EPIC

A lengthy, elevated poem that celebrates the exploits of a hero

(noun)

EPIC

• Long, narrative poem• Hero has superhuman or divine traits• Setting is vast

– Crosses countries, continents, even other worlds and times

• Writing style is elevated; formal• Divine intervention takes place

Conventions:

EPIC

• Beowulf• The Iliad• The Odyssey• The Aeneid

Famous examples:

EPICFrom The Iliad:

Athena came up and stood by Achilles and said, "Now it is time, Achilles, beloved of Zeus, that the two of us bring great glory to the Achaeans and return to the ships. Our chance has come to kill Hector. However fiercely he struggles, it is no longer possible that he can escape, though Apollo may grovel as much as he wants before Father Zeus. But stay here now and recover your breath, while I go and persuade him to fight with you man to man."

EPIGRAMA brief, witty poem

EPIGRAMConventions

• Written in couplets or quatrains• Can include:

– A play on words– A contradiction

EPIGRAMExamples

• “The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on;it is never of any use to oneself.” – Oscar Wilde

• “I am unable, yonder beggar cries,To stand, or move; if he say true, he lies.” – John Donne

• “Sir, I admit your general rule,That every poet is a fool,But you yourself may serve to show it,That every fool is not a poet.” - Samuel Coleridge

The pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work

• Used in more pleasant subject matters• Contains soft, smooth consonants

– Euphonic words: “diffuse,” “measure,” “ripple”– Cacophonic words: “trudging,” “belch,” “grotesque”

• Pay attention to phonetic sounds

The most beautiful English phrase?

According to a New York Times article, it’s “Cellar Door”