INTRODUCTION TO PROSE WRITING

The word"prose' is taken from the Latin 'prosa’ (oratia) which means 'direct' or
'straight'. Broadly speaking, prose is direct or straightforward writing. In
poetry, which is generally written in verse, a lot of things may be left to the
' imagination of the reader.
In ordinary prose, the aim is to communicate one's thoughts and feelings.
What is important then is (a)what one wants to say, and (b) how one chooses
to say it. What is said is the topic or subject of the composition. How it is
said is the style or manner in which the topic is expressed. The style, of
course, greatly depends upon who we are writing for and what sort of
personality we have. There are different topics and different styles. Whatever
the number of topics, they all come under one or another variety of prose and
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each variety may have a distinct style of its own.

What then are the different varieties of prose? For purposes of analysis we
have categorised them as (a) descriptive, (b) narrative and (c) expository. But
these three are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes you find more than one
variety in a piece of work. It d'epends on the skill and intention of the writer.
For example, in a novel or short story, we are likely to find all these varieties
of prose worked together in interesting and innovative combination.

Difference between prose and Poetry

IN SIMPLEST TERMS, prose refers to a form of writing which has a natural flow
with speech and writing. It is grammatically correct but does not have a metrical
structure as something like poetry would have .

A French poet and critic, Paul Valery, compared prose to walking and poetry
to dancing. We walk in order to go from one place to another. We do it for a
particular purpose. When we walk for exercise, we do it for the improvement
of our health. In other words, walking is utilitarian, that is, it is something that
Iwe do with a purpose in view. We are talking about ordinary prose and not
literary prose. Ordinary prose is like walking. We use words to give
information, to get something done, to make someone do what we want
himher to do, and so on. In ordinary prose, what is important is the message.
But this is not the primary consideration in literary prose. What is important
also is how language is used, how ideas and emotions are communicated and
how the style suits the content.
When y~u go to see a dance, you are not interested in seeking information.
When you see a good dance, you enjoy it. In other words, the objective is
enjoyment and not mere information or instruction. When you like a particular
dance, you go and see that dance over and over again because every time you
see it, you get a new aesthetic experience. In the case of poetry and literary
prose, you have what you call your favourite poem or passage. You read it
several times and are not tired of it. If it is an ordinary prose passage, the
moment you understand the meaning, you don't want to read it again. In
literary prose as well as in poetry, it is not just the meaning that is important,
but also the medium. It is often difficult to say what is more important, the
form or the content. There is, however, an inseparability between the two, a
togetherness. This is exactly the meaning of the Hindi term 'Sahitya'.
'Sahitya' literally means 'togetherness'. It is the togetherness of the sound and
the sense, it is the togetherness of form and content. This is what is unique to
great literature.
In dancing, every gesture is important for the position that it occupies in that
particular dance. No one posture is more important or less important than
another. Each gesture contributes to the total effect of the dance. In the same
way, in a good poem or a piece of literary prose, every word is important for
the position it occupies in it, and contributes to its total effect. Again, in a
good dance, when the dance is on, you cannot distinguish the dancer from the
dance. In any great poem or passage of literary prose, it will be difficult to
separate the effect of the medium from the effect of the message. We do
paraphrase a poem, but the paraphrase of a poem is not the poem. A prose
piece can be paraphrased, summarised but not a poem. The meaning of the
poem is the meaning that you experience every time you read the poem and
you cannot say of any poem that you've exhausted it. .The 'literariness' of a
particular poem or prose piece lies partly in this quality. A literary piece
usually has layers of meaning, for the writer works through suggestion,
allusion, imagery and other such devices.

A literary piece usually has layers of meaning, for the writer works through
suggestion, allusion, imagery and other such devices. The use of literary devices alone
does not make a piece "literary". What is important,is the way in whibh they
. contribute to the unity and thereby the final effect of the piece. Every time you
because of the connotation of the words in poetry.

FORMS OF PROSE

1. FICTIONAL
2. NON FICTIONAL
1. FICTION :
Fiction is derived from Latin ‘fictio’ which describes the art of making.In modern
sense, it means any narrative account of an imaginary event and people in fictious set
Ing in prose form. It opens up new horizons and doors to the world of imagination
that one may never expect in reality.
Aside from being a simple story, a work of fiction aims at highlighting large issues
and and provide commentary on social and political matters as well.Fiction is both
‘artifice and verisimilitude’ that is along with imagination and creativity, it requires a
perfect balance of reality.

ELEMENTS OF FICTION:

=> PLOT : The most essential aspect of any fiction writing is a plot.A traditional plot
describes the events of the story with a beginning, a middle and an end.The events
take place in a particular order so as to resolve a particular conflict by the end.Modern
novels defy the traditi0nal plot structure and end with resolution.

=>CHARACTER: Human, animal or any imaginary creature in fiction is referred to

as a character.There are major and minor characters in fiction depending upon the role
they have been accorded in the work.

=> SETTING: It refers to the social and physical background in which the story takes
place.

=>THEME: It is the main idea in the fiction around which the story, characters and
setting revolve.

=>POINT OF VIEW: Afiction is told from a particular narrastive perspective and

aquints the reader with character and setting and sets the tone and mood of the
work.The major types of point of views are- First Person, Second Person, Third
Person, Omnicient.

TYPES OF FICTION =

=> SHORT STORY : A brief work of fiction that can be read in one go. It often has
few characters and single storyline to focus upon unchanging background
setting.Edgar Allan Poe, who is known as the father of short stories, Anton Checkov
and O’ Henry revolutionised the genre .

=> NOVELLA : Novella falls somewhere between a short story and a novel because
of its medium size length. It is longer than a short story and takes a wider angle than it,
but in comparison with a novel, it has fewer subplots and limited characters and
setting. Example; George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of
Darkness”.

=>NOVEL :Novel refers to the longer work of fiction that embodies more than one
storyline and many characters that show development toward the course of the novel.
In English Literature, Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela” is considered as one of the first
true English novels.

=> GENRE FICTION : In fiction there are several sub categories that are classified
as genres. Each genre specifically takes up a tone and style and set of narrative
techniques. For example,
HISTORICAL FICTION ( Walter Scott- Waverley) ,
SCIENCE FICTION ( Mary Shelly - Frankenstein) ,
FANTASY ( Lewis Carroll - Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)

=> METAFICTION : It is a form of fiction that exibits its own constructedness

through various ways to the readers.This type of fiction emphasises that what the
reader is reading is unreal and a work of fiction.It is mostly used as a form of parody
and to invert the literary traditions.

NON FICTIONAL PROSE :

Non fiction literature contains a wide variety of writings which can be understood as a
form of writing based on true and real life experiences.
Non fiction writing is broadly categorized into :
1. INFORMAL NONFICTION : The central aim of informal nonfiction is to provide
their readers glimpse of society, politics, religion, law and order which also includes
writings like chronicles, articles, religious writings, reports and essays.
2. LITERARY NONFICTION : Literary nonfiction often referred to creative
nonfiction is a type of prose that uses the literary techniques mixed with fiction or
poetry to discuss real people, place, events and the world. The literary nonfiction
includes- travelogues, biographies, autobiographies, memoirs and interviews, etc.

Varieties of PROSE

.1 Descriptive Prose
Descrip'tive writing describes things as they are or as they appear to be. It can
be the description of a person or a landscape or an event. In descriptive writing, we
are able to see things as they are or were seen or heard or imagined by the describer.
A good description translates the writer's
observation into vivid details and creates an atmosphere of its own. Through
hisher description, the author tries to recreate what she has seen or imagined.
A fine description is a painting in words. Here is a description of Mr. Squeers
in Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39):
Mr. Squeers' appearance was not prepossessing. He had but
one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two. The
eye he had was unquestionably useful, but decidedly not
ornamental: being of a greenish grey, and in shape resembling
the fan-light of a street door. The blank side of his face was
much wrinkled and puckered up, which gave him a very
sinister appearance, especially when he smiled, at which times
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his expression bordered closely on the villainous. His hair was
very flat and shiny, save at the ends, where it was brushed
stiffly up from a low protruding forehead, which assorted
well with his harsh voice and coarse manner. He was about
two or three and fifty, and a trifle below the middle size; he
wore a white neckerchief with long ends, and a suit of
scholastic black; but his coat sleeves being a great deal too
long, and his trousers a great deal too short, he appeared ill at
ease in hi

s if he were in a perpetual state of

astonishment at finding himself so respectable.
Glossary
prepossessing: inspiring
puckered up: full of folds and wrinkles
sinister: wicked, evil
protruding: jutting out, projecting
scholastic: formall academic
This is a graphic description of the appearance of Mr. Squeers. The details are
so sharp that we can easily visualize the person.

1.3.2 Narrative Prose

A narrative tells us what happens or happened. It deals mainly with events.
In other words a narrative is a description of events. It may deal with external
or internal events. By internal events, we mean the thoughts, feelings andl
emotions of individuals. Narrative writing tries to recreate an actual
expqience or an imaginary one in a way that we are able to experience it
mentally. We lose ourselves in the characters and events of the narrative
temporarily. Narratives can deal with the facts or fiction. Autobiographies,
biographies, letters, travelogues, diaries and speeches are narratives of fact.
The short story and novel come under the category of narrative fiction.
In a narrative, we are carried alpng the stream of action. When we narrate ra
story, we concentrate on the sequence of events. It is the action that grips the
attention of the reader. The Rarnayana and the Mahabharata are examples of
narrative writing. Narration is concerned with action and actors, it may make
use of description but description is secondary. Action, characters and setting
are the elements that are woven into a pattern to make the narrative
interesting.
Rudyard Kipling mentioned the ingredients of a narrative in the
following verse:
I keep six honest-serving men
They taught me all I know:
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
What happens? Why does it happen? When does it happen? How does it
happen? Where does it happen and to whom does it happen? All these
questions are answered satisfactorily in a narrative. What makes a narrative
interesting is not just what is said but the way it is said.

1.3.3 Expository Prose

~x~osito& writing
deals in definition, explanation or interpretation. It
includes writing on
science, law, philosophy, technology, political science,
history and literary criticism. Exposition is a form of logical presentation. Its
primary object is to explain and clarify. It presents details concretely and
exactly. Expository writing is writing that explains. But we are not interested
in writing that merely explains. We are interested in expository writing that
can be read as literahre. The following is a piece of expository prose: In the leg there
are two bones, the tibia andfibula.

The tibia or shin-bone is long and strong and bears the weight of the body,
The fibula or splint bone is an equally long but much slenderer
bone, and is attached to the tibia as a pin is to a brooch.
(Leonard Hill, Manual of Human Physiology)
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This piece clearly defines the two bones, the tibia and the fibula. But can this
be read as literature? Now let us look at another piece of expository prose.
Now let us look at another piece of expository prose.
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Now mark another big difference between the natural slavery
of man to Nature and the unnatural slavery of man to man.
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Nature is kind to her slaves. If she forces you to eat and drink,
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she makes eating and drinking so pleasant that when we can
afford it we eat and drink too much. We must sleep or go mad:
but then sleep is so pleasant that we have great difficulty in
getting up in the morning. And firesides and families seem so
pleasant to the young that they get married and join building
societies to realize their dreams. Thus, instead of resenting our
natural wants as slavery, we take the greatest pleasure in their
satisfaction. We write sentimental songs in praise of them. A
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tramp can earn his earn his supper by singing Home, Sweet Home.
The slavery of man to man is the very opposite of this. It is
hateful to the body and to the spirit. Our poets do not praise it;
they proclaim that no man is good enough to be another man's
master. The latest of the great Jewish prophets, a gentleman
named Mm, spent his life in proving that there is no
extremity of selfish cruelty at which the slavefy of man to man
will stop if it be not stopped 'by law. You can see for yourself
, that it produces a state of continual civil war- called the class
war-between the slaves and their masters, organized as Trade
Unions on one side and Employers' Federations on the other.
(G.B. Shaw, 'Fr

eedom'--one of% series of BBC Radio Tdks-

18 June, 1935 in Modern Prose, Michael Thorpe, pp 147-48)
There is a clear difference between the .two passages. Shaw puts across his
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argument logically and convincingly. He first talks about the natural slavery
of man to Nature by giving a series of examples. He 'then contrasts this with
the unnatural slavery of man to man. By use of contrast, this argument is
fuaher strengthened. The result is that difficult concepts like freedom and
slavery are readily ,understood. What is, however, remarkable is that his use of
simple language, tongue-in-cheek manner and conversational style
immediately strikes a sympathetic and receptive Chord in the reader. These
two .passages must have given you some idea about the difference between
literary and non-literary expository writing.