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Reading 4 Elements
of Prose
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What Is There are many different types of writing—novels, poems, plays, biographies, and instruction manuals, for example. The different
types of writing are called genres. There are three major genres of writing: poetry, drama, and prose. Prose is text written in para-
Prose? graphs. This guide focuses on the elements of two main types of prose: fiction and nonfiction.

Fiction & Nonfiction

• Fiction is writing that tells about characters and are genres of fiction. Biographies and news articles are - Text Structure: This is the way the writing is orga-
events that are not real, or that are imagined. genres of nonfiction. nized. There are different structures for fiction and
Sometimes fiction is based on real-life people or events, • Authors write fiction and nonfiction for different nonfiction, although sometimes they overlap.
but other parts of the story are not true. purposes. The purpose of fiction is to entertain the - Literary Devices: These are the writing tools that
• Nonfiction is writing that tells about actual people, reader, or perhaps communicate emotions or ideas. The fiction authors use to make their writing more
events, places, or things. purpose of nonfiction is to inform the reader. Authors interesting and to help them convey ideas and emo-
Nonfiction is sometimes called informational or also use nonfiction to persuade readers about their tions.
expository writing. opinions and to entertain. - Text Features: These are the writing tools that non-
• There are also genres, or types of writing, within fiction • Authors use different elements of fiction and nonfic- fiction authors use to explain concepts or present
and nonfiction. For example, adventure and folk tales tion depending on their purposes. information in a different or more interesting way.

Examples of Fiction Genres

Genre Purpose Description Characteristics
Action/ to entertain; to cause excitement exciting story about a hero on a quest to reach a short, exciting scenes; lots of action (like car chases), thrills (like
Adventure goal scary villains), and suspense; contains a lot of dialogue

Fable to entertain; to teach morals or lessons tale in which a moral or message is conveyed short; animals as main characters; old-fashioned language; stated
through experiences of a few characters, often moral or lesson; usually one simple conflict
animals
Fairy tale to entertain; to teach morals or lessons short story about magical characters in an imagi- magic; unbelievable characters with special powers; moral or lesson
nary world who must solve a problem taught; conflict between good and evil; good always wins in the end
Fantasy to entertain; to take readers to an story full of magic, unrealistic, or imagined magical or unrealistic people, places, and things; conflicts be-
imaginary world worlds, characters, and objects tween good and evil; main characters are on a quest
Folk tale to entertain; to explain the natural short story told long ago by a culture to explain short; lots of repetition in the language; magical or unrealistic
world; teach values and traditions of a events in nature and the beliefs and customs of characters; sometimes a “trickster” or clever character; often a
culture the culture moral or lesson taught
Historical fiction to entertain; to increase the reader’s un- story built on real people, events, or places with based on a specific place and time in history; contains actual
derstanding of actual people or events some imagined story elements, like dialogue people, places, or events; imagined elements are realistic
Legend to entertain; to explain the origins of ancient story about a hero that explains important a brave, strong, caring hero; battle between good and evil; magical
something; to express values of a culture events and values in a culture or exaggerated qualities of both the hero and the villains
Mystery to entertain; to challenge the reader to story usually involving a crime or other problem main character tries to solve a crime; clues about the crime, but
figure out a problem that needs to be solved by using clues incomplete details; suspense; crime is solved in the end
Myth to entertain; to explain religious beliefs ancient brief story (usually Greek or Roman) that heroes with extraordinary abilities; gods and goddesses control-
or values of a culture; to explain ele- explains nature, events, or values through the ac- ling events and hurting or helping humans; strange, unrealistic
ments of nature tions of humans and gods and goddesses creatures
Realistic fiction to entertain; to show readers people like short or long stories about characters, places, and realistic people, settings, events, and dialogue; conflict that must
themselves in recognizable situations events that seem very much like real life be solved; use of many literary devices, like vivid details
Science fiction to entertain; to suggest things that short or long stories based on scientific knowledge elements of science, such as space travel or laboratory discoveries;
might happen to society in the future that describe the future or other imaginary worlds descriptions of a future world with imaginary scientific advances
Short story to entertain; to encourage readers to short, narrative text that tells about imagined usually 20 pages or less; imagined people, places, and events that
think about their own experiences characters and events may be realistic; conflict and other traditional plot elements
Tall tale to entertain; to explain a natural or his- short, humorous story about a hero with exagger- hero with unbelievable traits, such as huge size or enormous
torical event in a humorous way ated qualities and abilities who may or may not be strength; humorous events or outcomes; often about people,
based on a real-life person places, or events in America

Examples of Nonfiction Genres

Genre Purpose Description Characteristics
Advertisement to persuade people to buy a product, any type of print or broadcast notice intended printed forms may be in newspapers, magazines, on billboards, etc.;
support an idea, attend an event, etc. to convince people to buy or support a product, broadcast forms may be on television, radio, etc.; include exagger-
event, cause, etc. ated or emphasized claims about item featured in ad; print versions
often include bold, bright pictures and letters; broadcast versions
include narration and sometimes music
Almanac to provide information about specific book published yearly with facts related to a many categories organized for easy use; detailed facts, such as statis-
topics specific topic, such as countries, sports, entertain- tics; use of charts, tables, graphs, etc.
ment, etc.
Atlas to provide information about geog- book with maps and other text features that pro- various types of maps showing boundaries, land formations, popu-
raphy vide information about the geography of places lations, etc.; keys for reading maps; charts and tables; sometimes
in the world text explaining the maps

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 Fiction & Nonfiction (continued)
Examples of Nonfiction Genres
Genre Purpose Description Characteristics
Autobiography/ to share a person’s own view of events a narrative of a person’s life experiences told by detailed memories, experiences, events; dialogue; narrator’s
Memoir in life and history the subject; memoir usually describes a specific thoughts and feelings about events
event or time period, rather than a whole life or
large time period
Biography to inform readers about the life of narrative of the life of a single person told by an- detailed memories, experiences, events; dialogue; the subject’s
someone important, special, or unique other writer thoughts and feelings about events
Brochure to inform; to persuade small book or pamphlet that provides information short (usually no more than a few pages); often a single folded
about something or attempts to sell something sheet of paper; bold lettering and graphics; sometimes pictures
and illustrations
Cause and effect to explain why something happens short paper that shows how events or situations description of one or more effects, or results; description of one or
essay result in other events or situations more causes; introduction, body, and conclusion

Compare and to analyze the similarities and differ- short paper that explains how two or more things detailed descriptions of the similarities and differences of two or
contrast essay ences between two ideas, objects, are alike and different more subjects; introduction, body, and conclusion
pieces of writing, etc.
Correspondence to inform; to entertain; to persuade; to short communication between the writer and an- follows a certain format that often includes: date, address of writer
(letters) communicate an idea other person or group that relays information or and recipient at top, a salutation such as “Dear ___,” a body with
ideas about one or more topics paragraphs, a closing such as “Sincerely,” and a signature; may be
in the form of email
Editorial to persuade readers to support an short article that describes the author’s opinions description of a topic, usually a problem or idea; explanation of
opinion, idea, action, etc. about a topic and tries to persuade readers to the author’s opinions, usually supported with reasons, facts, ex-
agree or take specific action pert opinions, etc.; discussion of opposing opinions
Encyclopedia to provide basic information about a collection of short articles or entries about a wide entries arranged alphabetically; brief entries of only one or a few
broad range of topics range of topics or sometimes topics in a particular paragraphs; photographs, illustrations, or other graphics; bold-
subject area faced or otherwise highlighted headings
Feature article to entertain; to provide detailed infor- long newspaper or magazine article that discusses includes facts about people, places, and events; discusses people’s
mation about a single topic an event or person in depth feelings and reactions to events; often includes author’s ideas or
opinions about the subject; includes descriptive language and
graphics such as photographs and tables
How-to article/ to explain how to do something or the short article or book that guides reader through often includes step-by-step instructions; often includes diagrams,
book steps in a process steps in a process or explains how to reach a de- charts, etc. to help explain procedures
sired outcome
Journal/ to express author’s thoughts and record of author’s thoughts, feelings, opinions, short entries usually recorded chronologically; dates and some-
Diary feelings and experiences on particular days times times of entries; writing may be informal and not follow rules
of standard written English
News article to inform readers about important multiple paragraphs about something that hap- opening paragraph often answers the questions Who?, What?,
current events pened recently that is important or unusual Where?, When?, Why?, and sometimes How?; body of article gives
facts about events and people and sometimes background in-
formation; often includes quotes from people; includes headline
(title), byline (author), and dateline (location)
Persuasive essay to persuade readers of author’s opin- like an editorial, short piece of writing that de- description of a topic, usually a problem or idea; explanation of
ion on a topic scribes author’s opinions about a topic and tries author’s opinions, usually supported with reasons, facts, expert
to persuade readers to agree opinions, etc.; discussion of opposing opinions
Problem and so- to identify one or more problems and a few paragraphs that explain one or more prob- detailed description of problem(s) and solution(s); introduction,
lution essay provide one or more solutions lems in detail and offers one or more solutions to body, and conclusion; facts and opinions of author
problem
Research report to inform reader about a particular paper that outlines a topic and summarizes find- focuses on one topic; includes a thesis, or idea about the topic;
topic ings of experts on the topic includes information from a variety of sources, such as reference
books, interviews, articles, Internet, or other sources; presents
information in organized way, with introduction, body, and conclu-
sion; uses recognized standards to cite sources of information, such
as footnotes and bibliographies

Elements of Fiction
which the narrator, or the person who tells the
Text Structure ★ Protagonist and antagonist: The protagonist is
story, sees and understands the people and events
• The structure of most fiction is narrative, which means the main character (sometimes called the hero)
who is most involved in the story. There may also in the story. A narrator can have one of the following
it tells a story.
be an antagonist, or a character who has a con- points of view.
• To tell a story, fiction uses the following structural elements:
flict with or acts against the protagonist. ★ First person: A first-person narrator is a char-
setting, characters, point of view, plot, and theme.
★ Round and flat: A round character has many acter in the story who takes part in the action.
- Setting: The setting is the time and place in
different traits. A flat character usually has one First-person narrators use words like “I,” “me,”
which the story takes place. Usually an author de-
or few traits. and “my” to tell the story and express their
scribes the setting early in a story, but not always.
★ Dynamic and static: A dynamic character is thoughts and feelings.
Sometimes the reader learns about the setting later
in a story or from what the characters say and do. one that changes or learns and grows. A static ★ Third person: A third-person narrator is not
- Characters: The characters are the people (or character doesn’t change. a character in the story. These narrators use
sometimes animals) who take part in the action of ★ The reader learns about a character through: words like “he” and “she” to tell the story. There
the story. Characters have traits, or qualities, that * what the character says or thinks; are two different kinds of third-person
may be physical (e.g., short, tall) or related to per- * what the character does; narrators. An omniscient third-person nar-
sonality (e.g., kind, careless). There are many types * what the narrator says about the character; rator can describe all of the experiences,
of characters. * what other characters say about the charac- thoughts, and feelings of every character
★ Major and minor: A major character plays an ter; and in the story. A limited third-person narra-
important part in the story. A minor character * how other characters react to that character. tor can only describe the experiences, thoughts,
plays a small part in the story. - Point of View: The point of view is the way in and feelings of one character.

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 Elements of Fiction (continued)
Plot: The plot is the sequence, or order, of events in a story. Besides the
-
character, the plot is the “meat” or heart of the story. Most plots have the
Literary Devices
elements that are listed below. The table below lists some of the most important literary devices, or tools, that fiction authors use to
★ Exposition: The opening part of the story that usually introduces the make a story more interesting and to express ideas and emotions.
setting, the characters, the basic situation, and the conflict.
★ Conflict: The problem or struggle the protagonist faces. There are two Device Definition Examples
kinds of conflicts.
* An external conflict: one in which the protagonist struggles against Allusion a reference to a well-known person, She had a mysterious and charming
some outside force, like another person, a group, or even nature. place, event, or object Mona Lisa smile.
* An internal conflict: one in which the protagonist struggles against Characterization development of a character’s traits, Direct: He was a happy and carefree
his or her own feelings, thoughts, or desires. either through direct characteriza- boy.
★ Rising Action: The part of the story where the author develops the tion (author states traits) or indirect Indirect: The boy often had a smile for
conflict and introduces complications, or problems, that make the con-
characterization (author hints at anyone he met.
flict more difficult (and usually more exciting!).
★ Climax: The point in the story when the action and the conflict have traits and requires reader to make
the most suspense, or excitement and interest. inferences)
★ Falling Action: The part of the story that includes events after the cli- Dialogue conversation between two or more “Why didn’t you tell me?” his mother
max that help the protagonist solve the central conflict. characters asked.
★ Resolution: The solution or end of the conflict; usually comes at or
“I thought you’d be mad,” the boy an-
near the end of the story.
- Theme: The central message, or idea about life, that the author expresses swered.
through the plot and characters. The theme is a complete sentence that Diction an author’s choice of words, such The life cycle of the seahorse is short and
answers the question, What can we learn from this story about human beings as formal or informal, ordinary or complicated.
or life in general? In most stories, the author doesn’t clearly state the theme. fancy, modern or old-fashioned or
The reader has to figure it out by thinking about the characters and events.
Wow! Look at those awesome seahorses!
Flashback a scene in a story that interrupts She suddenly remembered her ninth
Read the story below. Can you identify and describe the different elements of fic- present events to tell about events birthday. On that terrible day, none of
tion that are highlighted? Use the color key at the bottom of the story to help you. in the past her friends came to her party.
Foreshadowing clues in the text that give hints about Little did he know that this day would
It was a beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon. what might happen in the future be his last.
Michael Jones had just hopped off the bus after school Hyperbole exaggeration The man was so tall his head was lost in
in Johnsonville, the town next to his. He was practically the clouds.
running down the sidewalk on his way to soccer prac-
Exposition Imagery language that appeals to the five The icy wind blew so hard her face stung,
tice. Today his coach was choosing the starting players
senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and she had to keep one hand on her hat
for Saturday’s game. Michael had been playing well in
and smell to make sure it didn’t blow away.
practice, so he was hopeful he would be picked as a
starting defender. Irony a situation where what happens is Verbal irony: (to someone in trouble)
As Michael hurried on his way, he noticed the opposite of what is expected; It’s not as bad as it looks.
something lying on the sidewalk ahead. Michael bent three types of irony include: Situational irony: The man bought
down to pick up the object. It was a digital camera. • verbal irony: a character says the his wife a new pendant for her necklace,
Michael turned the camera over in his hands, but there opposite of what he or she means; only to find out she had sold the necklace
was no identification on it. Then he looked around for • situational irony: what actually to buy her husband a gift.
someone who might have dropped the camera. No one happens is the opposite of what Dramatic irony: (while the reader
was in sight, but Michael realized the camera had been the character or reader expects; knows a villain is hiding) “I believe our
lying right in front of the walkway to a nearby house. • dramatic irony: the reader enemy has finally left for good.”
Michael didn’t know Johnsonville very well. knows something the character
He considered what he should do. He didn’t want to take doesn’t
time to look for the camera’s owner and be late to soccer Metaphor a phrase that compares two unlike The girl had a heart of stone.
practice. I could just take the camera, and no one would things without using the words The girl had the courage of a lion.
Conflict
know, he thought. Then Michael realized how badly he “like” or “as”
would feel if he lost his MP3 player, his favorite thing in
the world. I’ll just knock on the door of this house and see if Mood the general feeling a reader gets It was a dark and stormy night, and no
from a written work one was around. (scary, frightening)
it belongs to someone there, he decided.
Michael approached the home and rang the Onomatopoeia a word that imitates a sound buzz, snap, crack, whiz, swoosh
bell. A young girl about his age answered the door. “Hi,” Oxymoron a phrase that links two ideas that jumbo shrimp, mud bath, a little big,
Rising Michael said. “I found this camera lying on the sidewalk are usually contradictory but make deafening silence, open secret
Action in front of your house. I thought maybe someone here sense when used together
lost it.”
Personification giving a nonhuman thing character- The trees sighed and whispered in the
The girl’s face lit up as she reached forward istics of a human light breeze.
and grabbed the camera from Michael’s outstretched
hand. “Oh, my gosh!” the girl cried. “That’s mine! It must Pun a humorous play on words that may The girl became so sick and stuffed up
Climax have a similar sound and multiple that she lost her senses.
have fallen out of my backpack on the way home from
meanings
school. Thank you so much for returning it! That was re-
ally nice of you.” Repetition the use of any part of language more the slowly slithering slug; the little fam-
“ You’re welcome,” Michael said with a little than once, including sounds, words, ily lived in a little house on a little hill

Falling embarrassment. “ Well, I gotta go to soccer practice. See phrases, or sentences

Action ya.” Simile a phrase that compares two unlike The child was quiet as a mouse.
“Bye!” the girl said as she closed the door. things using “like” or “as” He snored like a lawn mower.
Michael continued on his way, and suddenly
Resolution realized he was walking with a smile on his face. That felt
Suspense writing that creates a feeling of He carefully opened the door and peered
good, he thought. excitement or tension about how a into the darkness, hoping there was no
story will turn out one inside the abandoned house.
Color Key
Setting – tells when and where the story takes place. Symbolism using an object to stand for some- one thumb up as a symbol for “okay” or
Character – names the main character and tells what he’s like; Michael is a thing else “good job”; a heart as a symbol for love
round character who is interested in soccer and music, and who has many differ- and happiness
ent feelings. We learn about him from what he thinks and what he does.
Point of View – indicates that the point of view of this story is limited third-
Tone the author’s attitude toward the sub- Serious: There was absolutely no way
ject or audience of a piece of writing out.
person; the narrator tells us how Michael thinks and feels.
Theme – the climax and resolution give us the theme; for this story, it might be: Playful: Why do today what you can
“It’s important to do the right thing even when no one is looking: It can make put off until tomorrow?
you or someone else feel good.”

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 Elements of Nonfiction
Text Structure Nonfiction Text Features
• The general purpose of nonfiction is to provide the reader with • Text features in nonfiction writing are the visual, or graphic, features that authors use to highlight or ex-
information about something factual. Most nonfiction texts also plain information. The table below shows examples of the most common types of text features.
have more specific purposes, such as describing, explaining, or
persuading. Authors use different types of text structures in non- Text
fiction to achieve these purposes. Below are descriptions of the Examples
Feature
different types of nonfiction text structures.
- Description: Descriptive texts provide detailed information Numbered Features of Penguins Types of Penguin Food
about a topic, such as a person, place, event, object, animal, or or bulleted 1. black and white coloring • krill
2. cannot fly • fish
idea. Descriptions include facts such as characteristics, dates, list
number data, and quotes from experts or people involved in 3. good swimmers • squid
an event. 4. live in the Southern Hemisphere
★ Clue words used in descriptive texts: for example, include, Graph
such as, like Penguin Populations
★ Example of descriptive writing: There are many different
types of penguins, such as Emperor, chinstrap, and Adelie. Numbers of Pairs in Millions
- Compare and Contrast: Texts that compare and contrast
point out how two or more items or ideas are alike or differ- Penguin
ent. A compare and contrast text may be organized in three Species
different ways. The block method describes everything about
one topic first and then describes the other topic in the next
section. The similarities and differences method explains all the
king Adelie chinstrap
similarities between two topics first and then all the differ-
1 million 4.2 million 6.5 million
ences between the two topics. The point by point method com-
pares and contrasts different aspects of two topics in separate
sections. Chart
★ Clue words used in compare and contrast texts: like, alike, Hatching Penguin Chicks
just as, similar, different, unlike, however, but, although,
though, in contrast to The female lays an The male rests the The female The female re-
egg and passes it egg on his feet to searches for food turns to hatch
★ Example of compare and contrast writing: Chinstrap and to the male. keep it warm. while the male the egg while the
Adelie penguins are similar in that both species feed most- cares for the egg. male goes to find
ly on krill. However, Adelie penguins make their nesting food.
grounds much farther south in Antarctica than chinstraps.
- Sequence: Texts written in a sequence give facts, events, con-
cepts, or steps in a process in a specific order. Sequence texts Table
Penguin Sizes
are often organized in chronological or step-by-step order.
Type Height (in.) Weight (lbs.)
★ Clue words used in sequence texts: first, second, third, next,
then, beginning, end, finally, last, after, while, during Emperor 44 60–90
★ Example of sequence writing: At first, penguin chicks rely King 37 30–35
on their parents to bring them food. After about three Adelie 18–24 8–10
months, the young penguins can search for food for them- Gentoo 24–30 12–14
selves. Chinstrap 18–24 9
- Cause and Effect: Cause and effect writing explains how ac-
tions, events, facts, or ideas result in something else. The cause
Table of con- All About Penguins
is why something happens; the effect is what happens. Cause
tents Introduction page 1
and effect texts may be organized in a block method, in which
Chapter 1: Penguin Characteristics page 3
all the causes are in a section and all the effects are in the next
Chapter 2: Penguin Lifestyles page 7
section. They may also use a point by point method, in which
each cause is grouped with its effects. Often there are multiple Chapter 3: Penguin Challenges page 11
causes and effects in a text, and the effects may come before Glossary krill, noun, small, shrimplike creatures that live in marine waters
the causes. species, noun, a group of organisms that share the same features
★ Clue words used in cause and effect texts: cause, effect,
Index penguins
result, reason, because, so, since, why, therefore, thus, conse- Adelie, 8, 13
quently chinstrap, 4, 7, 12–13
★ Example of cause and effect writing: Most penguin species emperor, 4, 8–9, 11
only raise one chick at a time, because it is difficult for the
adults to feed more than one baby. Boldfaced, • Most penguin species feed on krill, small, shrimplike creatures that live in oceans.
- Problem and Solution: A problem and solution text de- italicized, • Penguins are part of the species Sphenisciformes.
scribes a problem or difficult situation and explains one or and under- • A good book about penguins is Penguins of the World, by Wayne Lynch.
more ways that the problem could be solved. The text often lined type
includes reasons why a particular solution is a good one. Heading, Chapter 1: Penguin Characteristics
★ Clue words used in problem and solution texts: problem, subheading Penguin Features
difficulty, dilemma, threat, danger, solve, solution, answer,
reason Topic and • Many penguin species live in very cold places in the Southern Hemisphere.
★ Example of problem and solution writing: Global warming summary • So, while some penguins live in relatively warm places, most penguin species live in icy,
is a threat to many penguin species because their sea ice sentences frigid regions.
habitats are melting. Humans can help solve this problem Timeline Penguin Protection Timeline
by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that cause 1919: The government of Tasmania declares Macquarie Island in the Pacific Ocean a pen-
global warming. guin sanctuary.
[NOTE: A nonfiction text can have more than one structure. For ex- 1924: The government of France declares Kerguelen Island off Antarctica a national park.
ample, an essay about penguins may use description to tell about 1959: Twelve nations sign the Antarctic Treaty to protect the continent and its penguins.
penguin species. It may also use cause and effect to explain how Other graphic features include maps, diagrams, photographs, captions, sidebars, and illustrations.
human activities are endangering penguins, or problem and solu-
tion to show how humans can eliminate the threats to penguins.]

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