epilogue
Story's closing section
An epilogue is a concluding section that comes after the main action of a story ends.
In novels and films, it often shows what happened to characters years later: The epilogue revealed they'd stayed married for fifty years.
In plays, an actor may deliver an epilogue directly to the audience, commenting on the story's meaning.
More broadly, any concluding event or period can be called an epilogue: The treaty was an epilogue to decades of conflict.
Concluding remarks in books
- postscriptEnd-of-letter addition
- appendixSupplementary section after main text
- addendumSupplementary text at end
- endnoteBack-of-book citation
colophon · acknowledgments · glossary · index · bibliography · foreword · preface · introduction
Concluding part of discourse
- summationAdding to find total
- recapitulationSummarizing what came before
- closing argumentLawyer's final courtroom address
- final remarksConcluding comments given last
Story's final unraveling
- finaleConcluding part of performance
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- final chapterLast section of book
- last actFinal portion of drama
resolution · wrap-up · closing scene · final scene · curtain call · ending · last words · parting words
Leave-taking expression
- swan songFinal work or performance
- valedictionFormal parting statement
- adieuFormal leave-taking
- goodbyeDeparting salutation
parting · finality · sign-off · last goodbye · final bow · send-off · leave-taking · benediction
Reflection on past events
- look backDirect eyes behind
- retrospectiveReviewing what came before
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
- recapitulationSummarizing what came before
final thoughts · moral · lessons learned · hindsight · meditation · contemplation
afterword
Concluding remarks in books
- postscriptEnd-of-letter addition
- appendixSupplementary section after main text
- addendumSupplementary text at end
endnote · colophon · acknowledgments · glossary · index · bibliography · foreword · preface · introduction · frontispiece
peroration
Concluding part of discourse
- summationAdding to find total
- recapitulationSummarizing what came before
- closing argumentLawyer's final courtroom address
denouement
Story's final unraveling
- finaleConcluding part of performance
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- final chapterLast section of book
last act · resolution · wrap-up · closing scene · final scene · curtain call · ending · last words · parting words · final thoughts
farewell
Leave-taking expression
- swan songFinal work or performance
- valedictionFormal parting statement
- adieuFormal leave-taking
goodbye · parting · finality · sign-off · last goodbye · final bow · send-off · leave-taking · benediction
retrospect
Reflection on past events
- look backDirect eyes behind
- retrospectiveReviewing what came before
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
recapitulation · final thoughts · moral · lessons learned · hindsight · meditation · contemplation
- theatreBroadway, acting, theatre, stage, actor
- happy endingshappy ending, fairy tale ending, happily ever after, true ending, love conquers all
- Ancient TheaterGreek theater, Roman theater, theatron, skene, orchestra
- back matterappendix, appendices, bibliography, endnotes, glossary
- Early TheaterShakespeare, Elizabethan theatre, Globe Theatre, Marlowe, morality plays
- narrative techniquesflashback, nonlinear plot, fragmented narrative, flash-forward, point of view
epilogueprologue
Introductory literary section
preface · introduction · foreword · preamble · prelude
epilogueprologue
Introductory literary section
backstory · prequel · opening monologue · antecedent · prehistory