each apposition continues to elaborate ONLY on the initial noun. |
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