Understanding Prose: Definition and Types

Prose Definition and Types

• Prose is straightforward or direct speech, without poetic elements like verse.
• It's written or spoken language, in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.
• Prose is typically written in full sentences that form paragraphs.
• Prose is commonly found in newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias, broadcasting, films, history, philosophy, and many other communication forms.
• Prose can be either fiction or nonfiction.

Prose Purpose

• Prose can inform, entertain, express, or persuade.

Prose Text Features

• Prose uses paragraphs.
• Prose can feature dialogue.
• Prose can be either fiction or nonfiction.
• Prose can include headings and subheadings.
• Prose can be accompanied by graphics (like charts and photos).

Prose Examples

• Textbook chapters
• Novels
• Magazine articles
• Web articles
• Newspaper articles
• Notes from friends

Prose is Not

• Poetry
• Music
• Rhyming

Two Prose Types

• Fiction: Made-up stories
  • Short stories (a few pages to 20 pages)
  • Novels (100+ pages)
  • Novellas (short novel, under 100 pages)
• Nonfiction: Relates facts about real people, places, and events
  • Essays (discuss a limited topic)
  • Magazines articles
  • Biographies

Analysis of Narrative Prose

• Narrative prose has at least two levels: the story (what happens) and the discourse (how it's told).
• In structuralist terminology, the "what" is called story and the "how" is called discourse.
• Story consists of events and existents (characters and setting).
  • Events can be active actions or natural occurrences.
  • Existents are characters who make events happen.

Prose Teaching Strategies

• Focus on increasing student comprehension and connection to the material.
• Use a variety of strategies to keep students interested and involved.
• Create conditions to elicit desired student behaviors.

Effective Prose Reading Strategies

• Encourage repeated reading for deeper comprehension.
• Introduce active reading strategies, such as identifying key facts (who, what, when, where, how).

Effective Prose Writing Strategies

• Encourage students to write about the story they've read.
• Have them brainstorm, list, or free-write a paragraph immediately after each reading.

Effective Prose Discussion Strategies

• Engage in discussion to help students understand the material more deeply.
• Use questions to challenge students and encourage them to share their point of views.
• Have students help formulate their own questions and allow for individual reflection.
• Encourage group discussions.

Effective Prose Technology Strategies

• Integrate technology: use movie versions of books, find similar movies for comparison, and watch author broadcasts to deepen understanding.
• Allow for student projects like creating a movie version of the story or novel.