What's the middle bit called?

[David Evil Overlord]

If logue comes from logos - which my dictionary says is discourse, and assuming pro- and epi- mean before and after,

then what about pausilogue, sort of 'pause in the discourse'

Sounds a bit like a dinosaur though, one that thought a lot before doing anything...

The pausilogue became extinct because of its habit of pausing to think about the best course of action. When a hungry tyrannosaur discourses upon your destiny as the main course, of course the best course of action is to run like greased lightning.

To sit and ponder is just asking to be totally intercoursed.

 

[Venusian Broon]

And of course the carcass of the pausilogue that the T.Rex is tearing through, to give it it's proper name, is an epilogue.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

And of course the carcass of the pausilogue that the T.Rex is tearing through, to give it it's proper name, is an epilogue.

I thought that's what the pausilogue became after it passed through the digestive tract of the T. Rex, and out the other end.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Oops! Silly me! When the pausilogue passed through the digestive tract of the T. Rex, and out the other end, it became a prequel.

 

[Gumboot]

The use of "prologue" and "epilogue" comes from the theatre (from "pro" (before) and "epi" (upon, in addition) + "logos" (speech, discourse)). In theatre the segment of the performance "between the acts" (usually performed at the beginning of Act Two) is called the "Entr'acte" (the Italian for "between the acts" is intermezzo from which comes our word "intermission").

I've used theatrical structural terms for my manuscript, with a prologue only at the beginning of the series and epilogue only at the end, and all other "bookend" sequences are called "entr'acte" so that my structure is as follows:

Volume One:
Prologue
Act One
Act Two
Entr'acte One

Volume Two:
Entr'acte One
Act Three
Act Four
Entr'acte Two

Volume Three:
Entr'acte Two
Act Five
Act Six
Entr'acte Three

Volume Four:
Entr'acte Three
Act Seven
Act Eight
Epilogue

You'll note that the Entr'acte is repeated so that the epilogue of one volume is also the prologue of the next, to act as a bit of a carry-over for readers, to refresh their memories on what they last read.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

You'll note that the Entr'acte is repeated so that the epilogue of one volume is also the prologue of the next, to act as a bit of a carry-over for readers, to refresh their memories on what they last read.

So it's like the old "In our last exciting episode, our heroes were hanging by their fingers from the edge of a cliff..."

 

[Warren_Paul]

The middle bit is the spine, that joins the two halves together.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

The middle bit is the spine, that joins the two halves together.

Except for books about jellyfish, and other invertebrates.

 

[Gumboot]

So it's like the old "In our last exciting episode, our heroes were hanging by their fingers from the edge of a cliff..."

Yeah sorta. Although the prologue/entr'acte/epilogue sections are a container narrative that's set 2,700 years before the main narrative and not directly connected to it, but rather reflects on the main story thematically.

 

[Glen]

The use of "prologue" and "epilogue" comes from the theatre (from "pro" (before) and "epi" (upon, in addition) + "logos" (speech, discourse)). In theatre the segment of the performance "between the acts" (usually performed at the beginning of Act Two) is called the "Entr'acte" (the Italian for "between the acts" is intermezzo from which comes our word "intermission").

Thanks Gumboot!

 

[Aaron Stone]

Well since the first bit is the prologue - before the logue - and the last bit is the epilogue - after the logue - then the middle bit is the logue. Which can also be spelled log. It's a story tree!!

 

[Ursa major]

I'm not sure I'd want the main part of my story compared to a log....

 

[Aaron Stone]

A log is long, channels life, and is sturdy. What's not to like? Oh, and it's rough and brown. That too.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Log...ermm... it's also slang, at least in the UK*....how to put this delicately....for the waste product you deposit in the toilet through the process of defecation.

Which can also be rough and brown, so there is some overlap!



* Of course as world's leading light in double entendre, smut and vulgarity we take innocent words with relish and happily twist them to all sorts of ends.

Have a look at Roger's Profanisaurus from the British institution Viz to see this process ongoing as we speak

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for explaining that, VB. (I didn't really want to do so myself.)


(On a related issue.... I recall noticing the security measures in one of a company's more... er... convenient places and wondering whether the presence of a motion detector there was appropriate or not.)

 

[Aaron Stone]

So call it a trunk. Even though it's not trunkated. Heh.

 

[dusan]

Re:
I am pleased to say this makes me a pioneer and frontiersman, and I pronounce that I name this section of work...wait for it...the middlelogue. Well, that's what I called it in the ms anyway. I reckon Pro & Epi must be from latin or some such, so if I am able to discover the equivalent prefix for middle I might use that.

Yep, Middlelogue translated as Mesologue is my guess, even if this discussion is almost as ancient as the word itself...

From ancient Greek: Mésos (μέσος)

Therefore: Mésologos in Greek
Or: Mesologue, as a new English word?

I know I'm late to this, but I would love to know what everyone else thinks about this option as I'm seriously thinking of using it.

 

[Trollheart]

I'm afraid my books are all very right and proper. You'll find no inter-lewd in them, sir!

 

[DLCroix]

I know I'm late to this, but I would love to know what everyone else thinks about this option as I'm seriously thinking of using it.

Hello! Regardless of what it's called, IMO I think you should try to make sure that second prologue isn't too long. At most it should have a page, and, of course, indented on the first line. To differentiate it from the rest of the text it could be in italics. Hence the need for it to be brief, because the reader tires of reading in italics. Therefore, it is the chapter text below that goes without bleeding on the first line. Remember that bleeding on the first line is removed each time you start a chapter or change the scene within the same chapter.
I mean, implicitly I'm stating that there should only be one prologue in a story. Unless you divide this story into two or three parts. There it would not be so wrong to place an introductory text (or second or third prologue, as the case may be) before the chapters that make up that second or third part. And I think these second or third prologues are not titled as such, of course, because the reader can notice that it is a review or a comment. But anyway, even if they are not titled, you can already talk about the prologue of the second part or the prologue of the third part, etc. In a way it's a trick we borrow from the cinematic language.
But it's the prologue and the epilogue that's titled. In fact, when you see you've reached the epilogue, you feel some emotional impact, as the conclusion of the story, right?

 

[Mad Alice]

Not to add to the mad ursary in this thread but isn't the main part of any built up argument (or composition as it were) most usually called "the body"? As in "the body of evidence".