Part II: Prose (p.

65)
Prose is an ordinary language that has no formal metrical structure. It is used in
writing articles, stories, books, etc. the word “prose” is derived from the Latin word
“prosa” meaning straightforward.

Features of Prose
1. It must have style
2. It must have some logical and grammatical structure
3. Ideas must be carefully stated.

Comparison between poetry and prose

1. Poetry is more rhythmical, formal and metered in terms of structure compared
to the more ordinary prose.
2. Poetry is more expressive and attractive as opposed to the usual dull quality of
prose.
3. Lines are considered to be the basic units of poetry, whereas sentences fill the
exact same role in the case of prose.
4. Generally, poetry often has some rhymes and relationships between its words as
opposed to their absence in prose.
5. Poetry is used in writing songs and poems, whereas prose is used in different
articles, stories and letters, etc.

Types of Prose
There are three main types of prose including: Narrative, Description and
Argumentative.

1. Narrative Prose (p. 70)

A type of prose that includes tales, stories, novellas, novels, fiction and alike. It
dramatizes changes in human relationships and depicts a sequence of events and
actions. It is presented in language.

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The Elements of Narrative Prose (Fiction)
1. Characters 2. Plot 3. Setting 4. Point of view 5. Meaning
6. Theme 7. Style 8. Diction

1. Character: A character is a person, an animal, a creature, or a thing with

a role in a story, for example, a person, a cat, a sea, the fate, etc.
Types of characters:
a. Static character: It remains unchanged throughout the action.
b. Dynamic character: It remains complicated and plays an important role in
the action.
There are also two kinds of characters: flat(simple) & round (complex). The heart
of any action is the conflict or the physical struggle between opposed characters
usually between the protagonist (the main hero) and the antagonist (an opposed
force or the enemy of the main character).

2. Plot: It is a summary of the story. It can be divided into:

1.Exposition (introduction of the events)
2. Rising action (the beginning of the conflict whether physical or psychological or
spiritual)
3. Climax (the turning point or highest point of the story)
4. Falling action (the intensity of the conflict begins to diminish)
5. Denouement (the resolution or denouement)

3.Setting: It is the time and the place of the story.

4.Point of view: It is the way of narrating the story. It may be:

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a. Omniscient: The narrator knows everything, and isn’t limited to the viewpoint of
any single character like the author. An omniscient narrator could be a character in
the story.
b. First-person narrator: A character in the story may tell the story as experienced
(the pronoun I).
c. Third person narration: is narration using pronouns such as he, she, or they. In
this type of narration, the narrator is usually a non-participating observer of the
represented events.
d. Naïve narrator: a character that does not comprehend the implication of what he
or she is telling-sometimes unreliable narrator.

5. Meaning: It is the effect the writer or the speaker intends to produce. For a
literary work, there are four kinds of meaning: literal, allegorical, moral and spiritual.

6.Theme: It is the abstract subject of a work. It is the central idea.

7. Style: It the way of the writer’s writing. It is the arrangement of words in a
manner that expresses the individuality of the author. Each author has his/her unique
style. It depends on: the idea to be expressed & the individuality of the author.

8. Diction: It the kind of language used in a work whether poetic, ordinary,

scientific, formal, vascular, language of the street, etc.

An Example of Narrative Prose

Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952), {pp 73-74 [2]}
Biography: Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 –1961) is an American novelist, short
story writer, and journalist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 for his
novella The Old Man and the Sea (1952).
Type of Work: The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel (novella) about an elderly
Cuban fisherman who goes out alone in a small boat and hooks into a huge marlin.
Setting: The time is September in the late 1940's. The Place: On land, the action
takes place in a small village on the northern coast of Cuba, below the Tropic of
Cancer and not far from the capital city of Havana. At sea, the action takes place in
the boat of an old man, Santiago, who is fishing for marlin north of Cuba in the Gulf
Stream of the Gulf of Mexico.

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Characters in the novella
Santiago is an old fisherman who is the main character in this story. Round
character, Dynamic and the Protagonist.
The marlin is an eighteen-foot blueish billfish who is hooked by Santiago but fights
against Santiago until its death. Flat character and Static.
Manolin is a little boy who is the apprentice of Santiago. Flat character remained
the same and Static character.
Martin, Rogelio, Perico, Pedrico, Static and Flat characters,
The Sharks (antagonist, static and flat).

Plot
Exposition: People make fun of Santiago. The relationship between Santiago and
Manolin is fleshed out.
Rising Action-Santiago goes out fishing and encounters Marlin.
Climax: Epic battle with Marlin.
Falling action: Sharks attack.
Resolution: Santiago returns with carcass of Marlin. He is tired and exhausted.
Manolin cares for him.

Point of View: Hemingway writes the story in third-person point of view. In

some parts of the novel, the narrator is an aloof observer, seeing only the actions of
the main character, Santiago. In other parts of the novel, the narrator enters the mind
of the old man and reports what he sees. In the latter case, the narration becomes
omniscient third-person point of view.

Themes: 1. Perseverance 2. Man vs Nature 3. Loyalty 4. Heroism 5.

Courage 6. Endurance 7. Love 8. Independence 9. Responsibility
10. Parenthood 11. Father-Son Relationship 12. The needs of old age
13. Youth 14. Childhood 15. Challenge

Meaning: the novella has symbolic, allegorical and spiritual meanings.

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Style: Since Hemingway had been a journalist, the hallmarks of journalistic style
are evident in his writing, especially in this short novel. The use of words, metaphor
and simile identifies the style.

Diction: Using a minimum amount of words, he extracts maximum meaning and

effect. He keeps the use of adjectives and avoids hyperboles. His short sentences
speed up the pace of the novel as it rushes towards its climax. Hemingway definitely
proves in The Old Man and the Sea that he is a wonderful teller of tales and a deft
craftsman of words.

2. Description (p.100)
Descriptive prose is used for describing persons, objects, things, ideas and alike. It
aims at creating a definite atmosphere of its own. It is frequently found in narrative
prose.
Literary appreciation of the descriptive prose (p. 115)
In analyzing the description, we must go through the following steps:
1. Reading: reading the passage, forming a picture, identifying the central idea
that lies behind the person or the object described.
2. Meaning: a. General meaning: Reading the whole passage to note the main
object that is described. b. Detailed meaning: identifying the main characteristics
or qualities of the object being described. c. Intention: the author’s central purpose.
3. Devices: a. Structural: Unity (how everything contributes to the central
idea), Contrast, and Association (to remained the reader of the object being
described). b. Sense: Style, use of words, metaphor, simile, etc.
An example of descriptive prose is the passage South Wind by Norman Douglas
(pp. 100-101): the passage is taken from a novel that sets on an imaginary island,
in which there is a lot of description (READ THE PASSAGE AND IDENTIFY).

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 Argument (p. 127)
A type of prose that deals with ideas and facts. It requires us to think unlike narrative
and descriptive which require us to see and imagine. Thus, argumentative prose
needs to be read two or three times for full understanding.
Literary Appreciation of the argumentative prose p. 146
We must analyze the passage according to the following points:
1.Reading: reading the passage several times until understanding the meaning.
2. Meaning:
a. General meaning: often found in the opening sentence (p. 129): a. if the
argument is contained in a single paragraph, the general meaning will often be found
in the first sentence—what is called the topic sentence. b. if the argument is
contained in more than one paragraph, the general meaning will be found in the
opening paragraph.
b. Detailed meaning: the main stages of the argument.
c. Intention:

3. Devices:
a. Structural:
--unity and balance (statement, development, conclusion, i.e. introduction, then
developing the subject to reach to the conclusion and results….).
--Contrast: to compare the subject or the idea with another to find the differences
or positive and negative points.
--Illustration: to give examples or pictures or sample to clarify the subject.
b. sense: it includes style, use of words, metaphor and simile used by the writer.
An Example of an argumentative prose
Psychology and Education by Frieda Fordham [3] (p. 132). Read the passage and
answer the questions on (p. 133).