I would love to see the research on this topic! There have been many a time I’ve written something only to notice the same word starting each paragraph. And when reading it, it sounded just as off as it looked on the screen.
A dictionary definition of “Anaphora” would state, the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs.
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and on the streets, we shall fight in the hills.” – Winston Churchill
“This blessed plot, this Earth, this realm, this England.” – William Shakespeare
From the above examples, you can see how this technique is used for a heightened dramatic effect.
The word “paragraph” in the definition poses a bit of a problem. Other language / writing guru’s like Hofmann referred to the paragraph as a natural barrier to anaphora. Creativity Hacker refers to starting paragraphs with the same word whether consecutively or just too often as “Echoing Headwords.” This concept seems to apply to both paragraphs and consecutive sentences.
Let’s say that your MC is…
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Melanie V. Logan 