Epigraph

by Adam Huddleston

In the past, I would blog concerning different literary devices.  I really enjoyed that and wanted to revisit some of those old techniques.  I’m not sure if I ever mentioned the “epigraph”, so here goes.

An epigraph is a quotation, song, poem, passage, etc. written by another author and inserted into the beginning of a larger section of writing such as a chapter or book.  The epigraph is meant to provide the reader with guidance on the overall theme is of what they are about to read.  Some examples include: 

Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me Man, did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me? — Paradise Lost, X, 743-45
(from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley)

If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. — Juan Ramón Jiménez
(from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury)

Lawyers, I suppose, were children once. — Charles Lamb
(from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)