Types of Prose Writing

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Questions and Answers

What is the distinguishing feature between a LEGEND and a MYTH?

Myths are shorter than legends and focus on animal characters.

Legends focus more on supernatural beliefs, while myths have a historical dimension. (correct)

Myths are based on facts, while legends are purely fictional.

Legends have religious significance, while myths reflect cultural values.

What defines a FABLE?

Fables are lengthy prose fictions with deep moral lessons.

Fables are stories featuring animal characters teaching moral lessons. (correct)

Fables are mythological stories passed down orally for generations.

Fables are allegories that explain religious significance.

How can a PARABLE be described?

Parables are fictional stories told over generations.

Parables are novels with lengthy plots and character development.

Parables are short stories focusing on supernatural beliefs.

Parables are allegories that illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. (correct)

What distinguishes a SHORT STORY from a NOVEL?

Short stories contain the major elements of plot, while novels have complex narratives. Signup and view all the answers

What is characteristic of a FOLKTALE?

Folktales are fictional stories orally passed down over generations. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of writing reflects cultural values and people's identity?

Memoirs Signup and view all the answers

Which genre primarily focuses on the deeds and love of noble knights and ladies?

Metrical Romance Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes an Elegy from an Ode?

Subject matter Signup and view all the answers

Which form of literature tells the adventures of gods or heroes?

Epic Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes a Metrical Tale from a Metrical Romance?

Character types Signup and view all the answers

Which literary form honors or glorifies people, natural scenes, or abstract ideas?

Ode Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between an Italian/Petrarchan sonnet and an English or Shakespearean sonnet?

The rhyme scheme Signup and view all the answers

Which type of poem is inspired by Francesco Petrarch?

Sonnet Signup and view all the answers

In an Italian/Petrarchan sonnet, what is the function of the 8-line octave?

Asks a question, states a problem, or presents a brief narrative Signup and view all the answers

What kind of poem has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef in the quatrain and gg in the couplet?

Sonnet Signup and view all the answers

What differentiates an autobiography from a biography?

It tells the author's own life story Signup and view all the answers

What is a memoir primarily focused on?

Historical events or specific subjects Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Poetic Forms

Elegy: a solemn and less formal poem about death, containing a tragic theme and serious reflection on the death of a person.
Ode: a formal poem that honors or glorifies people, natural scenes, abstract ideas, and commemorative events, with a solemn and serious tone and subject matter.
Song: a poem set to music, intended to be sung.
Ballad: a narrative poem that tells a story, often with adventure or romance, featuring 4 or 6-line stanzas, rhyme, simple language, and dramatic action.
Epic: a long poem that tells the adventures of gods or heroes, chronicling the origins of civilization and embodying its central values.

Story Forms

Metrical Tale: a poem that relates to real or imaginary events, presented in simple, straightforward language, featuring ordinary people concerned with ordinary events.
Metrical Romance: a poem that presents remote or imaginative incidents, often about the deeds and love of noble knights and ladies, featuring tales of chivalry and courtly love.

Prose Forms

Essay: a short work about a particular subject.
Biography: a life story of another person.
Autobiography: the author's own life story.
Memoirs: records of fact or events in connection with particular subjects and/or historical periods, known by the writer or gathered from special sources.
Journal: a daily record of occurrences or observations.

Other Forms

Epistle: a letter, often referring to the apostolic letters in the New Testament.
Sonnet: a 14-line poem with a single theme, written in iambic pentameter.
- Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet: inspired by Francesco Petrarch, featuring an 8-line octave and 6-line sestet.
- English or Shakespearean Sonnet: inspired by William Shakespeare, featuring a 4-line quatrain and a concluding 2-line couplet.

Narrative Forms

Legend: a story that may or may not have a foundation in fact, reflecting people's identity or cultural values with more historical dimension and less on supernatural beliefs.
Myth: a story with religious significance that explains the actions of gods or heroes and the causes of natural phenomena.
Fable: a story of animal characters that teaches a moral or lesson.
Parable: an allegory that illustrates a moral or spiritual lesson.
Short Story: a prose writing that can be read in one sitting, containing the major elements of plot.
Novel: a lengthy prose fiction that may be about romance and tears, ordinary life, overwhelming forces of nature and society, and behavior and motivation.
Folktale: a fictional story that has been orally passed down over hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years.

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Description

Explore the different forms of prose writing, such as novels, short stories, epics, fables, biographies, and more. Understand how each type of prose conveys stories, ideas, and cultural values.