TYPES OF PROSE

DRILL

WORD POOL

Direction: Cross out the hidden words in the word pool. It can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal or
backward. Give the definition of the words that you have crossed out.

N P A R A B L E S A F B D F
O O Y R O T S I H H O J L M
V A V C E G I K O N L O Q S
E N P E R U Y A R V K X J Z
L E T L L B M Y T H T D O D
E C W B E F H J S K A L U I
T D C A G N P S T U L R R A
T O E F E T A C O F E Z N R
E T I Q N V X E R E S S A Y
G E M O D I A R Y B D W L Y

PROSE

 Prose is etymologically ‘straightforward discourse’ The term comes via Old French prose

from Latin prōsa, which was short for prōsa ōrātiō ‘straightforward discourse’. 
Prōsus ‘straightforward, direct’ was a contraction of an earlierprōversus,
the past participle of prōvertere ‘turn forward’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prō-
‘forward’ and vertere ‘turn’ (source of English verse, version, etc).

 Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow
of speech rather than rhythmic structure

 Prose has sentences arranged in paragraphs. The information presented is more pragmatic. The language
of prose is straight forward, with less figurative language than poetry.

 Prose comprises full, grammatical sentences, which then constitute paragraphs and overlook aesthetic
appeal. 

1. FICTION

a. Novel (Novella) Shikibu. It was written 1000 years

ago.
 Presented using chapters.  The first English novel is Le Morte
 Each chapter has a plot d'Arthur which is written by
 Contains several sets of characters. Thomas Malory. It was written on
 It is derived from the Italian word the year 1470 and was published
“novella” which means “new” or 1485.
“short story of something new”.  Ex: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and
 The world’s first novel is The Tale Sensibility, Moby Dick, The Scarlet
of Genji - the 11th Century Letter, Tale of Two Cities, Les
Japanese classic written by a Heian Miserables and Lord of the Flies
court lady known as Murasaki
b. Novelette

 A brief novel or a long short story
 Contains few chapters than a novel
 Its word count is 7,500 and 17,499
 The term novelette was used by
composer Robert Schumann as a
title for some piano pieces, a choice
that reflected his literary
background and interests.   Stories of gods and goddesses
 Ex: The Short Second Life of Bree
Tanner by Stephanie Meyer
c. Short Story
 Has one plot and limited characters.
 An ending is present
 Yasunari Kawabata was
aJapanese short story writer
and novelist whose spare, lyrical,
subtly-shaded prose works won him
the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1968, the first Japanese author to
receive the award. His works have
enjoyed broad international appeal
and are still widely read.
 Ex: The Cask of Amontilado by
Edgar Allan Poe
d. Fable
 A moral percept illustrated by a
single anecdote, using animals as
characters and normally followed by
the moral in the form of epigram or
proverb.
 Ex: Aesop Fables (The Ant and the
Grasshopper, The Tortoise and the
Hare)
 Aesop was a slave that lived in
Ancient Greece between 620-560
BC and he was a story-teller too.
e. Parable
 Uses people as characters to
illustrate man’s relationship to God.
 The moral is implicit.
 It often involves a character facing
amoral dilemma, or making a
questionable decision and then
suffering the consequences.
 It is derived from the Greek word
“parabole” from “parabellien”.
Para means ‘beside’ and bellien
2. NON-FICTION
a. Journal
means ‘throw’. It meant ‘put beside’
or ‘compare’. 
 Ex: The Parable of the Prodigal
Son, The Parable of the Mustard
Seed, The Parable of the Leaven
f. Myth
interfering with human beings.
 Myths are prominent features
of Greek mythology and the Hebrew
Bible.
 Ex: Pygmalion and Galatea, Cupid
and Psyche, Arachne.
g. Legend
 Stories about the origin of a certain
thing or phenomena in the
surrounding world.
 These stories are handed down
from generation to generation.
 It is derived from the Latin word
“legenda” which means something
to be read.
 Ex: The Legend of the Black Rice
h. Folk Tale
 Traditional story that tries to explain
or understand the world.
 Stories that are orally passed down
through the generations and feature
morals or lessons.
 The stories usually take place long
ago in a faraway place and are
woven around talking animals,
royalty, peasants, or mythical
creatures.
i. Fairy Tales
 Short narrative that typically
features such folkloric characters,
such as fairies,
goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giant
s or gnomes, and usually magic or
enchantments.
 Ex: Grimm’s Fairy Tales
 Grimm’s Fairy tales are published in
1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
 A daily record of events or business
  It is derived by the Latin word
“diurnus” which means daily.
b. Diary
 A record (originally in handwritten
format) with discrete entries
arranged by date reporting on what
has happened over the course of a
day or other period.
 A personal or private journal
 It came from the Latin word
“diarium” which means daily
allowance.
 The Diary of Anne Frank was
published last 1947 and was
considered as  one of the world's
most widely read books
c. Anecdote
 A short and amusing or interesting
story about a real incident or
person.
 Based on a real incident involving
actual persons, whether famous or
not, usually in an identifiable place.
 It came from the Greek word
“anekdotos” which means
unpublished.
d. Biography
 A written account of another
person’s life.
 The first definitive biography is
James Boswell's Life of Samuel
Johnson which was written in the
year 1791.
e. Autobiography
QUIZ
In 10 sentences, explain this quotation
“A page of good prose is where one hears the rain and the noise of battle. It has
the power to give grief or universality that lends it a youthful beauty.”
 Gives the history of a person’s life,
written or told by that person.
 Often written in Narrative form of
their person’s life.
 The first autobiography in the world
is The Confessions of St.
Augustine which was written
between AD 397 and AD 398.
f. Essays
 A short literary composition that
reflects the author’s outlook or
point.
 A short literary composition on a
particular theme or subject, usually
in prose and generally analytic,
speculative, or interpretative.\
 It came from the French word
“essai” which means literary
attempt.
 Lord Michel Eyquem de
Montaigne popularized essay as a
literary genre.
g. History
 The discovery, collection,
organization, and presentation
of information about past events. 
 The father of history is Herodotus.
His sole work is "The Histories"
which chronicles the lead up and
events of the Greco-Persian Wars.
 It is derived from the Greek word
“historia” which means ‘inquiry,
knowledge acquired by
investigation.