Address & Argument

Invocation

in-voh-KAY-shun

A formal appeal to a muse, god, or power to inspire the work — the classic epic opening. It performs humility and ambition at once, and signals which tradition the work claims.

"Sing, Heav'nly Muse…" — Paradise Lost

Don't confuse it with Apostrophe. Apostrophe is any address to the absent; invocation specifically petitions for aid at a threshold.

Drill its family — Address & Argument

In the Reader — 2 excerpts

I summon the supernatural beings

— Ovid, Metamorphoses (translated by A.D. Melville) · open the passage →

Sing, Heavenly Muse...

— John Milton, Paradise Lost · open the passage →

The rest of the family

Rhetorical Question Apostrophe Aphorism Enthymeme Correctio / Epanorthosis Parrhesia Metabasis Amplificatio Aporia Enargeia / Vivid Specificity