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Verisimilitude

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Verisimilitude is a philosophical concept that refers to characters or events in a story that appears to be life-like, or believable. This concept is achieved by a writer, or storyteller, when he presents striking details which lend an air of authenticity to a tale (Beckson)[1].

Verisimilitude (Example)

An example of the term, verisimilitude, would be if an author writes about a man who falls off a cliff and he dies, it is believable. It is logical that a person can believe an event or character in a fiction story is real so, a story can have a degree of verisimilitude in fiction stories as well as non-fiction stories, as long as the reader feels that it is real (Wheeler)[2]. Fantasy novels and science fiction stories that discuss impossible events can have verisimilitude if the reader is able to read them with suspended disbelief (Eagleton)[3]. To say that a work has a high degree of verisimilitude means that the work is very realistic and believable--it is "true to life" (Harris)[4].

Works Cited

  • Cuddon, J.A. "Verisimilitude." The Penguin Dictionary Of Literary Terms and Literary Theory fourth edition. 1976,1977,1979,1991,1998.
  • Cuddon, J.A. Penguin Books, London. "Verisimilitude." Bibliography: A Dictionary of Literary Terms, 1977 [4]
  • Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. "Verisimilitude." Merriam-Webster's Encylopedia of Literature 1995
  • Mifflin, Houghton. "Verisimilitude." Webster’s II New College Dictionary. 2001,1999,1995
  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Ref4
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References

<references>


Works Cited

  • Cuddon, J.A. "Verisimilitude." The Penguin Dictionary Of Literary Terms and Literary Theory fourth edition. 1976,1977,1979,1991,1998.
  • Cuddon, J.A. Penguin Books, London. "Verisimilitude." Bibliography: A Dictionary of Literary Terms, 1977 [5]
  • Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. "Verisimilitude." Merriam-Webster's Encylopedia of Literature 1995
  • Mifflin, Houghton. "Verisimilitude." Webster’s II New College Dictionary. 2001,1999,1995
  1. ↑ Dr. L. Wheeler, Kip. "Verisimilitude." Literary Terms and Definitions:V. 1998-2003. <http://guweb2.gonzaga.edu/faculty/wheeler/lit_terms_V.html>
  2. ↑ Harris, Robert. "Verisimilitude." A Glossary of Literary Terms. 22May1997.[1]
  3. ↑ Eagleton, Terry. "Verisimiltude." Literary Theory: An Introduction. 1983 [2]
  4. ↑ Beckson, Karl and Arthur Ganz. "Verisimiltude." Literary Terms: A Dictionary. 1975 [3]
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