What is an epilogue?

In written stories, an epilogue is a section of text at the end of the story that is in some way different or separate from the main story. They are often used for describing what happens a long time after the events of the main story take place – the time jump between the main story and the epilogue is greater than the time jumps between the chapters.


In a novel, an epilogue is a section of text that appears at the end of the book, which is like a chapter, though which is often shorter than the other chapters in the book (though this isn’t a strict rule).

Epilogues often describe what happens a long time after the events of the main story. In this regard, an epilogue is the opposite of a prologue, which can be used to describe what happens a long time before the events of the main story.

An epilogue might also be written from a different perspective to the main story, or in a different style. For example, an epilogue might be written with a metrical structure, while the rest of the story isn’t.

Ultimately, an epilogue is just a section of text that appears at the end of a story, and is in some way different to the rest of the story.

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