An apologue, sometimes spelled apolog, takes its name from a Greek word for a statement or account. It is a brief fable or allegorical story built from pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as an agreeable vehicle for a moral teaching or to pass on a useful lesson without stating that lesson outright.
Facts
Place of OriginMiddle East (Persia, Asia Minor, Egypt); the apologue's origin is extremely ancient, from the classical homeland of allegory, metaphor and imagination. 1 Notable ExampleGeorge Orwell's Animal Farm is named as a well-known modern example of the apologue form. 1 Defining TraitA brief fable or allegorical story with pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as a vehicle for a moral doctrine or to convey a useful lesson without stating it explicitly; unlike a fable, the moral is more important than the narrative details. 1 Sources
1. Apologue (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph
An apologue or apolog (from the Greek ἀπόλογος, a "statement" or "account") is a brief fable or allegorical story with pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as a pleasant vehicle for a moral doctrine or to convey a useful lesson without stating it explicitly.
Overview section
Well-known modern examples of this literary form include George Orwell's Animal Farm and the Br'er Rabbit stories derived from African and Cherokee cultures
Origins section
The origin of the apologue is extremely ancient and comes from the Middle East and its surrounding area (Persia, Asia Minor, Egypt, etc.), which is the Classical fatherland of everything connected with allegory, metaphor and imagination.
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