What is prose

Prose is a form of written or spoken

language that typically exhibits a
natural flow of speech and
grammatical structure. A related
narrative device is the stream of
consciousness, which also flows
naturally but is not concerned with
syntax.
• Prose is often defined as
straightforward rather than
poetic writing.
• When identifying a piece of
writing as prose, the piece
should be written in a typical,
straightforward manner. It will
follow grammatical structures
rather than a meter or verse
pattern.
Examples
Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, is a work
of nonfiction that utilizes prose when describing
the effect the fair had on the local hospitals:
“With so many people packed among the steam
engines, giant rotating wheels, horse-drawn fire
trucks, and rocketing bobsleds, the fair’s
ambulances superintended by a doctor named
Gentles were constantly delivering bruised,
bloody, and overheated visitors to the exposition
hospital.”
Mark Haddon also writes using prose in his
novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time when his teenaged protagonist
finds his neighbor’s murdered dog:
“It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog
was lying on the grass in the middle of the
lawn in front of Mrs. Shears’s house. Its
eyes were closed. It looked as if it was
running on its side, the way dogs run when
they think they are chasing a cat in a
dream. But the dog was not running or
asleep. The dog was dead.”
 Types of prose
While prose can be broadly defined as
straightforward writing that resembles
everyday spoken word, there are
categories that prose can be broken into:
nonfiction, fictional, heroic, and poetry.
Nonfictional prose writings are
pieces that are written that contain
mostly facts but may contain pieces of
fictional information for literary
purposes. Many memoirs can be
described as nonfictional prose
because the writers often include
fictional information to make their
life stories more interesting for the
readers.
Fictional prose is writing that is
entirely made up by the authors such
as in short stories or in novels. These
are pieces such as J. K. Rowling’s
Harry Potter series or Gone Girl by
Gillian Flynn.
Heroic prose pieces are written or
oral stories that follow the
traditional structure used by oral
expressionists such as Homer’s The
Illiad and The Odyssey. Both of
these pieces include such structures
as an invocation to the Muses or
epithets that are used in oral
storytelling.
Prose in poetry refers to works
that include large amounts of poetic
devices such as imagery, alliteration,
and rhythm but are still written in a
straightforward manner rather than
in verse form.
The Function of Prose
Prose is used when the writer wants
to tell a story in a straightforward
manner. It should be used when the
writer wants their writing to
resemble everyday speech.
 Examples of Prose in
Literature
Here are some examples of prose in literature:
Nonfictional prose can be found in Zora Neale
Hurston’s autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road
because the piece is told in a straightforward manner:
“I was born in a Negro town. I do not mean by that
the black back-side of an average town. Eatonville,
Florida, is, and was at the time of my birth, a pure
Negro town—charter, mayor, council, town marshal
and all.”
Fictional prose is used in John
Kennedy Toole’s only novel A
Confederacy of Dunces:
“Ignatius himself was dressed
comfortably and sensibly. The hunting
cap prevented head colds. The
voluminous tweed trousers were
durable and permitted unusually free
locomotion.”
Dramatic prose can be found
Dramatic prose can be found in
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare often uses prose in this play
when servants talk to show their lack of
education and has higher-class characters
talk in verse form. Here a servant speaks:
“Now I’ll tell you without asking: my
master is the great rich Capulet; and if
you be not of the house of Montagues, I
pray, come and crush a cup of wine. Rest
you merry!”
Thankyou