Teaching Prose

and Dramatic Prose

 Introduction to Prose
From Latin word prosa, part of the phrase prosa oratio, meaning
straightforward speech/ a natural flow of speech
Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical
structure
• Written in full grammatical sentences, which then constitutes
paragraph
Kinds of Prose
and its Genres
 Kinds of Prose
Short story
and its Genres
Novel
Fiction – (created from
the imagination, not Novella
presented as fact, • Folktale – legend, fable,
although it may be a parable
true story or situation)
 Kinds of Prose Biography
and its Genres Autobiography
Nonfiction – (based on History
fact rather than on the Letter
imagination, although
may can contain Diary
fictional elements) • Journal
Comprehending
Prose
 Elements of Language/Rhetorical Devices
• Repetition: alliteration, anadiplosis, anaphora, antimetabole, assonance,
catalog, chiasmus, epanalepsis, epistrophe, internal rhyme, parallelism,
sibilance
• Rhetorical/Organizational/Reasoning: ambiguity, analogy, anecdote,
aphorism, aposiopesis, catalog, didactic, digression, epithet, ethos, pathos,
logos, hendiadys, juxtaposition, understatement/litotes, oxymoron,
paradox, parallelism, rhetorical question, shift, syllogism, zeugma,
organizational pattern (chronological, spatial, climactic, cause/effect,
comparison/ contrast, deductive/inductive reasoning, classification,
problem-solution)
 Elements of Diction
Levels of Diction
High/formal - contains language that creates an elevated tone. It is free of
slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions. It often contains
polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax and elegant words.
Neutral - uses standard language and vocabulary without elaborate words
and may include contractions
• informal/low - language of everyday use; relaxed and conversational;
common and simple words, idioms, slang, jargon and contractions
 Elements of Diction
Types of Diction
Slang - recently coined words that come and go quickly; used in informal situations
colloquial - nonstandard expressions, often regional, used in informal or conversational speech and
writing
jargon - words characteristic to a particular profession
dialect - nonstandard subgroup of language with its own vocabulary and grammatics; can reveal region,
economics, class; words are misspelled to accentuate the way the words sound
abstract - denotes intangible ideas, emotions, conditions, or concepts
concrete - specific words that describe physical qualities/conditions
denotation
• connotation
 Elements of Syntax
Types and Patterns of Sentences
Telegraphic - shorter than five words
short - approximately five words in length
medium - approximately 18 words in length
• long and involved - 30 words or more in length
Elements of Syntax
Types and Patterns of Sentences
Declarative - makes a statement
imperative - gives a command
interrogative - asks a question
• exclamatory - emphasizes or expresses strong emotion
 Elements of Syntax
Types and Patterns of Sentences
Simple - one independent clause
compound - two independent clauses
complex - one independent clause and at least one dependent
clause
• compound - complex-two independent clauses and at least one
dependent clause
 Elements of Syntax
Types and Patterns of Sentences
Natural order - subject comes before the predicate
inverted order - predicate comes before the subject
rhetorical fragment - fragment used deliberately for purpose/effect
rhetorical question - not meant to be answered
• Syntactical Devices - parallelism, juxtaposition, repetition, anaphora,
chiasmus, antimetabole, zeugma
 Elements of Structure
Storytelling Techniques
• Elements of Plot: the series of related events in a story; it must involve conflict
and resolution of conflict; must figure out protagonist, antagonist, type of conflict,
exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement, turning point
• Point of View: vantage point from which a story is told; can be participant or
nonparticipant; can change throughout story
• Participant Points of View: first-person; innocent eye
• Nonparticipant Points of View: third-person; third-person omniscient, third-person
limited omniscient, third-person objective, second person
 Elements of Structure
Storytelling Techniques
• Structural Elements for Storytelling: flashback,
foreshadowing, framing device, shift, chapters, books,
paragraphs, paragraph supports (quotations, citations, details,
diction, etc.), motif, parody
 Elements of Characterization
Characterization: the process by which the writer reveals the personality of
the character
indirect characterization – what the character says, does, thinks, has, wears;
where they are; the people with whom they associate; what others say and
think about them
• direct characterization – author’s direct statements
• Types of Character: narrator, flat, round, static, dynamic, major, minor,
protagonist, antagonist, archetypal
 Elements of Setting
Setting: the historical time and place, and the social circumstances in the “world” of the
literature; rarely isolated; can affect structure, symbol, irony, tone, mood, archetype and character
geographic location - topography, scenery, room layout/furniture, buildings, stage set or design;
physical dimensions
cultural backdrop/social context/time period - occupations/working conditions, way of life, way
of talking and behaving, clothing, gender roles, traditions, habits, attitudes, customs, beliefs,
values, speech patterns, laws, past present and future
artificial environment - rooms, buildings, cities, towns, villages, futuristic settings
• props - tools, implements, gadgets, clothing/costumes, furniture
 Elements of Style
Style: the characteristic manner of expression of a writer or text.
INCLUDES diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery, tone,
details, parallelism, rhetorical devices, etc.
• How to Ascertain Style: First look at syntax and diction, then
pay attention to patterns in all other elements
 Elements of Theme
Theme: the insight about human life revealed in literature; not
one or two words. The theme is not “love” it is “humans go to
great lengths to be loved.”
• How to Ascertain Theme: First know plot with conflict,
characterization, imagery, and author’s tone; then identify the
subject in one word and explain in one or two sentences what
the author says about the subject.
 Elements of Tone
Tone: the author’s (sometimes the speaker’s) attitude
• How to Ascertain Tone: DIDS (diction LEAD), imagery (appeals to
understanding through senses), details (facts included and omitted), syntax
(how does sentence structure affect mood?)
• Types of Tone: you must develop a tone vocabulary—continue making
tone groupings. Here are some areas to focus on: happy, thinking,
mocking, caring, sad, ironic, objective, angry, conversational, don’t care,
etc.
 Figurative Language General Literary Devices

• Adynaton, allegory, apostrophe, • Aesthetics, allusion, archetype,

cliché, conceit, euphemism, dramatic situation, irony, mood,
hyperbole, idiom, imagery, motivation, satire, style, symbol,
synesthesia, metaphor, metonymy, theme, tone, sarcasm
personification, pun, simile,
synecdoche
Strategies in
Teaching Prose
 Teaching Prose
• Prose is meant for learning a language.
• Teaching prose means teaching reading with comprehension.
• Reading with comprehension helps the learners to acquire new vocabulary and content words.
Teaching prose enables the students to:
Understand the passage
• read fluently
• Enrich their vocabulary and to;
• enjoy reading and writing
 Silent Reading
Silent Reading by the students:
• Silent reading is helpful for rapid reading, learning of new words
and a quick understanding of meaning. Students are given 5 – 10
minutes to read a passage silently in every session.
• The form extensive reading means to read silently and quickly, it
helps students to read without the help of the teacher.
• This is also called Rapid reading or Independent silent reading.
 Extensive Reading as Silent Reading
The objectives of the extensive reading
are:
To understand the meaning as quickly as
possible.
To increase passive vocabulary.
To develop taste for reading.
To develop the habit of reading for pleasure.
1. To concentrate upon subject matter.
Advantages:
It helps in assimilation of ideas.
The class room is busy and active.
It increases vocabulary.
It prepares students for library reading.
Helps for individual method of study and self-
education.
1. In extensive reading, a child practices what
he has learnt.
 Prose Performance Activities
Discussion – is the action of talking about something in order to reach a decision nor
exchange ideas. We can let our students watch a video and let them discuss what they’ve
learned.
• Oral recitation – this will allow students to learn and review the material in a small
group environment which will promote their skills in communication.
• Roleplay – is a form of roleplaying in which others write out their character’s actions,
speech and other mannerisms.
• Dialogue – is a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book or play.
• Oration – practice students to deliver a formal speech.
 Prose Drama
• Is a literary work written in dialogue and intended for presentation by
actors.
• The essence of drama is the make-believe by which an actor impersonates
a character of the play.
• Dramas of any period have their different sets of conventions and the
playgoer must be conscious of them.
 Prose Drama
Comedy - is any discourse or work generally intended to be humorous or to amuse by
inducing laughter.
Tragedy – is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience an
accompanying catharsis or pleasure in the viewing.
Melodrama - refers to a dramatic work that puts characters in danger in order to appeal to
the emotions.
Farce – is a comedy that aims entertaining the audience through situations that are highly
exaggerated, ridiculous, and absurd.
• History
 Special Types of Prose Drama
Closet Drama – written in dramatic form, and is intended for private reading rather than stage
performance
Tragicomedy – is a combination of the elements of tragedy and comedy
Problem Plays – neither comedies nor tragedies but deal with middle-class life problems.
Comedy of manners – is a type of play which satirizes the extreme of fashion and manners the
acquire follies of a highly sophisticated society.
• Comedia dell’arte – was a type of comedy developed in 16th-century Italy and its essential
characteristics was that it was based on a ploy (scenario) outlined in advance, but the dialogue was
improvised during performance. Characters who wore masks were stock types as the silly old man,
the pedant, the lover, etc.
References:
P. (n.d.). Prose. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/pipitkh/prose-41329376
Phillips, C. (n.d.). Prose PPT. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/maeburg/prose-
ppt
• https://englishinternship.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/1_6-teaching-of-prose.pdf
• M. (n.d.-a). Prose. SlideShare.
https://www.slideshare.net/May2xnasole/prose-16496257?from_m_app=android
• Navarez, M. A. (2020, December 6). Strategies in Teaching Prose
#VignetteinELE127. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvfbVfE4ujc&feature=youtu.be
• Galang, J. (n.d.). Types of drama. SlideShare.
https://www.slideshare.net/JerlynGalang/types-of-drama-41681403?
from_m_app=android