Study on Prose

In literature, prose is one of the mediums of writing without any metrical structure. The development of the book as a literary form is inextricably linked to the development of the novel. It is also possible to argue that the novel evolved from the prose form. It was John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress that marked the beginning of the novel as a distinct literary form in the seventeenth century, with The Pilgrim’s Progress serving as the seminal work (Wang, 1998:51-53). It is frequently read by individuals from all walks of life, and it differs from poetry in that it is only available to those who are well-educated and have a basic understanding of literary terminology. This means that to some extent, prose’s popularity can be attributed to the ease with which it is understood and comprehended by the general public. In contrast to its widespread appeal, the study of it is more limited when compared to the study of other literary genres such as fiction, drama, and poetry. This immediately relates to the problem that it appears that everyone knows what prose is but has little knowledge of what it is. As a result, it is vital to review the research that has been done in order to gain a better understanding of it and to gain a better understanding of it.

4 Types of Prose That Are Common

The style and aim of prose might differ depending on the situation. In writing, there are four basic forms of prose that are employed:

• Nonfictional prose is written in the third person. Nonfiction is writing that is based on a true tale or a factual account of events or information. Textbooks, newspaper articles, and instruction manuals are all examples of what is classified as “information.” Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, which is entirely comprised of journal extracts, describes the young teen’s experience of hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II in a book called Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl.

• Prose that is fictitious. A work of fiction written in the literary tradition. This is the most popular style of literary prose, and it is used in both novels and short stories. It is characterised by the presence of people, a story, a place, and dialogue.

This is the most popular style of literary prose, and it is used in both novels and short stories. It is characterised by the presence of people, a story, a place, and dialogue.

• Prose that is heroic. A literary work that has been written down or has been maintained through oral tradition, but is intended to be recited in its entirety. Typically, heroic literature is based on a legend or a storey. The heroic writing found in the twelfth-century Irish tales centred around the mythological warrior Finn McCool is a good example of this.

• Prose poetry . Poetry composed in the style of prose. This literary hybrid can occasionally feature rhythmic and rhyming patterns, depending on the author. French poet Charles Baudelaire created prose poems, including “Be Drunk,” which begins, “And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch, in the sorrowful isolation of your room, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch…”

What Is the Function of Prose in Writing?

Prose has the ability to:  

For the most part, in literature, the primary objective of prose writing is to communicate a concept, provide information, or tell a tale. Prose is the method through which a writer keeps her fundamental promise to a reader to offer a storey that includes characters, a place, conflict, a plot, and a satisfying conclusion.

Give yourself a voice. Each writer has a distinct style of language use, which is referred to as a writer’s voice. Using language in a variety of methods assists writers in developing and displaying their unique voice. The following is a quote from David Copperfield, written by Charles Dickens in his own voice: “New thoughts and hopes were racing through my mind, and all the colours of my life were shifting.”

Increases rapport by establishing a sense of familiarity. The tone of prose is frequently that of a conversation. This familiarity aids in the reader’s connection to the storey and its characters. Jane Austen was renowned for using prose that was simple and easy to understand. To quote from Emma: “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and wealthy, with a comfortable home and cheerful temperament, seemed to unite some of the best advantages that life could provide; and she had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with little to grieve or vex her.”

The Difference Between Prose and Poetry

Prose and poetry are both distinguished by their own distinctive characteristics that set them apart from one another.

Prose

Prose is written in a manner that mimics natural patterns of speech and communication.

The sentence and paragraph structures are part of a grammatical structure.

Makes use of daily slang

Sentences and concepts are carried over from one line to the next.

Poetry

Traditional poetry is structured in a planned manner, with patterns such as rhythm and rhyme.

Many poems have a formal metrical structure, which is made up of recurring patterns of beats (rhythms).

More figurative language is used in this piece.

Poems stand out visually on a page because they have narrow columns, various line lengths, and more white space on a page than prose. Deliberate line breaks help poems show out visually on a page.

2 Examples of Prose in Literature

Authors will occasionally supplement prose with literary methods and devices in order to achieve a variety of effects.

In the play As You Like It, by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare plays with language, alternating between prose and poetry to draw distinctions between socioeconomic groups in his plays. The following is an example of writing used by characters from the lower classes in the play: “Truly, thou art condemned, like an ill-roasted egg all on one side.” The nobles, on the other hand, express themselves in beautiful verse: “What emotion hangs these weights upon my tongue?”

The novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Wells envisions a world that has been invaded by Martians in such detail that it horrified readers when it was originally published in 1898. “Above all, the astonishing intensity of the immense eyes—were at once vibrant, intense, inhuman, crippled, and hideous.” The storey is written in a style that is nearly nonfictional in nature: There was something unspeakably unpleasant about the greasy dark complexion, something unspeakably nasty about the clunky deliberation of the repetitive movements, something fungoid about the whole thing. Even at this first meeting, even at this first look, I was overwhelmed with loathing and dread.”

Conclusion

Prose is writing that is done in a style that is similar to normal speech. It is written in plain, everyday language rather than following a metre or rhythmic structure, as is the case with poetry. However, it appears that prose, as compared to poetry, fiction, and theatre in the restricted sense, is more acceptable to the public. Prose is typically devoid of the more formal metrical structure seen in conventional poetry, as opposed to verse. The prose form has whole grammatical sentences (except from in stream of consciousness narrative) and paragraphs, but poetry is frequently structured according to a metrical or rhyming system. Some works of prose make use of rhythm and verbal music to enhance the reading experience.