Andrzej Diniejko

Introduction to Literary Studies

4

PROSE FICTION

Prose fiction



Prose fiction, or
simply fiction, is a
kind of writing
which is based on
the writer’s
imagination.

Fiction



Fiction is the
general term for
invented stories.

Forms of fiction



novel, short story,
novella, romance,
tale, confession,
myth, legend, fable,
satire, etc.

Prose fiction vs

poetry



Prose fiction is
distinguished from
poetry because it is not
arranged in patterns of
lines and of sounds
into metrical form.

Main elements of prose

fiction



Narration
(narrator),



point of view,



plot,



characters,



setting,

Main elements of prose
fiction



dialogue,



description,



commentary,



tone



symbols

Narration (narrative)



Narration is the

process of relating a

sequence of events.

Narrative technique



Narrative technique is thus

the method of telling stories.

Of course, narration is not

limited to prose fiction merely.



We may speak of narrative

poetry, i.e. the class of poems

including ballads, epics, and

verse romances that tell a

certain story.

Fact & fiction



It should be remembered
that literature is

rarely

pure fiction. Much of

it is

based on facts.



Writers often combine
fact and fiction in such a
way that readers may
find it difficult to tell the
difference.

Narrator



The narrator is the one

who tells the story

(narration).



The narrator is the

imagined “voice”

transmitting the story

to the reader.

Narrator/Author



We should not confuse the
narrator with the author
or the implied author of a
work of fiction, who does
not tell the story but is
understood as the one
who invented the narrator.

Narrator



When we read a
novel or a short story
it is not really the
author who is telling
it but someone whom
we call a narrator.

Types of narrators



Traditionally, we
speak of the first-
person narrator and
the third-person
narrator.

Narrator



The narrator may take
different roles within a literary
work: he may be the
protagonist in the action
described:



a witness of events, the
reader’s informer or a
character (first-person
narrator).

More narrators



In some works more
than one narrator is
used. The narrator is
an indispensable
agent of narrative
fiction.

Omniscient/Non-omniscient

Narrator



Narration may be limited
and told from the point of
view of one character in
either third person or in
first person; or it may be
omniscient, in which the
narrator knows everything,
and represents the author
or a persona for the author.

Omniscient narrator



The omniscient
narrator knows
everything about the
characters, including
their thoughts and
feelings.

Neutral omniscience



When a narrator allows
the reader to make his
or her own judgments
about characters or
the events, it is called
neutral omniscience.

Limited omniscience



When the narrator
has omniscient
knowledge about one
or two characters,
but not all, we call it
limited omniscience.

First-person narrator



The first-person narrator

appears as “I” in the story,

and he knows only the

facts he has seen or heard

of. He is involved either as

a witness or as participant

in the events of the story.



Such a narrator is usually

the central character.

Non-omniscient

narrator



First-person
narrator is not
omniscient (non-
omniscient
narrator).

Reliable & non-reliable

narrator



We can also
distinguish between
a reliable and
unreliable narrator.

Reliable narrator



Reliable narrator is
one whose accounts
of events are
trustworthy.

Unreliable narrator



The unreliable
narrator may be
partial, ill-informed,
misleading, or
having limited
knowledge.

Narrator



In general, the third-person

narrator is reliable, whereas many

first-person narrators are not

always reliable, e.g. Gulliver in

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.



However, Robinson, who is the

first-person narrator, can be

trusted to be telling the truth

about his adventures and,

therefore, he seems to be reliable.

Point of view



Another important
aspect of a work of
fiction is its point of
view.

Point of view

Point of view is the

perspective from
which the story is
being told by the
narrator.

Point of view

Point of view depends on:



the degree of the

narrator’s knowledge;



the degree of the

narrator’s understanding;



the degree of the

narrator’s participation.

Plot



The structure of the

action is called plot.



Plot is the blueprint

of every work of

fiction.

Elements of plot



It usually includes an
introduction, conflict,
tension or rising
action, climax or
turning point, and
falling action or
resolution.

Cause-and-effect

–

A well-designed
traditional plot contains
incidents which are
carefully selected and
arranged in a cause-and-
effect relationship.

Main & minor plot



It is important to
make a distinction
between the main
plot (major plot)
and subplots (minor
plots).

Types of plot



Novels may have
any kind of plot:
tragic, comic,
satiric, or romantic.

Elements of plot



We can distinguish the following

elements of plot in a classical

realist novel or short story:



Exposition;



Rising action;



Turning point or climax;



Falling action;



Solution

.

Exposition

Like in a drama,

exposition
introduces
characters, time and
place of action.

Rising action

Rising Action: the

series of conflicts and
crisis in the story that
lead to the climax.

Climax or turning

point

Climax: The turning

point. The most
intense moment
(either mentally or
in action.

Falling action



Falling action is the
reverse movement
leading to a
catastrophe or
solution.

Foreshadowing,

flashback



Foreshadowing is
the technique of
giving the reader a
hint of what is to
come sometime
later in the story.

Flashback



Flashback is an
interruption in the
action of a story to
show an episode
that happened at an
earlier time.

Flashback



A flashback provides
background
information necessary
to an understanding
of the characters or
the plot.

Setting

time, place and

period in which the
action takes place.

Characters



Characters are
usually classified as
major and minor or
dynamic and static
ones.

Characters



Another distinction
classifies characters
as ‘round’ and ‘flat’.

Flat characters



Flat characters may
also be called stock
characters or types.



The flat or stock
character reveals one
simple idea or quality.

Dynamic & flat

characters



Dynamic character:

undergoes some type of

change in story.



Static character: does

not change in the course

of the story.

Methods of

characterisation



direct: “he was an old man..”
(The Old Man and the Sea);



character’s own Words and
actions



reaction of other characters;



Physical appearance;



Own thoughts

Characters



advance the action,



reveal the action to the

reader,



appear as symbols,



create atmosphere or



verisimilitude,



transmit ideas, opinions,

attitudes,

etc

.

Theme



The theme of a piece
of fiction is its central
idea. It usually
contains some insight
into the human
condition.

Central theme



In longer works of fiction,

the central theme is often

accompanied by a number

of lesser, related themes, or

there may be two or more

central themes.

.

Symbol

A symbol

represents an idea,
quality, or concept
larger than itself.

Contrast & conflict



The relationship
between characters is
often based on contrast
and conflict, however,
in some fictions the
struggle occurs within
a character’s self.

Internal conflict



This struggle is
called internal
conflict and involves
a decision the
character must
make.

Structure of prose

fiction

–

Chronological: starts
at the beginning and
moves through time.

–

Flashback: starts in
the present and then
goes back to the past.

Circular plot

–

Circular or

Anticipatory: starts

in the present,

flashes back to the

past, and returns to

the present at the

conclusion.

Panel plot

–

Panel: same story
told from different
viewpoints. (Daisy
Miller by Henry
James).

Frame story



One of the
interesting
narrative structures
is frame narrative or
frame story.

Stream-of-consciousness

technique



Stream-of-
consciousness or
interior monologue
is a narrative technique
characteristic of the
modern novel.

Stream-of-consciousness
technique



The term, stream of
consciousness was
created by the
American psychologist
William James in
Principles of
Psychology (1890).

Stream-of-consciousness
technique



With reference to
the novel, it denotes
the flow of thoughts
and feelings which
pass through a
character’s mind.

Novel



The novel is an
extended fictional
narrative in prose.

Types of novels



We can distinguish

several types of
novels.

The novel of manners



The novel of manners is a

form of a realistic novel

which deals with aspects of

behaviour, language,

customs and values

characteristic of a

particular class of people in

a specific historical context.

Novel of manners



The novel of manners
often shows a conflict
between individual
aspirations or desires
and the accepted social
codes of behaviour.

Novel of manners



Examples of the novels
of manners include:
Jane Austen’s Pride and
Prejudice, Sense and
Sensibility, Emma;
William Makepeace
Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.

Bildungsroman



Novel of apprenticeship

(Bildungsroman) deals

with upbringing and

education.



An early example of the

novel of apprenticeship

is Henry Fielding’s Tom

Jones.

Bildungsroman



Other examples include
Charles Dickens’ David
Copperfield and James Joyce’s
The Portrait of an Artist as a
Young Man, (it also belongs to
the subcategory of
Kunstlerroman (the novel
about the development of an
artist).

Gothic novel



Gothic novel was the

product of a superficial

interest in the Middle

Ages.



Gothic elements

included the

supernatural, the weird

and the mysterious.



They first appeared with the works of
Horace Walpole (e.g. The Castle of Otranto,
1765), William Beckford’s Vathek (1786),
Matthew Gregory Lewis (Monk, 1796), Ann
Radcliffe (Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794) and
Mary Shelley (Frankenstein, 1818).



Gothic novels or
stories contain
scenes of mystery,
horror and wonder.

Gothic novel



The atmosphere is
dark and ghastly.
Edgar Allan Poe
developed the
Gothic style in his
short stories.

Gothic novel



The setting of a
Gothic novel was
often a gloomy
castle with ghosts,
dungeons and
supernatural events.

Utopian novel



Utopian novel

presents a perfect
society where the
problems of poverty,
crime etc. have been
eliminated.

Utopia



The word ’utopia’ means
’no place’ in Greek. It is the
title of Sir Thomas More’s
political essay written in
Latin, Utopia (1516). An
examples of a utopian
novel is H. G. Wells’ Men
Like Gods (1925).

Dystopian novel



Dystopian novel is

an anti-utopian

novel, where unlike

the utopian novel,

the attempt to

create a perfect

society has gone

wrong.

Dystopia



The word ‘dystopia’
literally means ‘bad
place’.



In terms of a literary
genre it is sometimes
used as the opposite of
‘utopia’.

Dystopian novel



The dystopian novel
usually portrays a
future world where
technical progress
causes serious ethical,
moral and social
concerns.

Dystopian novel



A characteristic topic of
dystopian novels: a
conscienceless
totalitarian
government, or a
society.



The dystopian novel is a

20th century phenomenon,

but its antecedents can be

found in the fiction of H. G.

Wells (1866-1946). The

purpose of dystopian

novels is to present a

disguised critique of the

present-day society.

The short story



The short story is

frequently thought

to be an American

creation which

appeared in the

19th century.

Tales



Of course, short prose

forms existed before the

19th century, e.g. stories

from the Bible, short tales

included in Giovanni

Boccaccio’s Decameron

and Geoffrey Chaucer’s

The Canterbury Tales.

E. A.Poe



However, the first
writer who tried to
formulate the poetics
of the short story as
a new literary genre
was Edgar Allan Poe.

E.A. Poe



He recommended
that a short story
should encompass
‘a certain unique or
single effect’.

Short story

A short story can
be read in one
sitting because it
usually consists of
not more than
3,000 to 5,000
words.

While reading a narrative work
you should always keep in mind
the following:



Who is (are) the central character/s?



What are the relationships between

them?



Are the characters static or do they

develop throughout the story?



How do we get to know characters? By

their actions, their own thoughts and

feelings; through the author’s

description; through meaningful names

and physical characteristics; or through

symbols?

Bibliography



Diniejko, Andrzej.
Introduction to the

Study of Literature in

English. Kielce:

Wydawnictwo Akademii
Świętokrzyskiej, 2005.