MODULE ON CLASSIFICATION OF LITERATURE ACCORDING TO

EXPRESSION AND FORM FOCUSING ON PROSE

I.

INTRODUCTION

This module is about the classification of literature according to expression and form.
Generally, literature falls into three classifications: prose, poetry and drama but this
module focuses only on prose- the form of written language that is not organised
according to formal patterns of verse.
II.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, learners are expected to:

1. Understand how prose differs from poetry and drama in expression and
form;
2. Enumerate the different types of prose and their definition;
3. Analyze the importance of having an ability to compose a prose.
4.
III.
STRATEGIES
1. Activity
-Mind GameDirections: Identify the title of the some Philippine literary pieces based on the pictures.

Like the Molave

The Two Faces of America I Married the Newspaperman

Footnote to the Youth

2.

Dead Stars

Bread of Salt

Analysis
How are literary works categorized?
What is prose? How is prose different from poetry?
What is the difference between prose fiction and non-fiction prose?
What specific characteristics does a prose have which other divisions of literature
dont possess?

3. Abstraction
CLASSIFICATION OF LITERATURE ACCORDING TO EXPRESSION AND FORM
(PROSE, POETRY AND DRAMA)
PROSE
Prose is a form of language that possesses ordinary syntax and natural speech rather
than rhythmic structure; in which regard, along with its measurement in sentences
rather than lines, it differs from poetry.
Form-

Written in paragraph form

Language-

Expressed in ordinary form

Appeal-

To the intellect and emotion

Aim-

Stir the imagination and set the idea how life should be

I.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PROSE

A. Narrative- tells a story; usually told in chronological order; has characters;

follows the basic plot-line.
B. Expository- gives basic information; used often in speeches and essays; does not
tell a story or argue.
C. Descriptive- describes something in detail, again without telling a story or arguing
a point.
D. Persuasive- gives evidence in favor or against.
II.

TYPES OF PROSE

A. Essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an authors personal

point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary
criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life,
recollections, and reflections of the author.
B. Novel a long fiction narrative with a complicated plot. It may have one main
plot and one or more sub plots that develop with the main plot. It is made up of
chapters.
C. Short Story a fictitious narrative compressed into one unit of time, place and
action. It deals with single character interest, a single emotion or series of
emotions called forth by a single. It is distinguished from the novel by its
compression.
D. Novella- in purely quantitative terms, the novella exists between the novel and
short story; the publisher Melville House classifies it as "too short to be a novel,
too long to be a short story". There is no precise definition in terms of word or
page count.
E. Biography and Autobiography
1. Biography is a detailed description or account of someones life. It entails
more than basic facts of education, work, relationships, and death, a biography
also portrays a subjects experience of these events. Unlike a profile or
curriculum vitae (rsum). A biography presents a subjects life story,
highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of
experience, and may include an analysis of a subjects personality.
2. Autobiography a written account of mans life written by himself.
F. Letter a written message which displays aspects of an authors physiological
make-up not immediately apparent in his more public writings. It is a prose form

which by the force of its style and the importance of its statements becomes an
object of interest in its own right.
G. Diary is a record originally in handwritten format with discrete entries arranged
by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period.
A personal diary may include a persons experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings,
including comment on current events outside the writers direct experience.
H. Journal a magazine or periodical especially of serious or learned nature. It is
the reflection, opinion of a read material.
I. Myth -is a sacred narrative usually explaining how the world or humankind came
to be in its present form, although, in a very broad sense, the word can refer to any
traditional story.
J. Folktale is a general term for different varieties of traditional narrative. The
telling of stories appears to be a cultural universal, common to basic and complex
societies alike. Even the forms; folktales take are certainly similar from culture to
culture, and comparative studies of themes and narrative ways have been
successful in showing these relationships. Also it is considered to be an oral tale
to be told for everybody.
K. Fable is a literary genre. A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse,
that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of
nature which are anthropomorphized given human qualities such as verbal
communication, and that illustrates or leads to an interpretation of a moral lesson,
which may at the end be added explicitly in apathy maxim.
L. Legend from the Latin word, legenda, "things to be read" is a narrative of human
actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human
history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude.
III.
ELEMENTS OF PROSE
A. Non- Fiction is what the name declares: true, factual, non-fictional. This includes
essays, autobiography, biography, letters, anecdote and some history.
B. Fiction is an imaginative creation or a pretence that does not represent actuality
but has been invented; a literary work whose content is produced by the
imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. This includes short story,
novella, and novels.

4. Application
Directions: Write your autobiography for submission in the next session.

IV.

CLOSING

Directions: Give your insights about this quotation.

The difficulty of literature is not to write,
but to write what you mean;
not to affect the reader,
but to affect him precisely as you wish.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
V. REFLECTION/ INSIGHTS
Literature is a broad term that encompasses almost everything we read, see, and hear.
Prose is one of its categories. Prose lacks the more formal metrical structure
of verse that can be found in traditional poetry which typically involves a metrical or
rhyming scheme. In other words, the ordinary language we speak and write, such as
your question and all the answers on this module, are examples of prose. Basically,
we have been speaking in prose all our lives. Prose comprises full grammatical
sentences, which then constitute paragraphs and overlook aesthetic appeal. It is the
standard style of writing used for most spoken dialogues, fictional as well as topical
and factual writing and discoursed. It is also the common language used in
newspapers, magazines, literature, encyclopedias, broadcasting, philosophy, law,
history, the sciences and many other forms of communication.
But if you write a prose, you have to remember that you should not describe
emotions, instead, make readers feel them. The idea goes back to the fact that you
dont want to tell readers what to do; you want to present them with the circumstances
that allow them to come up with their own emotions and feelings towards your

writing. The other positive to this style of writing is that you leave a little open to
interpretation. Dont force-feed your readers; let them make their own decisions and
theyll have a much deeper emotional attachment to your writing. Another one to
remember is: Be true. Never forget why you write and who you write for.
I have once read a quote which, the author Ive never known goes like this, "When
you write in prose, you cook the rice. When you write poetry, you turn rice into rice
wine. Cooked rice doesn't change its shape, but rice wine changes both in quality
and shape. Cooked rice makes one full so one can live out one's life span. Wine, on
the other hand, makes one drunk, makes the sad happy, and the happy sad. Its effect
is sublimely beyond explanation." Indeed, writing poetry is good, but as for me,
writing prose is still one of the best ways to express feelings, thoughts, and other
observations of our inner self, how we react to our perceptions of the external
world around us, and to share and exchange with other people.

Prepared by:
LYKA L. GODALLE
MAEd-ELT