Emphasis can mean almost anything, bold, italics, a slowly articulated phrase, a close-up shot, a pink-haired anime character, etc. Here I will focus on textual emphasis, but these theories may be extended into many other domains, mutatis mutandis.

Each theory of emphasis defines its significance and provides a guide for which parts of a piece of text to emphasise. However, like anything in an arbitrary langauge of symbols, these are never theories in the objective sense, and might as well be called stylistic practices or modes of reading. I call them theories only because it better captures the univocity of communication between the author and the reader. As readers, we make inferences about what theory the writer holds, and accept the same theory for the purposes of understanding the text. However, each theory has its own side effects. A wrong choice of theory could hinder understanding or make the writer seem obnoxious.

Unicorns are native to the Alps, with a historical range stretching from eastern Switzerland to the western Carpathians, and some ancient isolated populations in the Apennines and the Grampians.

Much reduced in their native territory, they are simultaneously an invasive species in northeastern North America, being descended from the escapes of an

The National Park of Costa Rica, (Parque Nacional de Costa Rica) is a small plaza located in San Jose, Costa Rica. While Costa Rica has many large and wild national parks, the National Park is something much different.

Measuring about a city block, or 700 by 300 feet, the park is an urban plaza with paths, benches, a small artificial pond, and in the center, a national monument depicting in allegorical form the expulsion of the filibuster William Walker. Around the plaza lie