What type of prose is this???
Understanding the Forms of Prose
•Reading Standard 3.1: Articulate the expressed
purposes and characteristics of different forms of
prose (for example: short story, novel, novella,
essay).
•Our learning goal: To define the word “prose”
and to be able to identify what is prose and what
is not.
Reading Standard 3.1: Articulate the expressed
purposes and characteristics of different forms of
prose (for example: short story, novel, novella,
essay).
• WHAT (today’s learning goal): To define
the word “prose” and to be able to name
and identify different types of prose.
• WHY: To help you anticipate what you’ll
find in the text.
• HOW: Show the meaning of the word with
a gesture and identify whether something
is prose using thumbs up/thumbs down.
The word “prose” comes from the
Latin phrase prosa oratio meaning
"straightforward or direct speech"
(without the ornaments of poetic
verse)
Definition of Prose
• Prose is ordinary, straightforward
writing.
Prose’s Purpose
• Prose is a form of writing that is meant to :
– Inform
– Entertain
– Express
– Persuade
Text Features of Prose
Written using paragraphs
May contain dialogue
Can be either fiction or nonfiction
Can have headings and/or
subheadings
Can be accompanied by graphics
(charts, photos)
A few examples of prose:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Your textbook chapter
A novel
A magazine article
A web article
A newspaper article
A note from your friend
Prose is not….
• Poetry
• Music
• Rhyming
Two Types of Prose
Prose
Fiction
Nonfiction
Made-up stories
Real facts
Fiction
• Fiction has characters who move through
a series of events (the plot) and work
through a conflict, which leads to a climax
and a resolution.
– Short story: Anywhere from a few pages to
twenty pages long.
– Novel: A hundred or more pages long.
– Novella: A short novel (under a hundred
pages)
Nonfiction
• Nonfiction relates facts about real people,
places, things, and events.
– Essay: a short piece that discusses a limited
topic.
– A magazine article
– A biography
Is it Prose?
Thumbs up/thumbs down
Mary Had a Little
Lamb
Your Black History
Essay
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Our National Anthem
Is it fictional prose
Is it nonfictional prose
Science Fiction
Novel
Historical Fiction
Autobiography
Magazine Article
Biography
Reading Standard 3.1: Articulate the expressed
purposes and characteristics of different forms of
prose (for example: short story, novel, novella,
essay).
• WHAT (today’s learning goal): To define
the word “prose” and to be able to name
and identify different types of prose.
• WHY: To help you anticipate what you’ll
find in the text.
• HOW: Show the meaning of the word with
a gesture and identify whether something
is prose using thumbs up/thumbs down.