Inversion
By Madeline Beaulne
Definition:
Inversion, also known as anastrophe, is a literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed in order to achieve a particular effect of emphasis or meter.
Inversion, in English language, is achieved by the following ways:
- Placing an adjective after the noun it qualifies e.g. the soldier strong
- Placing a verb before its subject e.g. shouts the policeman
- Placing a noun before its preposition e.g. worlds between
Yoda vs Sidious
Purpose
Like all literary devices, the main function of inversion in prose or poetry is to help the writers to achieve stylistic effects like laying an emphasis on a particular point or changing the focus of the readers from a particular point. In poetry, inversions are regularly used to create rhythm, meter or rhyming scheme in the lines.