Group 2Setting, Specialized Forms: Dramatic Monologue, Epigram

Sam Brothers and Morgan Livezey

Terms of Focus

Setting & Specialized Forms: Dramatic Monologue Epigram

Specialized Forms

Major literary forms of poetry and fiction contain specialized forms; Dramatic monologue is a specialized form of

poetry Epigrams are a specialized form of both fiction

and poetry

Dramatic Monologue

A poem that is spoken by a fictional narrator who is clearly different from the author in age, situating, or gender.

Set at some significant point in the speaker’s life Often addressed to another character whose

presence is implied by what the speaker says. Purpose: to reveal significant aspects of his/her

qualities, values and experiences.

Example: Mother to Son, Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor --Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now --For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair

Epigram

A witty saying in either verse or prose, concisely phrased and often satiric

Originally intended for inscription on a monument (tombstone or building)

Later given the satirical, often obscene verses

Examples:

“I am not young enough to know everything.” –Oscar Wilde

“Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.”

–Fran Lebowitz

“Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.” -Ogden Nash