Download Epigraph

Epigraph
A short inscription, often a quotation or poem, set at the beginning
of a document or component. Epigraphs are usually related
somehow to the content that follows them and may help set the
tone for the component.
Simply: A beginning statement that sets the tone or alludes to
themes of a work
Examples:
“Lawyers, I suppose, were
children once.”
-Charles Lamb
Epigraph from To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper
Lee
Mistah Kurtz—he dead
A Penny for the Old Guy
Epigraphs to The Hollow
Men by T.S. Eliot
Explanations:
To Kill a Mockingbird expresses differences between
child and adult actions. This quote is stated prior to
beginning the story to allude to the age differences that
dominate the novel as well as the importance that that
a lawyer and children will have on the plot.
The first epigraph alludes to death that has already
occurred, possibly the death of a soul since it is from
The Hollow Men, hollow meaning lacking interior
existence.
The second epigraph also alludes to death because in
Ancient Greek mythology the dead had to pay Charon a
coin to take them across the River Styx into the realm
of death, so the Old Guy needs a penny for peace.
Both epigraphs create a funereal tone.