Prose: Literary And Non-Literary SS1 Nigerian History Lesson Note

Prose is a literary piece expressed in ordinary and straightforward language other than in Verse. A writer of Prose is known as PROSE MAN or PROSAIST. The chief character in prose or any literary piece is known as AGONIST. If any literary work is short, it is known as MARCEAU and if it is geared towards securing the necessities of life e.g. Food and Cloth, it is known as POT BOILER. If it is short pointing out morals, it is called EXEMPLUM. But if the story is about grotesque (strange) phenomena or incredible situations, it is known as TALL STORY or FAIRY TALE. 

Also, if a prose man uses a technique to describe events that are yet to take place in the story, the device is known generally in the literacy circle, be it prose or play, as FORESHADOWING which resembles prophecy. But if the story is narrated or written in a humorous scorn or jibe of a situation, we then could describe it as a SARCASTIC HUMOR. While writing or composing his/her piece, if the writer imitates another writer to mock him/her, such is known as PARODY. 

A good example of prose is a NOVEL – A novel is defined as a long prose narrative with a wide range of characters and experiences. When the prose narrative is a short novel, it is known as a NOVELETTE. And when it is a short story often about an event, it is called a NOVELLA /NOVELLE.

Generally, a writer of novels is a NOVELIST who might write his novel in the form of a letter – This is EPISTOLARY e.g. Mariama Ba’s “So Long A Letter”. 

When a story is short but not bound to a fact, it is referred to as a FABLE. The story could as well be a biographical sketch of somebody, which is called a MEMOIR. 

TYPE OF PROSE

1. Argumentative: This refers to a passage in which the prose and cons of an issue are presented with the aid of arriving at a logical solution 
2. Discipline: This refers to a prose passage in which events persons, places and things are given full exposure or simply described 
3. Dramatic: This refers to a passage in which persons (Characters) speak one after the other in the form of dialogue 
4. Expository: This term refers to a passage in which the presentation aims at clarifying, explaining and interpreting the subject. 
5. Narrative: The word, “Narrative” means a story and so the prose narrative is a passage which is aimed at presenting a well-defined story. 
6. Technical or Scientific: This refers to a passage in which a specific or technical subject is presented. The language of such a presentation often contains a special vocabulary which is found only in the discussion of the subject. 

FICTION AND NON-FICTION

“Fiction” is a word derived from the Latin word “Facio” meaning “I make”. Thus, fiction can therefore mean that which does not truly happen and so is made to look as if it happened e.g.” Arrow at God” by Chinua Achebe, and ‘Mayor of Caster Bridge’ by Thomas Hardy. Some of the things that happen in fiction can as well happen in real life but the story in the fiction is imaginary and therefore is fictitious. There is another aspect of fiction called Romance. In Romance, things that happen in the novel are impossible to happen in the real world. 

Non-Fiction: This is the opposite of fiction. It is a record of a real-life situation which took place sometime about somebody. This non-fiction can be an autobiography – which tells the story of the author by the author himself. Or it can tell the story of a person by another author – Biography.

FEATURES OR CHARACTERISTICS OF PROSE

1. The use of idioms and proverbs: Writers often use idioms and proverbs to highlight or beautify a passage. Idioms of expression which are peculiar to the language in which they are found. They have well-known meanings which are culturally, rather than linguistically determined. For example: 

I was given the nod for the job (I was offered) (Idiomatic use) 

We must ensure a quick dispensation of justice this time because justice delayed is justice denied (Proverbial Utterance) 

Paragraph (the): This is a service by which writers present a group of ideas in separate, composite units in a logical order. Paragraphs are marked off by indentation of initial words in a line or by double-spaced margins. Traditionally a paragraph focuses on one independent idea that \it develop 

2. (The use of) Sentence: Simply put, a sentence is a group of interrelated words consisting of a subject and predicate conveying a complete thought or emotion. 

There are three main types of sentences which are: Simple sentences (one clause) Complex Sentences (having one main Clause and one or two subordinate clauses) and Compound sentences (Containing two or more main clauses and one or more subordinate clauses. 

A sentence can be a statement, question, command, an exclamation or a salutation. 

3. Slang (use of): This refers to the colloquial use of words and phrases in a text. Slang features in literacy writing only as part of the dialogue. For example: the coppers are all over the town (police) 

4. Narrative Technique: This refers to the way a writer chooses to prevent his story as part of his style. Often, the narrative technique is identified with the nature of the speaking voice in the tent. The latter can take one of the following forms:

Third person or Omniscient voice (an all-seeing, objective voice. For example: Hardy’s novel or Achebe’s) 

First-person narrative voice (subjective speaker who directly addresses the reader; an example is Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Oxara’sThe Voice) 

Epistolary (a highly subjective, personal voice in the form of a letter. An example is Ba’s So Long A Letter).