Prose/prōz/

- Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure. "A short story in
prose"
Definition of Prose is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a
natural flow of speech, and ordinary grammatical structure, rather than rhythmic structure, such
as in the case of traditional poetry.
What is Prose? When identifying a piece of writing as prose, the piece should be written in a
typical, straightforward manner. It will follow grammatical structures rather than a meter or verse
pattern. Examples of Prose in Writing Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, is a work of
nonfiction that utilizes prose when describing the effect the fair had on the local hospitals: “With
so many people packed among the steam engines, giant rotating wheels, horse-drawn fire
trucks, and rocketing bobsleds, the fair’s ambulances superintended by a doctor named Gentles
were constantly delivering bruised, bloody, and overheated visitors to the exposition hospital.”
Mark Haddon also writes using prose in his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-
Time when his teenaged protagonist finds his neighbor’s murdered dog: “It was 7 minutes after
midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears’s
house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when
they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog
was dead.”
Different Types of Prose While prose can be broadly defined as straightforward writing that
resembles everyday spoken word, there are categories that prose can be broken into:
nonfiction, fictional, heroic, and poetry.
Nonfictional prose writings are pieces that are written that contain mostly facts but may
contain pieces of fictional information for literary purposes. Many memoirs can be described as
nonfictional prose because the writers often include fictional information to make their life stories
more interesting for the readers.
Fictional prose is writing that is entirely made up by the authors such as in short stories or in
novels. These are pieces such as J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series or Gone Girl by Gillian
Flynn.
What Is a Novel?
40,000+ Words
The novel is one of the more common works of fiction that we encounter. A novel often involves
multiple major characters, sub-plots, conflicts, points of view, and twists. Due to its considerable
length, a novel is meant to be read over a period of days. The plot moves forward through many
characters, actions, thoughts, time periods, and situations. The reader often feels that the story
deviates and is affected by the involvement of different sub-stories and sub-plots, by the
passage of time, or by the involvement of new important characters– this is considered the real
beauty of a novel.
The word count of a novel is really debatable. This is because different genres have different
requirements. However, a novel is usually no shorter than 40,000 words. For modern
publication, editors often consider a novel one which is spread over 80,000 – 120,000 words.
Romance novels, however, can be shorter than that. On the other hand, a fantasy, horror, and
science fiction usually see works of greater lengths. The word count for fantasy novels often
touch the 240,000 mark. Some famous books, like the Lord of the Rings series, are famous for
containing so many words. The Harry Potter series has 1,084,170 words; Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix itself has 257,045 words.

What Is a Novella?
17,000 - 40,000 Words
Novellas were first introduced in the early Renaissance (1300s), but their genre did not become
firmly established until the late 18th and early 19th century. A novella is longer than a novelette
and is sometimes called a long short story or a short novel. Although in the past, novellas were
commonly written and published, and some to great acclaim (A Clockwork Orange by Anthony
Burgess and The Metamorphosis by Kafka, for example), these days it is considered to be an
awkward length and it may be more difficult to get a novella published.
It can involve multiple sub-plots, twists, and characters. Its length constraints mean you'll find
fewer conflicts in a novella than you will in a novel, but there will also be more nuance and
complication than you'll find in a short story. Novellas are more often focused on one character's
personal and emotional development rather than with large-scale issues. In the past, the novella
was often written with a satirical, moral, or educational purpose in mind. Therefore, it usually
depicts the tale or story of a single character, but as I mentioned, it can involve multiple
characters. Unlike novels, novellas are usually not divided into chapters, and like short stories,
they are often meant to be read in one sitting.
What Is a Short Story?
3,500 - 7,500 Words
The most important difference between a short story, novelette, novella, and a novel is the word
count. An average short story usually has at least 3,500 words and no more than 7,500.
Traditionally, short stories were meant to be read in a single sitting. They are usually published
individually in magazines and then collected and published in anthologies.
A short story is one of the most common forms of writing. It is often used to describe a single
event, a single episode, or a tale of one particular character. A short story does not usually
involve major twists and conflicts, and involvement of various sub-plots and multiple characters
is not common. A short story is basically fictional prose, written in a narrative style. However,
the narrative style may either be first person or third, or whichever the author chooses.
Definition of Drama
Drama is a mode of fictional representation through dialogue and performance. It is one of the
literary genres, which is an imitation of some action. Drama is also a type of a play written for
theater, television, radio, and film. In simple words, a drama is a composition in verse or prose
presenting a story in pantomime or dialogue. It contains conflict of characters, particularly the
ones who perform in front of audience on the stage. The person who writes drama for stage
directions is known as a “dramatist” or “playwright.”
Comedy – Comedies are lighter in tone than ordinary works, and provide a happy conclusion.
The intention of dramatists in comedies is to make their audience laugh. Hence, they use quaint
circumstances, unusual characters, and witty remarks.
Tragedy – Tragic dramas use darker themes, such as disaster, pain, and death. Protagonists
often have a tragic flaw — a characteristic that leads them to their downfall.
Tragicomedy -is a literary device used in fictional works. It contains both tragedy and comedy.
Mostly, the characters in tragicomedy are exaggerated, and sometimes there might be a happy
ending after a series of unfortunate events. It is incorporated with jokes throughout the story,
just to lighten the tone.
Farce – Generally, a farce is a nonsensical genre of drama, which often overacts or engages
slapstick humor.
Melodrama – Melodrama is an exaggerated drama, which is sensational and appeals directly to
the senses of the audience. Just like the farce, the characters are of a single dimension and
simple, or may be stereotyped.
Novel, an invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals
imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected sequence of events involving
a group of persons in a specific setting. Within its broad framework, the genre of the novel has
encompassed an extensive range of types and styles: picaresque, epistolary, Gothic, romantic,
realist, historical—to name only some of the more important ones.
Melodramatic plots, plots dependent on coincidence or improbability, are sometimes found in
even the most elevated fiction; E.M. Forster’s Howards End (1910) is an example of a classic
British novel with such a plot. But the novelist is always faced with the problem of whether it is
more important to represent the formlessness of real life (in which there are no beginnings and
no ends and very few simple motives for action) or to construct an artifact as well balanced and
economical as a table or chair; since he is an artist, the claims of art, or artifice, frequently
prevail.

Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story, or the main part of a
story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence. The structure of a novel
depends on the organization of events in the plot of the story.
There are five main elements in a plot.
Exposition or Introduction
This is the beginning of the story, where characters and setting are established. The conflict or
main problem is introduced as well.
Internal and External Conflicts
Careful examination of some conflict examples will help us realize that they may be internal or
external. An internal or psychological conflict arises as soon as a character experiences two
opposite emotions or desires – usually virtue and vice, or good and evil – inside him. This
disagreement causes the character to suffer mental agony, and it develops a unique tension in
a storyline, marked by a lack of action. External conflict, on the other hand, is marked by a
characteristic involvement of an action wherein a character finds himself in struggle with those
outside forces that hamper his progress. The most common type of external conflict is where a
protagonist fights back against the antagonist’s tactics that impede his or her advancement.

Rising Action Rising action which occurs when a series of events build up to the conflict. The
main characters are established by the time the rising action of a plot occurs, and at the same
time, events begin to get complicated. It is during this part of a story that excitement, tension, or
crisis is encountered.
Climax In the climax, or the main point of the plot, there is a turning point of the story. This is
meant to be the moment of highest interest and emotion, leaving the reader wondering what is
going to happen next
Falling action, or the winding up of the story, occurs when events and complications begin to
resolve. The result of the actions of the main characters are put forward.
Resolution, or the conclusion, is the end of a story, which may occur with either a happy or a
tragic ending.

Setting is an environment or surrounding in which an event or story takes place. It may provide
particular information about placement and timing, such as New York, America, in the year
1820. Setting could be simply descriptive, like a lonely cottage on a mountain. Social conditions,
historical time, geographical locations, weather, immediate surroundings, and timing are all
different aspects of setting.
Theme
The theme in a story is its underlying message, or 'big idea.' In other words, what critical belief
about life is the author trying to convey in the writing of a novel, play, short story or poem? This
belief, or idea, transcends cultural barriers. It is usually universal in nature. When a theme is
universal, it touches on the human experience, regardless of race or language. It is what the
story means. Often, a piece of writing will have more than one theme.Think about some T.V.
sitcoms you have seen that you have found trite and boring. Was there a significant problem in
the T.V. show that needed to be solved? Probably not. In much the same way, if a piece of
writing doesn't have deeper meaning than we can just see on the surface, it is just as shallow as
the T.V. sitcom. In order for writing to be meaningful and lasting, it needs to have a theme. So
how does a writer develop a theme for a story, poem or narrative? It really comes down to what
the writer believes about life. If a writer has a belief system or feels strongly about certain things
- and most people do - then, those strong life views will be reflected in his or her writing. For a
work to last, it needs depth, and depth in writing reflects depth in the writer.
By the term character, we mean an enduring and distinguishing mental and moral
characteristics in an individual. It is the only factor which determines our reaction or response to
the given event or situation. It defines a person’s behaviour pattern, thinking style, controls
feelings. It is based on the environment that surrounds us, mental ability, moral principles and
similar other factors. It is the most precious thing possessed by a person, evidenced by the
limits he/she never crossed.
Personality can be defined as a combination of mental behaviour and traits or qualities like
thinking pattern, feeling and acting. It is a range of enduring tendencies of an individual to think,
feel and behave in a specific manner in diverse situations. It refers to the systematic
arrangement of all your dispositions like attitude, thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc.

Picture

1.
a. an image or likeness of an object, person, or scene produced on a flat surface, esp. by
painting, drawing, or photography
b. a printed reproduction of this
c. an image captured by or with a camera: tourists taking pictures
2. anything closely resembling or strikingly typifying something else; perfect likeness or
image: to be the picture of one's mother, the picture of health
3. anything regarded as having the compositional beauty of a painting or drawing
4. a mental image or impression; idea
5. a vivid or detailed description: a picture of the times
6. all the facts or conditions of an event, collectively; situation
7. tableau
8. film (noun)
9. the image or succession of images on a TV or computer screen, as in a telecast or Webcast

Video
-the recording, reproducing, or broadcasting of moving visual images.
-a recording of moving visual images made digitally or on videotape.
"they sat down to watch a video"

Sample

-A representative part or a single item from a larger whole or group especially when presented
for inspection or shown as evidence of quality : SPECIMEN
-a finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about
the whole