dramatis personae.
(2) To sketch the bare outline of the action before proceeding to fill in the episodes.
The Episodes of Tragedy are here incidentally contrasted with those of Epic Poetry.

XVIII. Further rules for the Tragic Poet:
(1) To be careful about the Complication () and Dénuement () of the Plot; especially the Dénouement.
(2) To unite, if possible, varied forms of poetic excellence.
(3) Not to overcharge a Tragedy with details appropriate to Epic Poetry.
(4) To make the Choral Odes—like the Dialogue—an organic part of the whole.

XIX. Thought (), or the Intellectual element, and Diction in Tragedy.
Thought is revealed in the dramatic speeches composed according to the rules of Rhetoric.
Diction falls largely within the domain of the Art of Delivery, rather than of Poetry.

XX. Diction, or Language in general. An analysis of the parts of speech, and other grammatical details. (Probably interpolated.)

XXI. Poetic Diction. The words and modes of speech admissible in Poetry : including Metaphor, in particular.
A passage probably interpolated on the Gender of Nouns.

XXII. (Poetic Diction continued.) How Poetry combines elevation of
language with perspicuity.

XXIII. Epic Poetry. It agrees with Tragedy in Unity of Action: herein
contrasted with History.

XXIV. (Epic Poetry continued.) Further points of agreement with
Tragedy. The points of difference are enumerated and illustrated, namely, (1) the length of the poem ; (2) the metre; (3) the art of imparting a plausible air to incredible fiction.

XXV. Critical Objections brought against Poetry, and the principles on which they are to be answered. In particular, an elucidation of the meaning of Poetic Truth, and its difference from common reality.

XXVI. A general estimate of the comparative worth of Epic Poetry and Tragedy. The alleged defects of Tragedy are not essential to it. Its positive merits entitle it to the higher rank of the two.