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Prose
Prose
• The word prose originated from the Latin one "prosa" meaning straightforward discourse.
• Prose is loosely defined as text written with the pattern of ordinary or everyday language
without a metrical structure, such as in the case of traditional poetry.
• though some works of prose make use of rhythm, Verse is normally more systematic or
formulaic, while prose is closer to both ordinary, and conversational speech
• In view of this, Samuel Taylor Coleridge insists in his definition of prose and poetry that;
“prose is —words in their best order; poetry,—the best words in their best order.”
(Quoted in Hall 62).
• the predominant quality of prose is its absolute fidelity to the truth of life and its
exposer of the most important events of the contemporary society.(Forster,1965)
Types of Prose
• 1. Nonfictional Prose:
• A literary work that is mainly based on fact although it may contain fictional elements
in certain cases. Examples are biographies and essays.
• 2. Fictional Prose:
• A literary work that is wholly or partly imagined.
• treats essentially events, incidents, and experiences that affect human beings and
which is open to various interpretations by the reader.
• may exaggerate or distort facts or the story may be completely an invention of the
writer. (It depends on the style of the writer and or what the writer wants to achieve).
• is meant to educate or entertain or to do both. Examples are novels and short stories.
Types of Prose
• 3. Heroic Prose:
• A literary work that may be written down or recited and employs many of the
formulaic expressions found in oral tradition. Examples are legends and tales.
• 4. Prose Poetry:
• A literary work which exhibits poetic quality using emotional effects and heightened
imagery but are written in prose instead of verse.
Types of fiction
• 2. Foreshadowing - a hint or clue about an event that will occur later in the story.
• Sometimes the theme is stated, sometimes it is only implied. In other stories, the
theme may be a direct refutation of a traditional theme.
• A story's title usually emphasizes the theme.
• Various figures of speech (symbolism, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole,
irony etc.) and narrative techniques may be utilized to highlight the theme.
Elements of prose
• Characterization
• refers to the way an author creates and manipulates the characters in the work to explicate
his/her theme.
• A character is a participant in the story and is usually a person, but may be any personal identity,
an animal or an entity whose existence originates from the fictional work.
• four methods of presenting a character: -1. Actions or thoughts of the character. 2.Conversations
the character engages in. 3. conversations of other characters about a third character. 3.Author's
own opinion, which might be overt, or may be implied.
• The author is usually careful in the selection of characters and ensures that the role of each
character is clear.
• Some characters are used and dispensed with while others are active participants in the story
from the beginning to the end. The former are the minor characters while the latter are the
major characters.
Elements of prose
• Types Of Characters
• There are different types of characters and the author decides the ones to use depending on
the message and the effect she/he desires to create.
• Flat/static Characters
• One-dimensional characters
• remain the same in the course of the story from the beginning to the end.
• do not undergo significant changes during the course of a story.
• are not affected by circumstances around them and are usually very rigid in their belief.
• usually tragic characters because they are prepared to pursue any goal they believe in to its
(perceived) logical conclusion even at the risk of losing their lives. A good example of a flat
character is Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
Elements of prose
• Round/ Dynamic Characters
• grow in the course of the narration or deteriorate by the end of the story.
• growth is usually from innocence to maturity and they adapt to situations
accordingly.
• Fully developed personalities that are affected by the story's events
• are most convincing because they resemble real people by being consistent,
motivated, and life-like.
• respond to changes in their environment and react differently to different
situations. Nwoye in Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Meka in Ferdinand Oyono’s
Old Man and the Medal are example of round characters.
Elements of prose
• Stereotype characters
• exhibit particular attributes/tag by which a particular individual, group, or race is
known. The tag may or may not be true.
• The writer creates such characters for special effects or to make a point.
• stock characters
• closely related to the stereotype but here the character is a true representation
of a particular group especially a profession.
• In most cases, stock characters are created for satirical purposes. For instance,
soldiers and some other related professionals are associated with force and
brutality
• A writer might therefore create such character(s) to draw attention to their
brutality, viciousness, cruelty and the irrationality of most of their actions.
Elements of prose
• Setting
• form of description of time, place, weather, furnishings and other elements
• Consists of 1.Place - Geographical location; where is the action of the story taking place?
• 2) Time - Historical period, time of day, year, etc. when is the story taking place?
• 3) Weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc.?
• 4) Social conditions - What is the daily life of the character's like? Does the story contain
local colour (writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a
particular place)?
• 5) Mood or atmosphere – What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Cheerful
or weird etc.?
Elements of prose
Setting
important in fiction because the story being told in a particular work must take place in a
particular location and at a particular period.
• usually included to help give a sense of reality and credibility to the plot of the story.
• Identifiable through looking out for the mention of some identifiable locations and dates
• pointers such as names of the characters, issues they discuss and other events in the work help in
identifying the setting of a story.
Elements of prose
• Point of View
• Refers to “the mode (modes) established by an author by means of which the reader is
presented with the characters, dialogue, actions, settings and events which constitute the
narrative work of fiction” (Abrams 1957,165).
• In other words, point of view reveals the position from which the events are presented by
the writer and observed by the reader.
• helps the reader to empathize with specific characters and the understand certain ideas
• There are several variations of Point of View
• 1) First Person –
• Story told by the protagonist or a character who interacts closely with the protagonist or
other characters;
Elements of prose
• speaker uses the pronouns "I", "me", "we".
• Readers experience the story through this person's eyes and only know what he/she knows and feels.
• narrator speaks directly from his or her own experience.
• may be an observer, the protagonist or a minor character but the narrator seems to be standing a little to one
side, watching a story that mainly concerns him/herself or someone else as it unfolds.
• has an advantage of revealing intimately to the reader the character’s growing response to his experience and
environment as portrayed through the progression of the narrative.
• firsthand account of the narration produces an intimacy that helps to further captivate the interest of the
reader.
• helps to reduce the communicative distance between the reader and the experiences of the characters, as
portrayed in the story.
•
Elements of prose
2) Third Person
• has the advantage of allowing the reader to “hear” the story from different
perspectives and angles..
Style
• is how a literary work is written and interpreted.
• refers to language conventions used to construct the story.
• A fiction writer may manipulate diction, sentence structure, phrasing,
• dialogue, and other aspects of language to create his or her style.
• Incudes language, mood, tone, atmosphere, point of view etc.
• helps in realizing the theme of a story.
• Language
• is the vehicle or channel of communication in all genres of literature
• Includes the tactical choice of grammar, punctuation, word usage, sentence
• and paragraph length etc.
Atmosphere
• defined as the mood which is established by the totality of the literary work.
• Language
• What part does description play? Does it provide setting, add to atmosphere, tell
us about the characters, or what? How are diction or images used, and what
effect do they create? Do they enhance or create meaning? Is there anything
unusual about punctuation, sentence length, complexity?
• Characters
• Is there a central character? What do we learn about him / her? How do we learn
this – through other’s comments, through description, through interior
monologue? What? Is there anything significant about his / her relationship to
us / the other characters in the passage? How do we feel about him / her?
• Prose work to be studied this semester are TORN VEIL,THE LETTER, THE NECKLACE, POSSESSING
THE SECRET OF JOY, A ROSE FOR EMILY, THE GIRL WHO CAN AND A NOVEL , MONEY GALORE
End
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