what is epitaph.

An epitaph (from Greek ἐπιτάφιον epitaphion "a funeral oration" from ἐπί epi "at, over" and τάφος taphos "tomb")[1] is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial. An epitaph may be in poem verse; poets have been known to compose their own epitaphs prior to their death, as W.B. Yeats did.[citation needed]
Most epitaphs are brief records of the family, and perhaps the career, of the deceased, often with an expression of love or respect - "beloved father of ..." - but others are more ambitious. From the Renaissance to the 19th century in Western culture, epitaphs for notable people became increasingly lengthy and pompous descriptions of their family origins, career, virtues and immediate family, often in Latin. However, the Laudatio Turiae, the longest known Ancient Roman epitaph exceeds almost all of these at 180 lines; it celebrates the virtues of a wife, probably of a consul.[citation needed]
Some are quotes from holy texts, or aphorisms. One approach of many epitaphs is to 'speak' to the reader and warn them about their own mortality. A wry trick of others is to request the reader to get off their resting place, inasmuch as the reader would have to be standing on the ground above the coffin to read the inscription. Some record achievements (e.g., past politicians note the years of their terms of office). Nearly all (excepting those where this is impossible by definition, such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) note name, year or date of birth, and date of death. Many list family members and the relationship of the deceased to them

short story elements

SETTING -- The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting.  For some stories the setting is very important, while for others it is not.  There are several aspects of a story's setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story (some, or all, may be present in a story):
 

a)  place - geographical location.  Where is the action of the story taking place?
b)  time - When is the story taking place? (historical period, time of day, year, etc)
c)  weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?
d)  social conditions - What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local colour (writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular place)?
e)  mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story?  Is it bright and cheerful or dark and frightening?  BACK TO TOP

PLOT -- The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea;  It is the sequence of events in a story or play.  The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end.  The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting.  There are five essential parts of plot:
 

a)  Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed. b)  Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax).
c)  Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story.  The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
d)  Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves.  The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).
e)  Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.

It is helpful to consider climax as a three-fold phenomenon:  1)  the main character receives new information  2)  accepts this information (realizes it but does not necessarily agree with it) 3)  acts on this information (makes a choice that will determine whether or not he/she gains his objective).
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CONFLICT--   Conflict is essential to plot.  Without conflict there is no plot.  It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move.  Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments, rather it is any form of opposition that faces the main character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones.

There are two types of conflict:
1)  External - A struggle with a force outside one's self.

2)  Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.
There are four kinds of conflict:
1)  Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals. 2)  Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.
3)  Man vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of other people.

4)  Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) -  The leading character struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.
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CHARACTER -- There are two meanings for the word character:
1)  The person in a work of fiction.
2)  The characteristics of a person.

Persons in a work of fiction - Antagonist and Protagonist
Short stories use few characters.  One character is clearly central to the story with all major events having some importance to this character - he/she is the PROTAGONIST.  The opposer of the main character is called the ANTAGONIST.

The Characteristics of a Person -
In order for a story to seem real to the reader its characters must seem real.  Characterization is the information the author gives the reader about the characters themselves.  The author may reveal a character in several ways:
a)  his/her physical appearance
b)  what he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams
c)  what he/she does or does not do
d)  what others say about him/her and how others react to him/her
Characters are convincing if they are:  consistent, motivated, and life-like (resemble real people)

Characters are...
1.  Individual - round, many sided and complex personalities.
2.  Developing - dynamic,  many sided personalities that change, for better or worse, by the end of the story.
3.  Static - Stereotype, have one or two characteristics that never change and are emphasized e.g. brilliant detective, drunk, scrooge, cruel stepmother, etc.
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POINT OF VIEW
Point of view, or p.o.v., is defined as the angle from which the story is told.
1.  Innocent Eye - The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being different from that of an adult) .
2.  Stream of Consciousness - The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.
3.  First Person - The story is told  by the protagonist or one of the characters who interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me, we, etc).  The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels.
4.  Omniscient- The author can narrate the story using the omniscient point of view.  He can move from character to character, event to event, having free access to the thoughts, feelings and motivations of his characters and he introduces information where and when he chooses.  There are two main types of omniscient point of view:
a)  Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc).  We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.
b)  Omniscient Objective – The author tells the story in the third person.  It appears as though a camer

types of poem

Examples Highlight the Poetic Types
Each type of poetry is characterized by its own style. By understanding the various styles, you are better able to learn the variances between each of the different types.
Haiku Poems
The Old Pond by Matshuo Basho is an example of a haiku:

• “The old pond-- a frog jumps in, sound of water.”

Truth in Advertising by Yahia Lababidi is another example of a haiku:

• “Morning epiphany, applicable to love and life, in haiku-like purity.”

Free Verse Poems
Because free verse poems are the least well defined, there are numerous examples of free verse poems. This excerpt from This is Marriage, is by Marianne Moore is one such example:

This institution, perhaps one should say enterpriseout of respect for which one says one need not change one's mind about a thing one has believed in, requiring public promises of one's intention to fulfil a private obligation: I wonder what Adam and Eve think of it by this time, this fire-gilt steel alive with goldenness;

This excerpt from Little Father by Li-Young Lee is another example of free verse poetry:

I buried my father in my heart.Now he grows in me, my strange son,My little root who won’t drink milk,Little pale foot sunk in unheard-of night,Little clock spring newly wet In the fire,little grape, parent to the future Wine,a son the fruit of his own son,Little father I ransom with my life.

Cinquains
A cinquain is a five-line poem inspired by Japanese haiku's. There are many different variations of cinquain including American Cinquains, didactic cinquains, reverse cinquains, butterfly cinquains and crown cinquains

TreeStrong, TallSwaying, swinging, sighingMemories of summerOak

Epic Poems
An epic is a long and narrative poem that normally tells a story about a hero or an adventure. Epics can be oral stories or can be poems in written form.  The "Illiad" and the "Odyssey" are examples of famous epic poems, as is "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

By the shore of Gitchie Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water, At the doorway of his wigwam, In the pleasant Summer morning, Hiawatha stood and waited.

Ballad Poems
Ballad poems also tell a story, like epic poems do. However, ballad poetry is often based on a legend or a folk tale. Ballad poems may take the form of songs and may contain a moral or a lesson.
The Mermaid by Unknown author

Oh the ocean waves may roll, And the stormy winds may blow, While we poor sailors go skipping aloft And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below And the land lubbers lay down below.

Name Poems
While a name verse poem can be as simple as using an adjective to describe a person that begins with each letter of that person's name, these poems can also be far more beautiful works of art. For example, here is a name poem for a person named Alexis:

“Alexis seems quite shy and somewhat frail,

Leaning, like a tree averse to light,

Evasively away from her delight.

X-rays, though, reveal a sylvan sprite,

Intense as a bright bird behind her veil,

Singing to the moon throughout the night.”

As you can see, each line of the poem begins with the letters of the name Alexis. This can be done with any name - for example, the following name poem is a  poem for a person named Taylor

“Taylor likes each sentiment to be

Appropriate to its own time and place.

Years may roll like waves across her shore,

Leaving none of what there was before,

Obliterating every sign of grace.

Reason not, says Taylor, with the sea!”

Sonnets
The poems of William Shakespeare provide excellent types of poetry examples for sonnets.
Sonnet 116" by Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments.

Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not

Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shakespeare was not the only source of sonnets.
Sonnet of Demeter - An Italian Sonnet

Oh the pirate stars, they have no mercy!Masquerading as hope they tell their lies;Only the young can hear their lullabies.But I am barren and I am thirstySince she has gone. No hope is there for me.I will roam and curse this earth and these skies--Death from life which Zeus sovereign denies.My heart's ill shall the whole world's illness beTill she is returned-- my daughter, my blood--From the dark hand of Hades to my care.With my tears these mortals shall know a floodTo show Poseidon's realm desert and bare.No myrtle shall flower, no cypress budTill the gods release her...and my despair.

Ode to Job

Job came downin awoosh, outstretchedand gliding into the horizon.Blue shadowedflightarrested bythe beckoning marsh.His greatness bearsmuchyet notthe anguish of ancientprophecy.Situated grievances weighfeatheryon this long,strong back.  Unconsciousemotionnumbs whiletime drifts outanothersun saltedday.

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Different Types of Poetry
There are over 51 types of poetry. Poetry is categorized by the number of lines in the poem, the words in the poem, whether it rhymes or not, and what it is about.
Some types of poetry examples include haiku, free verse, sonnets, and name poems, although there are many more types as well.

• Haikus are one category of poems. The haiku originated from Japan, It’s the shortest type of poem and, often, the most difficult to understand. It consists of three lines that generally do not rhyme. The lines should have five, seven, and five syllables in them. 
• Free verse poems are another type of poetry. A free verse is the loosest type of poem. It can consist of as many lines as the writer wants. It can either rhyme or not, and it does not require any fixed metrical pattern. Free verse is commonly used among writers because it allows for maximum flexibility.
• Sonnets are another classification of poetry. A sonnet is best described as a lyric poem that consists of fourteen lines. Sonnet’s have at least one or two conventional rhyme schemes. Shakespeare in particular was famous for writing sonnets.
• Name poems are popular among children and are often used in schools. The name of the person becomes the poem. Each letter in the name is the first letter in the line of the poem.

There is a very wide definition of what constitutes poetry, and although some types of poetry can be grouped together in specific styles, creativity is the key to poetry and a new poet can choose to write in any style he wants, even if it doesn't fit into one of the recognized types.