1. EPIC (noun)
A lengthy, elevated poem that celebrates
the exploits of a hero

2. EPIC
Conventions:
• 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

3. EPIC
Famous examples:
• Beowulf
• The Iliad
• The Odyssey
• The Aeneid

4. From The Iliad:
EPIC
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."

5. EPIGRAM
A brief, witty poem

6. EPIGRAM Conventions
• Written in couplets or quatrains
• Can include:
– A play on words
– A contradiction

7. EPIGRAM Examples
• “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

8. The pleasant, mellifluous presentation
of sounds in a literary work

9. • 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

10. The most beautiful English phrase?
According to a New York Times article,
it’s “Cellar Door”