Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: The use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence, to avoid repetition, such as do in I like it and so do they.

Source: Webster Dictionary

Found In: “Not a Mile” By Andrew Grace

“My students are sincerely trying to analyze death: its cadence and anaphora, its German origins. Line 21-23

Anaphora has nothing to do with death so the speaker is using figurative language to try and paint a picture in the readers head. I guess he is trying to explain how often death occurs.