Epigraph (Literature)

 Epigraph (literature)

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Epigraph (literature) Not to be confused with epitaph, epigram, or epithet.

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In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the

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beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface,

as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional context.

Epigraph (Literature)

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Facsimile of the original title page for William Congreve's The Way of the World published in 1700, on which the

epigraph from Horace's Satires can be seen in the bottom quarter.

Examples € The long long quota quotatio tion n from from Dant Dante's e's Inferno that prefaces T. S. Eliot's The  Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is part of a speech by one of the damned in

Dante's Hell. Linking it to the monologue which forms Eliot's poem adds a comment and a dimension to Prufrock's confession. The epigraph to Eliot's Gerontion is a quotation from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Eliot's The Hollow Men uses the line "Mistah Kurtz, he dead" from Joseph

Epigraph and dedication page, The Waste  Land 

Conrad's Heart of Darkness as one of its two epigraphs. € JRR Tolkien's Tolkien's epigraph epigraph describin describing g the Twenty Rings Rings of Power at the beginning beginning of The Lord of the Rings include includess the verse of the One Ring (Ash Nazg Durbatul•k), which can be seen within the complete epigraph or on its own. € The epigra epigraph ph to Dostoe Dostoevsk vsky's y's The Brothers Karamazov is John 12:24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." € The epigra epigraphs phs to to the the preamble preamble of Georges Georges Perec's Perec's Life: A User's Manual ( La  La Vie mode d'emploi) and to the book  as a whole warn the reader that tricks are going to be played and that all will not be what it seems.

 Epigraph (literature)

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€ Jack London uses the first stanza of John Myers O'Hara's poem "Atavism" as the epigraph to The Call of the Wild . € As an epigraph to The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway famously quotes

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Gertrude Stein, "You are all a lost generation."

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€ The epigraph to E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime quotes Scott Joplin's

instructions to those who play his music, "Do not play this piece fast. It is

never right to play Ragtime fast." This stands in contrast to the accelerating pace of American society at the turn of the 20th century.

(Literature) € A Samuel Johnson quote is used as an epigraph in Hunter S. Epigraph Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: "He who makes a beast of himself 

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gets rid of the pain of being a man."

No thanks, I don't want my exclusive trial Epigraph, consisting of an excerpt from the book itself, William Morris's The  House of the Wolfings

€ Stephen King uses many epigraphs in his writing, usually to mark the beginning of another section in the novel. An unusual example is The Stand where he uses lyrics from certain songs to express the metaphor used in a particular part. € As the epigraph to The Sum of All Fears, Tom Clancy

[1]

quotes Winston Churchill in the context of 

thermonuclear war: Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears.

Fictional quotations Some authors use fictional quotations that purport to be related to the fiction of the work itself. For example, Stephen King's The Dark Half has epigraphs taken from the fictitious novels written by the protagonist; Jasper Fforde's The  Eyre Affair has quotations from supposedly future works about the action of the story; John Green's The Fault in Our  Stars has a quotation from a fictitious novel,  An Imperial Affliction, which features prominently as a part of the story.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby opens with a poem entitled "Then Wear the Gold Hat," purportedly written by Thomas Parke D'Invilliers. D'Invilliers is a character in Fitzgerald's first novel, This Side of Paradise and it should also be noted that, aside from its role as a tie-in to the Fitzgerald canon, the poem elucidates one of the major themes of the work. This clich‚ is parodied by Diana Wynne Jones in The Tough Guide To Fantasyland . Dean Koontz' The Book of Counted Sorrows began as a fictional book of poetry from which Koontz would "quote" when no suitable existing option was available; Koontz simply wrote all these epigraphs himself. Many fans, rather than realizing the work was Koontz' own invention, apparently believed it was a real, but rare, volume; Koontz later collected the existing verse into an actual book. Some science fiction works (Isaac Asimov's  Foundation Trilogy and Frank Herbert's  Dune series are examples) use quotations from an imagined future history of the period of their story. This can be seen as a way of constructing authenticity for a work of the imagination. The film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby opens with a fictional quotation from the real historical figure Eleanor Roosevelt, using the epigraph to comedic effect.

 Epigraph (literature)

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Bibliography € John Barth The Friday Book (1984) pp.xvii-xviii

External links € Epigraphic

[2]

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: an ever-growing, searchable collection of literary epigraphs

References

[1] Tom Clancy, The Sum of All Fears, 1991, Harper Collins Publishing, London [2] http:/   / epigraphic.tumblr.com

Epigraph (Literature)

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 Article Sources and Contributors

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Article Sources and Contributors Epigraph (literature) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=604046278 Contributors: Abajo estaba el pez, Actarus Prince d'Euphor, AlainV, Andrea.gf, B7T, BMF81, Barbarossa359, Bensin, Beto, Brambleberry of RiverClan, Bridesmill, Charles Matthews, DarkFalls, DavidA, DougsTech, Elendil's Heir, Elonka, Eudaimonia22, Forbsey, Frencheigh, Gimboid, Graymornings, Greatgavini, Grinanbarrett181, IronGargoyle, Itsalleasy, JSquish, JackHeslop91, Jackol, Jcbarr, Jerome Charles Potts, Jjtimbrell, Johnkarp, Jon Awbrey, JorgeGG, LarRan, Lotje, Lowellian, Matthew Proctor, Mercurywoodrose, Mtmelendez, Myztikgohan, Nick UA, Nicolasdz, NitemareDragon, Oleg Alexandrov, Orgone, Paul Barlow, Rigadoun, Robinoke, Simonides, TAnthony, Tarquin, Taw22, The Stick Man, Tobias Bergemann, Wetman, Wykypydya, Xensyria, 92 anonymous edits

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Image:Way of the World cover (Congreve, 1700).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Way_of_the_World_cover_(Congreve,_1700).jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Original uploader was Robinoke at en.wikipedia

Epigraph (Literature)

File:TheWasteLandEpigraph.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:TheWasteLandEpigraph.jpg  License: Public Domain Contributors: WikiParker File:House of the Wolfings Title Page 1890.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:House_of_the_Wolfings_Title_Page_1890.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Achird, Mercurywoodrose, PKM

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License Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0  //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ 

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