Prose vs. Verse

Prose is employed to convey concepts, ideas, and narratives directly to readers. It is found in both fictional and non-fictional works of literature, including books and journals.

The structure of prose is composed of sentences, phrases, and paragraphs. This makes it the most suitable writing style for articulating and communicating ideas, concepts, and events in a clear and concise manner.

Types of Prose

• Non-fictional prose: Presents real events and is commonly found in newspapers, periodicals, journals, biographies, and textbooks.
• Fictional prose: Stems from the author’s imagination and includes stories, novels, short tales, and novellas.
• Prose poetry: Poetry that is articulated and written in prose form.

Rhetorical Devices

• Antithesis: A literary device that places opposite words, ideas, or qualities parallel to each other.
• Chiasmus: A literary device in which words or grammatical constructions are repeated in reverse order.
• Analogy: A comparison between two things.
• Metaphor: Describes something by saying it is something else.
• Alliteration: When two or more words begin with the same sound.
• Simile: A comparison phrase that finds similar characteristics in two objects and compares them using “like” or “as.”
• Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings.
• Irony: When a person says something or does something that departs from what they expect to say or do.
• Anecdote: A brief story about something interesting.
• Synecdoche: A device in which a part of something is substituted for the whole.
• Parallelism: Identical grammatical structures for related words or clauses in a sentence.
• Onomatopoeia: Naming of a thing or action by imitating its sound.
• Euphemism: A word or phrase used to avoid saying something unpleasant.
• Litotes: An understatement, always deliberate and with the intention of emphasis.
• Anaphora: Repetition of a word at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.
• Allusion: An implied or indirect reference to a person, place, or thing.
• Personification: Language that gives human characteristics to nonhuman things.

The Purpose of Prose in Literature

• Direct communication
• Curates a voice
• Connects to the readers

Verse

Verse is a term used to describe organized writing that is typically done in a specific meter, particularly in the form of a poem.

Types of Verse

• Blank verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter, mostly used in poetry.

Art

• Skill acquired by experience, study, or observation.
• A branch of learning.
• An occupation requiring knowledge or skill.
• The conscious use of skill and creative imagination, especially in the production of aesthetic objects.
• Decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter.

Literature

Literature is the compilation of written works used to transmit culture. It can be:

• Intellectual
• Artistic

Types of Literature

• Non-fiction: Works based on facts, like biographies.
• Fiction: Prose fiction works like novels or short stories.
• Poetry: Works written in verse, including songs.
• Drama: Intended to be played on stage, like theater plays, TV shows, etc.

What I Found Interesting

I found it interesting that the reading is from a series called Bridgerton. Also, the language that is used and the way it is written, like British literature, I find it really formal and pleasant to read.

Literature, Its Functions, and Elements

Literature and Communication

Communication needs:

• Transmitter
• Message
• Receiver

Literary Language

• Literal and connotative language
• Meaning
• Signifier
• Reference
• Polysemy

Figures of Speech

• Simile: Used to compare two things using “like” or “as.”
• Metaphor: Similar to a simile but without the comparing words present.
• Alliteration: When words in a phrase start with the same sound or carry the same sound throughout.
• Epithet: Highlights a characteristic or quality of an object.
• Personification/Anthropomorphism: Gives human characteristics to an object, either abstract or inanimate.
• Antithesis: The use of opposite terms that might have common elements.
• Hyperbaton: A change in the order of words to emphasize an idea.
• Hyperbole: Exaggerates certain characteristics in a work.
• Irony: Implies mockery, means something different to what it reads, sometimes the opposite.
• Metonymy: Replacing words with other words that are related or associated with them.
• Synecdoche: Refers to a group by its part or a part by the whole group.

A novel is a long prose narrative that deals with imaginary or factual events, has many characters, and includes long descriptions.

Characteristics

• Deals with several events.
• Longer than a short story.
• Includes many characters.
• Time plays a role within the plot.
• Detailed descriptions.
• Its climax is surprising.

Fiction Prose: Fable

A fable is a short story, usually with animal characters, that has an educational purpose.

Characteristics

• Brief and allegorical.
• Few characters.
• Timeless and universal.
• Used to teach but still entertaining.
• Always has a moral or lesson at the end.

Fiction Prose: Epic

An epic is an ancient form of narration and the novel’s most immediate predecessor. It is usually an orally transmitted verse that shows how ancient peoples viewed their origin, ideals, and self-image.

Characteristics

• Events are based on a nation’s history.
• Original version is in verse.
• Usually divided into sections or chapters.
• Praises values such as love, bravery, and honor.
• War events are set in a specific time and place.
• Main character is a hero or a group of heroes, along with mythological characters.

Aspects

• Story
• Space
• Time
• Characters

Fiction Prose: Legend

Characteristics

• No known author.
• Located in a specific time and place.
• Created from a real event.
• Uses an impersonal narration.
• Changes over time.
• Belongs to communities and changes with places or cultures.

Fiction Prose: Myth

A myth is a sacred story that deals with heroic or divine events. Its purpose is to explain different philosophical questions.

Characteristics

• Wondrous story.
• Can appear in every culture.
• Collective.
• Anonymous.
• Works with symbols.

Essay

The literary essay is a newer genre than the other three. It presents a personal point of view on a specific topic.

Characteristics

• Topic freedom.
• Subjective.
• Reflective attitude.
• Defined structure: Introduction, body, conclusion.

Poetry

Poetry is considered the most intimate of all literary genres since the author expresses their feelings and emotions in a beautiful manner.

Ode

A formal, ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. Its stanza forms vary.

• In ancient times, it was usually set to music.
• They usually address an intense emotion at the start of a personal crisis.

Song

A short form of poetry that focuses on a single theme. It usually has rhyme and rhythm and is often accompanied by music.

• Tempo – metric, syllables, sonnet, 14 syllables
• Iambic pentameter: 5 pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables

Hymn

A hymn is an ancient form of poetry that was used to praise gods. In modern times, it still has this praising quality but it praises not only gods but also nations, important characters, religions, etc.

• Anthems

Elegy

An elegy is a melancholy poem that laments the subject’s death but ends in consolation. Its stanzas are generally quatrains with an ABAB rhyme scheme and are written in iambic pentameter.

Madrigal

A short pastoral poem intended for many singers. It doesn’t have any specific metric requirements.

Epigram

A short, often witty poem.

Calligram

A type of poem, or just a single word, in which the words take the shape of the object it describes.

Drama

Drama involves both the written script and the stage representation of the work.

• We can find dramas on stage, film, or radio.

Main Subgenres of Drama

• Comedy
• Tragedy
• Drama/Melodrama

Comedy

A type of play in which the characters’ flaws or mistakes make the audience laugh.

Characteristics

• Simple and common characters.
• Presents comical or absurd events.
• The main character is optimistic.