Prose

• Prose is straight writing in

paragraph form (e.g. newspaper,
novels, magazines).
 Poetry
• Poetry is a particular
arrangement of words on a page
for heightened emotional effect.
 Fiction and Nonfiction

• All writing falls into one of

these two categories:
–Fiction
–Nonfiction
 Fiction
Fiction is not true. It is drawn
from the imagination of the
author.
 Nonfiction
• Nonfiction is true. It is based
on real events or facts.
Fiction
• Ancient: Fables, Tales
• Modern: Novels & Short Stories
• Poetry
• Drama
• Biography and Autobiography
• The Essay
• Film
 A Fable
• The Oak and the Reeds
A VERY LARGE OAK was uprooted by the wind
and thrown across a stream. It fell among some
Reeds, which it thus addressed: "I wonder how you,
who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed
by these strong winds." They replied, "You fight
and contend with the wind, and consequently you
are destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before
the least breath of air, and therefore remain
unbroken, and escape." Stoop to conquer.
 Fiction
• Ancient: Fables, Tales
– Not Realistic
– No details
– Quick and simple plots
– Nonhuman characters
– They aim at a quick and simple moral
(lesson)
 Modern Fiction (Men in The Sun)
• It was not too uncomfortable riding on the back of
the huge lorry. Although the sun was pouring its
inferno down on them without any respite, the
breeze that they felt because of the lorry’s speed
lessened the intensity of the heat. Abu Qais had
climbed up on top with Marwan, and they sat side
by side on the edge of the tank. They had drawn
lots, and it was Assad’s turn to sit beside the
driver.
 Modern Fiction
• Novels & Short Stories
– Verisimilitude: Realistic (life-like) presentation of events
– Real (human characters)
– Minute details
– Not reality but an illusion of reality
– Modern fiction is the genre of the Middle Class. The
Industrial Revolution created the Middle Class and the
novel became the new form of literature which
represented the difficulties encountering Middle Class
people.
 History, Biography/Autobiography
& Fiction
• History: an objective presentation of reality
• Biography/Autobiography: a subjective
presentation of reality.
• Fiction: An illusion of reality.
 Elements of Fiction
• Plot
• Characters
• Narrator’s Point of view
• Symbolism
• Atmosphere
• Language
• Style
• Irony
• Time and Place
• Themes
 Plot
• Plot:
A plot in fiction is the arrangement of events in
a story. It has an exposition, a conflict
(complication of events and a conclusion), and
a resolution.
Plots differ with reference to the above
arrangements. For example: there are stories
which do not have a climax or a resolution.
The arrangement of the parts of the plot is the
writer’s choice
 Characters
• There are Flat and Round characters.
• A Round character: a major character
(usually the protagonist) who experiences
change.
• A Flat character: a minor character
 Narrator
Narrator’s point of view:
First Person
Third Person:
A Narrator can also be:
Omniscient
Partially omniscient
Objective
Dramatic
POINT OF VIEW
SECTION
 Point of View
• a term used to describe the way
in which the reader is presented
with the story; also defined as
the vantage point from which
the author presents the story.
 Point of View
• I. First Person point of view
(Uses personal pronouns: I,
me, mine, we, us, our)
- the narrator is the main
character who tells his/her
own story.
 Point of View
• II. Third Person point of view
(Uses personal pronouns: he,
she, it, they, them, etc.)
- This narrator is an outside
narrator.
Third Person Point of View
• A. Third Person: Objective
–This narrator is like a news
reporter. He tells us the facts
only. He cannot enter into the
thoughts of the characters.
Third Person Point of View
• B. Third Person: Limited
–This narrator can see into the
mind of only one character.
Third Person Point of View
• C. Third Person: Omniscient
–This narrator can relate the
thoughts of all the characters.
 Objective Point of View
• The objective point of view is the point of
view from a distanced, informational
perspective, as in a news report.
 Subjective Point of View
• The subjective point of view involves a
personal perspective.
 The Stream of Consciousness
Technique
 One modern and sophisticated technique of
narration is the Stream of Consciousness Technique.
 In the S of C techniques the writer introduces to us a
narrator who oscillates between past, present and
future in a haphazard manner; without attention to
the chronological sequence of events
 Some critics describe the S of C techniques as
“human mind at work”; human mind is not rhythmic
in its perception of things
 Aesthetic Distance
• We need to be aware of the difference between
the author/writer and the narrator: they are not
the same.
• The aesthetic distance is the distance that the
writer maintains between himself and the
narrator.
• Students usually confuse the narrator with the
writer. In fiction the author does not appear in
the story or the novel. It is the narrator who
tells the story.
 Narrator/Author
• What if the narrator is the same as the
Author?
• The work then becomes an autobiography
and not fiction.
 Symbolism
• There are conventional symbols: symbols
that are used by many writers and that are
known to almost all people. The Dove: a
symbol of Peace
• There are private symbols that are used by
one writer in one work of literature
• Symbols are naturally known to allow for
different interpretations.
 Atmosphere
• The atmosphere of the story is generally
created by the author and it contributes to
the meaning of the story. An atmosphere
can be described as dark, sunny, gloomy,
rainy, silent, boisterous ---etc.
• A protagonist who initiates a journey at
night may be seen as a fearless adventurer
or a gloomy ignorant mishap
 Language
 The language of a story or a novel may be one
of the concerns of the critic. The language of a
story may be described as slang, standard,
difficult, poetic, ---etc.
 The language of a story may not be described
as difficult if we, as foreign readers, find very
many new words. This reality may be
attributed to our language proficiency and not
the difficulty of the language of the story
 Style
• Style is the way the writer presents his/her
story
• The style of a story can be described as
lucid, boring, tense, complicated,
sophisticated ---etc.
• A writer may choose at certain episodes to
use long sentences; short sentences at other
episodes.
 Time and Place
• Writers usually locate their stories within a
specific time and place
• Awareness of the time and place of a story
illuminates our perception
• A story located in London during the post
World War era may inform our reading of
that story.
 Irony
• The simple definition of irony entails
saying something and meaning just the
opposite of what is said.
• The whole story or parts of it can be ironic.
• If one says “I love having four exams in one
day), s/he certainly means the opposite of
what s/he says.
 Themes
 The theme of the story is the message that the
writer aims at conveying to us.
 The message that the writer intends to convey
to us may not be the same message that we
find. This reality is referred to as the
intentional fallacy.
 A writer may intend to present to us the
negative consequences of prejudice and we as
readers may find the same work a terrible
source of prejudice.