Elements of Prose

a.k.a.- The parts of a story

ProseThere are 2 types of writing:

prose- anything that is NOT poetry or plays

poetryProse is divided into 2 categories:

short storynovel

Short Story Definition: Fictional story that can

be read in one sitting.Example: “A Rose for Emily,” “The

Cask of Amontillado,” or “The Most Dangerous Game”

NovelDefinition: A long prose narrative

that must be read in many sittings.Example: To Kill a Mockingbird, The

Scarlet Letter, or The Great Gatsby

Elements of ProsePlotCharacterSetting Point of ViewThemeIronySymbol

PlotThe “framework” or “skeleton” of the

story;A series of related events that are

linked together

What Makes Up Plot?1. Basic Situation

(Exposition)- Tells the

audience who the characters are and introduces the conflict

- Example: “Every Who Down in Who-villeLiked Christmas

a lot...”

What Makes Up Plot?2. Rising Action

- Complications that arise when the characters take steps to resolve their conflicts

“But the Grinch,Who lived just North of Who-ville,Did NOT! The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

What Makes Up Plot?3. Climax: Most

exciting or suspenseful moment when something happens to determine the outcome of the conflict.

Example: “And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?It came without ribbons! It came without tags!"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

What Makes Up Plot?4. Falling

Action: The conflict is in the process of being resolved or “unraveled

Example:And what happened then...?Well...in Who-ville they sayThat the Grinch's small heartGrew three sizes that day!

What Makes Up Plot?Resolution: (Denouement) or

“Untying the knot”When the story’s problem/conflict is

resolved and the story ends Endings may be happy or tragicExample: “He whizzed with his load

through the bright morning lightAnd he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!And he......HE HIMSELF...!The Grinch carved the roast beast!”                                                               

Freytag’s Pyramid Gustav Freytag was a Nineteenth Century

German novelist who saw common patterns in the plots of stories and novels and developed a diagram to analyze them. He diagrammed a story's plot using a pyramid like the one shown here:

Character: Revealing Human Nature

Character- A person or being in a story that performs the action of the plot.

Characterization: The process of revealing the personality of a character in a story.

Steps to the Characterization Process A writer can reveal a character in the

following ways:1. Letting up hear the character speak2. Describing how the character looks &

dresses3. Letting us listen to the character’s inner

thoughts and feelings4. Revealing what other characters in the story

think or say about the character5. Showing us what the character does – how

he or she acts

*These call on the reader to take the information he or she is given to interpret for himself/herself the kind of character he or she is reading about. This is called

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Steps to the Characterization Process

6. Telling us directly what the character’s personality is like: cruel, sneaky, brace, etc.

Ex. “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch…”

This is called DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Types of CharactersDynamic Character: The character

changes as a result of the action of the story.Example- Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch

Static Character: The character does not change much in the course of the story.Example- Brutus (Julius Caesar); Mama Younger (A Raisin in the Sun)

Types of CharactersProtagonist: The main character of

the story.Can be good or evil

Antagonist: The character or force that comes into conflict with the protagonist Can be another person, an animal, a

force of nature, society, the character’s own conscience, etc.

SettingDefintion: The time and location

in which the story takes place

Setting Purpose of Setting

1. Gives background information2. Provides conflict

- Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Society3. Can reveal a lot about someone’s

character4. Provides mood or atmosphere

- Mood- the feeling WE get when we read a story

5. Can paint images for the reader- Images – words that call forth the 5

senses

ThemeDefinition: The insight about

human life that is revealed in a literary work. The “golden thread” woven throughout the story.-The theme is what the author is saying

through the story (it’s a deeper truth about reality)

- The plot how he says it : it is the story he uses to get this point across

Point of ViewDefinition: The direction from

which the writer has chosen to tell the story

There are 3 Points of View

1. First Person: One of the characters tells the story; talks directly to the reader

- Uses the pronoun “I,” “me,” “we,” or “us”

2. Third Person Limited: The narrator will focus on the thoughts & feelings of just one character

- Reader experiences the events of the story through the memory and senses of only one character

There are 3 Points of View

3. Third-Person Omniscient- “All-knowing”- An all-knowing narrator who refers to all the characters as “he” and “she.” Knows the thoughts and feelings of ALL of the characters.

*The narrator is not necessarily the story’s author*

Conflict Definition- It exists when a character is

struggling with something or someone - Could be a number of things:

- Another person, an animal, - an inanimate object- a rock, the

weather- The character’s own personality

External ConflictExternal Conflict- Caused by something

OUTSIDE the character- Example: an another character, a

river, weather, society- Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man

vs. Society

Internal ConflictInternal Conflict- Character struggles

with some personal quality that is causing trouble- Example: vanity, pride, selfishness,

grief- Man vs. Self

Foreshadowing Definition: Clues about what is

going to happen as the story unfolds

SuspenseDefinition: Anxiety WE feel

about what is going to happen next in the story

ParodyDefinition: The imitation of a

work of literature, art, or music for amusement or instruction

SatireDefinition: A kind of writing that

ridicules human weakness, vice, or folly in order to bring about social reform. Example: Political cartoons, “A Modest

Proposal”

Irony Definition: An “unexpected twist”

in a story- 3 Types of Irony:

1. Verbal: Someone says one thing but means another

- also known as sarcasm-Example: If a woman walks into a

job interview and she is sloppily dressed with only two teeth in her head and the interview says, “You have a beautiful smile!”

Irony2. Situational: When a reader expects one thing to happen and the opposite occurs

- Example- Everyone knows the sad irony in “Richard Cory.” Why would someone so successful and rich be so unhappy as to kill himself? In a wonderfully ironic letter, George Bernard Shaw celebrates his mother’s death and cremation. Charles Dickens’ character Mr. McChoakumchild is anything but a teacher.

Irony3. Dramatic: When the character in a play thinks one thing is true, but the audience knows better. The audience has inside information that a character does not. - This information usually comes in the form of an aside or a soliloquy.

- Example: In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo says that his “grave is like to be his wedding bed.” Little does he know that his marriage will be the cause of his untimely death. We as an audience knows because we heard the prologue at the beginning of the play.

SoliloquyDefinition: A character stands

alone on stage and addresses the world (audience), giving voice to his innermost thoughts and feelings.

- Example:

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,To the last syllable of recorded time;And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and furySignifying nothing." — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)

Aside Definition: Words

that are spoken by a character in a play to the audience only or to another character only. They are not supposed to be overheard by others on stage. It is meant to let someone in on a secret or for a character to give personal comments about current events in the play.

Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits.

“The flighty purpose never is o'ertookUnless the deed go with it. From this momentThe very firstlings of my heart shall beThe firstlings of my hand. And even now,To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done:The castle of Macduff I will surprise,Seize upon Fife, give to the edge o' the swordHis wife, his babes, and all unfortunate soulsThat trace him in his line. ”

More Elements of ProseTone: The attitude the writer takes

toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience.

“I am getting married”

Tone Example “The Author To Her Book”  Thou ill-formed offspring of my

feeble brain,Who after birth did'st by my side remain,Till snatcht from thence by friends, less wise than true,Who thee abroad exposed to public view,Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge,Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).At thy return my blushing was not small,My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.I cast thee by as one unfit for light,The visage was so irksome in my sight,Yet being mine own, at length affection wouldThy blemishes amend, if so I could.

I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.I stretcht thy joints to make thee even feet,Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet.In better dress to trim thee was my mind,But nought save home-spun cloth, i' th' house I find.In this array, 'mongst vulgars may'st thou roam.In critic's hands, beware thou dost not come,And take thy way where yet thou art not known.If for thy father askt, say, thou hadst none;And for thy mother, she alas is poor,Which caused her thus to send thee out of door. 

-Anne Bradstreet

Denotation/Connotation

Denotation: Dictionary definition of a word- Example: Mom-

Female individual who gives birth and physical care to her offspring.

Connotation: Feelings people get from hearing or reading a particular word

- Example: Mom-Hug, loving, caring, dries tears, role model

Denotation/Connotation

Dog- Denotation: Domesticated, 4-legged

canine Connotation: Smelly, fluffy, man’s best

friend playful, loyal, protective

Denotation/Connotation

Fair-Denotation:

Amusement park which travels; also includes agricultural exhibits

Connotation: fun, food, crowded, smelly, carnies