29 September 2011

Epigraph


Epigraph to Geography III, by Elizabeth Bishop, 1976



From “First Lessons in Geography,”
Monteith’s Geographical Series,
A.S. Barnes & Co., 1884


LESSON VI

What is Geography?
A description of the Earth’s surface.
What is the Earth?
The planet or body on which we live.
What is the shape of the Earth?
Round, like a ball.
Of what is the Earth’s surface composed?
Land and water.


LESSON X

What is a map?
A picture of the whole, or a part, of the Earth’s surface.
What are the directions on a Map?
Toward the top, North; toward the bottom, South; to the right, East; to the left, West.
In what direction from the center of the picture is the Island?
North.



In what direction is the Volcano?  The Cape?  The Bay?  The Lake?  The Strait?  The Mountains? The Isthmus?
What is in the East?  In the West?  In the South?  In the North?  In the Northwest?  In the Southeast?  In the Northeast?  In the Southwest?

27 September 2011

Definition


From Garner’s Modern American Usage, 3rd ed., by Bryan A. Garner, 2009


epigram; epigraph.  Because these similar-sounding terms are similar in meaning, they are therefore often subject to WORD-SWAPPING.  Epigram = (1) a short, witty poem; or (2) a concise, pointed and usu. clever saying.  Epigraph = (1) an inscription, esp. on a building or statue; or (2) a thematic quotation at the beginning of a book, chapter, etc.  Thus, although an epigram can constitute an epigraph, the reverse does not hold true.