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Prose

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refers to any writing that is composed of complete sentences organized by a grammatical structure. Most of what you read for school (textbooks, articles, scientific studies, etc) is prose. The written text is usually organized into paragraphs, and, in the case of longer works, chapters. Prose is generally divided into two categories

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Fiction

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prose deals with information invented by the author(s). It usually tells a story about people and/or places. While fiction may contain references to people, places, and events that exist(ed) in reality, its defining characteristic is that it is mostly made-up. In written literature, the most common types of fiction are

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Novel

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A full-length work, often divided into chapters

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Short story

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may be published on its own (for example, in a literary magazine) or as part of a collection with other stories

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Novella

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Sometimes people use thisword to refer to a fictional text that's in the gray area between a short story and a novel. A "novella" can be defined as either a long short story or a short novel. Unamuno's San Manuel Bueno, Martyr, which we'll read this semester, is often referred to as a novella

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Non-fiction

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prose deals with information that has some claim to fact, reality, or history. Some examples are textbooks, newspaper articles, and biographies. Depending on the type of text, the authors may express their opinions or present arguments about facts, reality, or history—or use a story-like structure to convey facts, reality, or history—but non-fiction is distinct from fiction because its content is not based on invented information. Though much of the non-fiction you read is probably not considered "literature," there are many forms of creative or literary non-fiction (such as memoirs).

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Poetry

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a form a literature that, unlike most prose, does not have to be organized by a grammatical structure. Thus, poems don't necessarily have "complete sentences," nor do they always "tell a story" with characters and plot the way that most fiction prose does. Rather, poetry may just evoke certain emotions and reactions via the aesthetic and rhythmic properties of language (sound, rhyme, meter, etc). Most poems are divided into lines and stanzas, rather than the paragraphs we see in prose. We'll learn more about the properties of poems when we do our poetry unit.

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Drama

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a form of literature that is intended for theatrical performance. Though a play may be read and appreciated as a written text, it may also be performed, viewed by an audience, and appreciated as a performance art. Drama may be written in prose or poetry or a combination of both. Note that the modern term "drama," as it applies to literature, is used to refer to any kind of play (so it's not like in movie categorization where "drama" is distinct from comedy, action, or romance). We'll learn more about the properties of dramatic works when we do our unit on drama.

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Narrative

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is simply one that offers an account of connected events; that is, it tells a story. In modern literature, narrative is most commonly written in prose (not poetry), so that's what we'll focus on here. Forms of fictional prose, such as novels, novellas, and short stories, are all considered types of narrative.

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Narrator/narrative voice

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Distinct from the author (the flesh-and-blood person/people who wrote & published the text), these terms refer to the fictional person (narrator) or unnamed speaker (narrative voice) who "tells us" the story. Thus, when reading The Tunnel, we attribute the words of the text to the narrator, Juan Pablo, even though we know the words ultimately originated with the author, Ernesto Sábato. Here are some common types of narrators and modes of narration.

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First-person narration

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When the story is told by a narrator from his/her point of view, using the pronoun "I," as is the case in The Tunnel

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First-person plural narration

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When the story is told from a collective point of view, using the pronoun "we."

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Second person narration

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When the story is told using the pronoun "you." This may be the case when the narrator is presumably addressing a specific "you" who's a character in the story, or it may be interpreted as referring to the collective "you" of the readers.

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Third-person narration (narrative voice)

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Using pronouns like "he," "she" and "they" to tell a story, the narrative voice reports what the characters do/say, but the voice does not arise from a specific, named character observing or participating in the action

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Third-person omniscient narration

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As above, but the narrative voice is "all-knowing" and shares the private thoughts of the characters with the reader.

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Free indirect style

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When an omniscient narrator conveys a particular character's viewpoint by using language consistent with the character's own voice. The third-person mode of narration is used, but the narrative voice becomes conflated with the character's voice. As we'll see, this is the case in Coetzee's Boyhood

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Multiple narrators/modes of narration

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Texts may use different narrators and even different modes of narration. For example, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein employs first-person narration, but different characters serve as narrators at different points throughout the text

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Dialogue

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The spoken interaction between characters in a text. Traditionally, quotation marks ("") are used to indicate dialogue, so that we can attribute the words to specific characters rather than to the narrator or narrative voice.

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character

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A person presented in a narrative work, as in the following examples (not all texts have all of these!)

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Focal character

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The central character who engages our interest and excitement

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protagonist

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The central character who engages our empathy

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Antihero/antiheroine

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A central character who doesn't demonstrate conventionally heroic attributes such as morality or idealism. Juan Pablo in The Tunnel is an antihero.

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Antagonist

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the character or force (not necessarily a "person") in direct conflict with the protagonist.

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o Foil

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A character whose behavior and values contrast with the focal character's, thus allowing for further characterization of the focal character.

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o Flat character

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A simple character who embodies 1-2 qualities/traits that are easily summarized, a "two-dimensional" character.

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o Round character

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A complex character whose psychology, motives, objectives, or traits cannot be easily summarized and may even contradict themselves

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o Static character

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May be either simple (flat) or complex (round), but doesn't change over the course of the narrative.

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o Dynamic character

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Undergoes change due to plot's action. It could be argued that dynamic characters are, by their very nature, "round characters" because change introduces complexity.

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Characterization

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The processes or mechanisms by which a character is developed, or "made real" to the reader, over the course of a narrative. Characterization is often divided into two categories, though both may be present in any given text!

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• Indirect/implicit characterization

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In this process, the reader comes to know the character by drawing conclusions from the character's actions, thoughts, modes of speech, interactions, reactions, etc. The text "shows" rather than "tells" us what the character is like

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• Direct/explicit characterization

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The text "tells" us what the character is like, via direct reporting or description by the narrative voice, another character, or the character him/herself.

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Plot

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The series of events in the narrative: what happens. When discussing or summarizing plot, readers are generally concerned with the relationship between the events, particularly with cause & effect. Conventional plots often follow a pattern of exposition, conflict, climax, and dénoument. Unconventional plots may not have all these elements or order them in the same way.

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• Exposition

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The part of the story that provides the necessary background information about the characters, their circumstances, motivations, interactions, etc. Exposition is where a lot of initial characterization takes place. Can be directly or indirectly stated.

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• Conflict

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The struggle within the plot between opposing people or forces whose objectives or natures are inherently incompatible. Conventionally, the conflict arises after the exposition

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• Climax

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Usually marks "the beginning of the end" of the conflict. Often, it's seen as a "turning point" or the moment in the plot of highest intensity or tension.

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• Dénoument

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The conclusion of the plot, reached after the action falls in the wake of the climax. This stage, during which conflicts may or may not be "resolved," and characters may or may not achieve "closure," marks the end of the literary work.

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Motif

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A central or recurring image in a literary work; often shared by other works and serving an overall theme

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Symbol

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: A person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance. Symbols are the means by which a text can evoke complex ideas without having to resort to long explanations.

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• Conventional symbol

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a symbol most readily understood by members of a particular culture or population. Readers outside of the culture require specific knowledge of that culture to appreciate the significance of the symbol. Examples include the American eagle or the Japanese crane.

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• Universal symbol

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a symbol that can presumably be understood by all people to mean one thing. Common examples are sunrise (new beginnings/birth, etc.) or autumn (life fading/death). Whether universal symbols even exist is debatable, since their ability to function is based on a premise of "universal experience."

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Paratext

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: Everything about a text that is "outside" the narrative itself, such as a preface or introduction. When you're reading a physical book, other examples of paratext include the image on the cover or the blurb on the back of the book. Paratext impacts the way we approach the narrative itself even if it exists outside the narrative.

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Verisimilitude

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The likeness of a narrative text to reality; the "believability" of a narrative. A narrative that establishes verisimilitude seems like it could happen even when we know that it didn't. Authors may employ a variety of methods to establish verisimilitude, in either the paratext (for example, Shelley's reference to Darwin in her preface to Frankenstein) or in the text itself (for example, the entrance of the author's voice at the end of Unamuno's San Manuel).

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Metafiction

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A literary device whereby the text draws the readers' attention to its fictionality, reminding the readers that we're reading a work of fiction. The text appears to be "self-referential," that is, aware of itself as a fiction. Examples of metafiction occur in The Tunnel when the characters discuss what makes a good detective story, and in San Manuel when the author speaks through his own voice as a character in the text.

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Metaphor

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is a rhetorical device that makes a comparison between X and Y without using "like" or "as," and sometimes without naming both X and Y. For example, in the metaphor "The pearls of her mouth shone when she smiled," teeth are being compared to pearls even though teeth are not mentioned.

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Simile

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is a rhetorical device that uses "like" or "as" to make a comparison between X and Y. For example: "Her teeth shone like pearls when she smiled." It is a more explicit comparison than metaphor.

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