Before you know important terms of prose, you should have understanding of what is prose literature -- A Prose is any writing that is not in verse form. It can be divided into a short story, a novelette or a novel, depending on the length. Below is a summary of crucial point to read on Prose. this post help draw you close to PROSE exam focus and other Literature in English concerns, just like in our previous notes we talked about Poetry terms and Features of drama in case, you haven't read them, do well to do so.
NOVELIST: This is a person that writes a novel.
FICTION: Is a story which is not an actual event. It is usually a figment of the writer's imagination. Examples are; The Last Duty by Isidore Okpewho and The Stillborn by Zainab Alkali
NON-FICTION: Is a story that contains an event that actually happened. An example is Zambia Shall Be Free by Kenneth Kaunda.
BIOGRAPHY: Is a non-fiction containing a person's life history written by another person. Examples are: Chief Onyema by Dillibe Onyema and Emeka by Fredrick Forsyth.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Is a non-fiction containing the story of a person's life written by himself or herself. An example is Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka.
CHAPTER: This are the divisions of a novel.
PLOT: Is the storylines of a novel.
EPISODIC STORY: This is made up of independent plots loosely linked together.
SUB-PLOT: Is the minor story in a prose. i.e Additional stories in a prose work which are different from the main story-line.
THEME: This is the central subject of matter in a novel.
FABLE: This is a story in which animals are used to represent human characters. It is usually meant to teach morals. An example is Animal Farm by George Orwell.
EPISTLE: Epistle is a literary piece written in form of a letter. An example is So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba.
EPITAPH: This is a person's life story written on a tombstone.
ALLEGORY: Is a story that gives a deeper meaning or a story of a situation in which ideals such as patience is symbolized by a person. Examples are: Pilgrm's Progress by Bunyan and Absalom and Achitophel by Dryden.
HERO: This refers to the central male character in a novel.
HEROINE: This is the central female character in a novel.
PROTAGONIST： Is the major character in a story. The conflict in the story revolves round him.
ANTAGONIST: Is the character that goes against the major character.
FLAT or STATIC CHARACTER: Is a character who is dull and uninteresting. He does not undergo any development, either good or bad, in the course of the story.
POINT OF VIEW: Point of view is the angle from which a novelist presents the story in a prose work and how he wants the readers to look at the events in the story. This can be divided into THIRD PERSON NARRATIVE and FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE. In the third person narrative, the narrator is outside the story and he refers to all the characters proper by name or as "he", 'she,' and "they". The third person narrative can further be divided into OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW in which the narrator knows everything about the characters; reporting or concealing what he chooses of their speech and actions and he has the privileged access to the inner thought and feelings. INTRUSIVE NARRATORS not only reports but comments on the character. THE LIMITED POINT OF VIEW is a third person narration in which the narrator confines himself to what is experienced, thought and felt by a single character or limited number of characters.
PROVERB: This is a short pithy, that has undergone a common and long usage embodying a general truth.
SARCASM: A bitter remark intended to hurt someone's feelings by using words which clearly means the opposite of what is thought or felt.
FEMINISM: This is the word by which the social system designate the struggle of women. An example of the feminist novel is The Stillborn by Zainab Alkali.
TRANFERED EPITHET: This is a situation in which an adjective properly attached to one word is transfered to another. For example, "The marauding beasts let lose by crucial nightfall". Here, it is not the nightfall that sends the marauding beasts.
Below are Important feature to know in Prose literature genres in summary
NOVELIST: This is a person that writes a novel.
FICTION: Is a story which is not an actual event. It is usually a figment of the writer's imagination. Examples are; The Last Duty by Isidore Okpewho and The Stillborn by Zainab Alkali
NON-FICTION: Is a story that contains an event that actually happened. An example is Zambia Shall Be Free by Kenneth Kaunda.
BIOGRAPHY: Is a non-fiction containing a person's life history written by another person. Examples are: Chief Onyema by Dillibe Onyema and Emeka by Fredrick Forsyth.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Is a non-fiction containing the story of a person's life written by himself or herself. An example is Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka.
CHAPTER: This are the divisions of a novel.
PLOT: Is the storylines of a novel.
EPISODIC STORY: This is made up of independent plots loosely linked together.
SUB-PLOT: Is the minor story in a prose. i.e Additional stories in a prose work which are different from the main story-line.
THEME: This is the central subject of matter in a novel.
FABLE: This is a story in which animals are used to represent human characters. It is usually meant to teach morals. An example is Animal Farm by George Orwell.
EPISTLE: Epistle is a literary piece written in form of a letter. An example is So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba.
EPITAPH: This is a person's life story written on a tombstone.
ALLEGORY: Is a story that gives a deeper meaning or a story of a situation in which ideals such as patience is symbolized by a person. Examples are: Pilgrm's Progress by Bunyan and Absalom and Achitophel by Dryden.
HERO: This refers to the central male character in a novel.
HEROINE: This is the central female character in a novel.
PROTAGONIST： Is the major character in a story. The conflict in the story revolves round him.
ANTAGONIST: Is the character that goes against the major character.
FLAT or STATIC CHARACTER: Is a character who is dull and uninteresting. He does not undergo any development, either good or bad, in the course of the story.
POINT OF VIEW: Point of view is the angle from which a novelist presents the story in a prose work and how he wants the readers to look at the events in the story. This can be divided into THIRD PERSON NARRATIVE and FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE. In the third person narrative, the narrator is outside the story and he refers to all the characters proper by name or as "he", 'she,' and "they". The third person narrative can further be divided into OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW in which the narrator knows everything about the characters; reporting or concealing what he chooses of their speech and actions and he has the privileged access to the inner thought and feelings. INTRUSIVE NARRATORS not only reports but comments on the character. THE LIMITED POINT OF VIEW is a third person narration in which the narrator confines himself to what is experienced, thought and felt by a single character or limited number of characters.
PROVERB: This is a short pithy, that has undergone a common and long usage embodying a general truth.
SARCASM: A bitter remark intended to hurt someone's feelings by using words which clearly means the opposite of what is thought or felt.
FEMINISM: This is the word by which the social system designate the struggle of women. An example of the feminist novel is The Stillborn by Zainab Alkali.
TRANFERED EPITHET: This is a situation in which an adjective properly attached to one word is transfered to another. For example, "The marauding beasts let lose by crucial nightfall". Here, it is not the nightfall that sends the marauding beasts.
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