5.1: Defining Prose

Overview

Prose is written or spoken language in its ordinary form, using natural syntax and sentence structure rather than the rhythmic or line-based form of poetry. While it can contain figurative language and connotative meaning, prose typically presents its message more directly and often through a narrator’s perspective. A performer's delivery choices should be guided by a prose piece's style. To determine the style of a prose piece, the performer should analyze the pieces diction, syntax, figurative devices, and genre. The goal is for the performer to match vocal and physical expression to the tone and meaning of the text.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The delivery of prose transforms text into lived experience for an audience. (CC-BY-SA; Sdkb - John Szwed at Politics and Prose)

Learning Objectives

1. Explain what prose is, how it differs from poetry, and identify common examples (e.g., novels, essays, speeches).
2. Understand how prose uses elements like diction, syntax, figurative language, and genre to convey meaning and tone.
3. Analyze how style, connotation, punctuation, and word sounds should inform delivery choices in performance.

Definition

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. Compared to poetry, prose sounds more like natural, every day speech.

While prose can certainly include some figurative language and connotative meanings, the messages are usually more direct. Prose often includes the voice of a primary narrator who either is (first person) or is not (third person) involved directly with the characters and plot of the work and who often explains context, action, and character descriptions to the reader.

Examples of prose include (but are not limited to) novels, short stories, essays, letters, speeches, diary entries, research articles, webpages, textbooks, newspaper stories, etc. What you are reading right now is considered a form of prose. Additionally, works such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, an article on the Cincinnati Bengals football team in ESPN magazine, the letter you may have written to Santa as a kid, and my creative non-fiction essay on apartment life that I wrote in college are also all examples of prose.

Writing Style and Language

You can use the prose author’s writing style to help you analyze and understand the work as well as to help you make delivery decisions. Writing style reflects the author’s attitudes toward the subject matter, and it should influence your performance. Your goal as a performer is to match the style of performance with the style of writing. The style of prose is determined by things like diction, imagery, figurative language, and syntax. Below are clues to identifying the style of a piece that can help you make decisions on how to convey meaning through your voice and body when you perform prose.

Connotative vs. Denotative Words

Some words contain richer meaning than what one may glean from simply a dictionary definition. For example, a general word such as "home" is more likely to have connotative value conjuring more feeling than specific language such as "house," which describes a type of building. These feelings will also vary among different people depending upon one’s culture, past experiences, etc.

Genre of Discourse

Prose performers must decide how words are used that indicate the kind of style the writer is trying to convey. For example, "commit homicide," "blow away," and "murder" all mean to kill someone. They come from legal discourse, vocal slang, and everyday usage. However, "blow away" and "murder" each carry a distinct connotative and emotive value. Also, "happen," "occur," "manifest," and "go down" are similar in meaning but come from distinct genres of discourse: everyday usage (happen), formal usage (occur), philosophical discourse (manifest), and slang (go down). "Happen" and "go down" could be used in everyday speech; "occur" and "manifest," being more formal, would not ordinarily be used in speech. The genre of discourse acts like a roadmap. It tells performers:

• What the piece is trying to accomplish

• How it communicates

• What tone and structure it uses

• How they should embody or express it

• How to connect the text with the audience

Understanding genre ensures that the interpretation is both accurate to the text and engaging to the audience.

Allusions, Similes, and Metaphors

A writer’s use of these is an important aspect of literary style. All three can be used to convey connotative meaning.

• Allusions refer to shared experiences many would understand. Example: “I hope tonight won’t be another Thanksgiving dinner.”
• Similes describe things using a comparison that employs the words “like” or “as.” Example: “I feel like a million dollars now!”
• Metaphors draw a comparison by equating two or more things that are generally unrelated as the same. For example, “He has a heart of stone” or “She’s a real piece of work.”

Together, these devices:

• Enrich emotional tone

• Increase interpretive complexity

• Guide decisions about pacing, emphasis, and vocal quality

• Help create vivid mental imagery for the audience

• Highlight themes and deepen understanding

• Allow the performer to make the literature more expressive and compelling

In essence, allusions, similes, and metaphors help performers transform text into lived experience, making interpretation richer, more dynamic, and more engaging for the audience.

Syntax

This includes punctuation and how words are grouped together demonstrating their relationship and importance. Your discoveries here will dictate your use of vocal elements such as pauses, rate, emphasis, volume, and inflection.

Short, simple sentences indicate a direct approach and suggest immediacy of experience. Long, complicated sentences suggest a more sophisticated and evaluative approach. Examples of punctuation may include:

• Semicolon – marks a turn of thought or definite separation between two aspects of the same thought; and usually requires a slight pause.
• Parentheses and double dash – mark off distinct speech phrases.
• Single dash or colon – often marks the pause that occurs just before a summary and implies a reference to some previous portion.

All of this being said, use punctuation as a guide but not a rule. It is more for the eye than for the ear. A comma in a text does not always demand a pause. Keep in mind that how you perform punctuation might change as you begin practicing a piece for presentation.

Poetic Diction

Poetic language, generally connotative, would stand out in casual conversation, so an author’s choice to include it in a prose piece would be very intentional. Unusual connotations also carry with them double meanings. For instance, the word "terrific" can be used for its connotation of terrifying;" the word "taxation" for its connotation of "taxing" or stress-inducing. Consider words such as “escape” vs. “flee,” “girl” vs. “maiden,” and “invisible” vs. “unseen.” In each of these pairings, the first usage is essentially descriptive; the latter more poetic or emotive.

The sounds of words an author has chosen are especially important for the interpreter. The sounds of the words carry meaning as well as the word itself. Pace and vocal quality are influenced by the connotative meaning of words.

Noticing poetic diction helps an oral interpreter make intentional choices about how to sound, how to move, and how to reveal meaning. It elevates the performance from simply “reading aloud” to creating an expressive, emotionally rich, and thoughtfully shaped experience for the audience.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Activity 1. Prose Style Performance Practice

Objective: Analyze prose style and practice matching vocal delivery to the text’s tone and structure.

Instructions:

• Choose a speech, essay, or short story.

• In small groups or individually:

   

  • Identify features of syntax, figurative language, and genre of discourse.

  • Annotate punctuation that might influence performance (e.g., pauses, inflection) 

  • Rehearse and perform the excerpt, adjusting rate, emphasis, and volume to reflect the writing style.