Prose

Fiction

FOCUS: What is prose?

Discuss with your groups:
What is prose?
Mention and explain the elements of
fiction!
Mention and explain the kinds of
characters in fiction!

PROSE
DEFINITION
KINDS OF PROSE
PROSE is the ordinary
form of written language.

oFiction
oNon Fiction

KINDS OF PROSE

FICTION
Examples:

Short Stories
Legend
Fairy Tales Letters
Folk Tales Memoirs
Novels
Short Stories
Fables
Myth
Etc.

NON FICTION
Examples:
Report
Personal Narrative
Memoirs
Letter
Article
Journal
Biographies

Elements of prose fiction

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Plot
Character and characterization
Setting
Point of View
Theme
Symbol
Style and tone

Plot
the action or sequence of events in a
story. It is based on a key conflict.

There are five basic parts

of plot
Exposition- the first part of the story. The author
establishes the setting, introduces characters, gives
additional background information.
Rising Action/Complications- the series of conflicts or
struggles that build a story toward its climax. Tension
rises.
Climax- the high point, or turning point, of a story. It is
the most intense point. A decision is made that will decide
the outcome of the conflict.
Falling Action- the action that works out the decision
arrived at during the climax. The conflict is or begins to
be settled.
Resolution- the ending. It ties up loose ends and brings
the story to a close.

Character and characterization

Character : a person or being in a story that
performs the action of the plot.
Characterization : the process by which the
writer reveals the personality of the
character

Character Types
Protagonist- the main
character of the story that is
most central to the action of
the story.

Antagonist- the person or

thing working against the
protagonist, or hero, in the
story.

Characters
Static Characterscharacters that stay
the same throughout
the story.
Dynamic Characterscharacters that
change and learn
something during the
story.

Flat very few personality

traits, do not change throughout
the story, sometimes can be
symbols or stereotypes
Round convincing and true to
life, many different personality
traits, usually undergo a change
during the story

Example:
Novel Pride & Prejudice:
Elizabeth Bennet is the
main character and
protagonist, she is
intelligent, lively, attractive,
and witty.

Setting
-the time and place in which the action
occurs.

 Example:
Novel Pride & Prejudice:
The story is set uniquely in the turn of
the 19th century, England.

Point of view
Point of view is how an author tells his or
her reader about a character.
Involving
the use of
either of
the two
pronouns
I and
we
First
person

Employing
the
pronoun
you

Second
person

Entering
the
thought
of every
character

Entering
the
thought
of one
character

Third
person
omnisci
ent

Third
person
limited

Point of view

I have of late,but wherefore

I know not,lost all my mirth,
forgone all custom of exercises;
and indeed, it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this
goodly frame, the earth, seems
to me a sterile promontory.

Hamlet by Shakespeare

Third person
limited

First Person

Harry had taken up his place at

wizard school, where he and his
scar were famous ...but now the
school year was over, and he was
back with the Dursleys for the
summer, back to being treated
like a dog that had rolled in
something smelly.
Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Theme
A main idea or an underlying meaning of
a literary work that may be stated
directly or indirectly.
Examples of themes:

Symbolism
-An image/object in a story that is
used repeatedly and carries a
deeper meaning.
Universal Symbols:
water = purity
black clouds = evil approaching

Style
In fiction writing, the writers style is created
by the choice of literary devices that are
used to create the story, such as diction,
syntax/sentence structure, imagery,
symbolism, allegory, personification, and
other figurative language.

Examples of Style in Literature

He was completely integrated now and he
took a good long look at everything. Then he
looked up at the sky. There were big white
clouds in it. He touched the palm of his hand
against the pine needles where he lay and he
touched the bark of the pine trunk that he
lay behind. (For Whom the Bell Tolls by
Ernest Hemingway)
Hemingways style was to describe scenery

Tone
Tone refers to the authors mood and manner
of expression in a work of literature. The tone
can be serious, didactic, humorous, satirical,
caustic/sarcastic, passionate, sensitive,
sentimental, zealous, indifferent, poignant,
warm, agitated, and so on.

Examples of Tone in Literature

The School by Donald Barthelme:
And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I dont know
why they died, they just died. Something wrong with the soil
possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasnt
the best. We complained about it. So weve got thirty kids
there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant and
weve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at
these little brown sticks, it was depressing.
The use of adjectives dead and depressing sets a gloomy
tone in the passage