prose speech examples

Definition of Prose

Prose is a literary device referring to writing that is structured in a grammatical way, with words and phrases that build sentences and paragraphs. Works wrote in prose feature language that flows in natural patterns of everyday speech. Prose is the most common and popular form of writing in fiction and non-fiction works.

As a literary device, prose is a way for writers to communicate with readers in a straightforward, even conversational manner and tone . This creates a level of familiarity that allows the reader to connect with the writer’s expression, narrative , and characters. An example of the effective familiarity of prose is J.D. Salinger’s  The Catcher in The Rye :

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.

Salinger’s prose is presented as first-person narration as if Holden Caulfield’s character is speaking to and conversing directly with the reader. This style of prose establishes familiarity and intimacy between the narrator and the reader that maintains its connection throughout the novel .

Common Examples of First Prose Lines in Well-Known Novels

The first prose line of a novel is significant for the writer and reader. This opening allows the writer to grab the attention of the reader, set the tone and style of the work, and establish elements of setting , character, point of view , and/or plot . For the reader, the first prose line of a novel can be memorable and inspire them to continue reading. Here are some common examples of first prose lines in well-known novels:

• Call me Ishmael. ( moby dick )
• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ( A Tale of Two Cities )
• It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. ( Pride and Prejudice )
• It was love at first sight. ( catch 22 )
• In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. ( The Great Gatsby )
• It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. ( 1984 )
• i am an invisible man . ( Invisible Man )
• Mother died today. ( the stranger )
• They shoot the white girl first, but the rest they can take their time. ( Paradise )
• All this happened, more or less. ( Slaughterhouse-Five )

Examples of Famous Lines of Prose

Prose is a powerful literary device in that certain lines in literary works can have a great effect on readers in revealing human truths or resonating as art through language. Well-crafted, memorable prose evokes thought and feeling in readers. Here are some examples of famous lines of prose:

• Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird . ( To Kill a Mockingbird )
• In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart. ( Anne Frank : The Diary of a Young Girl )
• All Animals are Equal , but some animals are more equal than others. ( Animal Farm)
• It is easier to start a war than to end it. ( One Hundred Years of Solitude )
• It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both. ( Charlotte’s Web )
• I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. ( The Color Purple )
• There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you, ( I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings )
• The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42. ( The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy )
• The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you. ( The Book Thief )
• Just remember: If one bird carried every grain of sand, grain by grain, across the ocean, by the time he got them all on the other side, that would only be the beginning of eternity. ( In Cold Blood )

Types of Prose

Writers use different types of prose as a literary device depending on the style and purpose of their work. Here are the different types of prose:

• Nonfiction: prose that recounts a true story, provides information, or gives a factual account of something (such as manuals, newspaper articles, textbooks, etc.)
• Heroic: prose usually in the form of a legend or fable that is intended to be recited and has been passed down through oral or written tradition
• Fiction : most familiar form of prose used in novels and short stories and featuring elements such as plot, setting, characters, dialogue , etc.
• Poetic Prose: poetry written in the form of prose, creating a literary hybrid with occasional rhythm and/or rhyme patterns

Difference Between Prose and Poetry

Many people consider prose and poetry to be opposites as literary devices . While that’s not quite the case, there are significant differences between them. Prose typically features natural patterns of speech and communication with grammatical structure in the form of sentences and paragraphs that continue across the lines of a page rather than breaking. In most instances, prose features everyday language.

Poetry, traditionally, features intentional and deliberate patterns, usually in the form of rhythm and rhyme. Many poems also feature a metrical structure in which patterns of beats repeat themselves. In addition, poetry often includes elevated, figurative language rather than everyday verbiage. Unlike prose, poems typically include line breaks and are not presented as or formed into continuous sentences or paragraphs.

Writing a Prose Poem

A prose poem is written in prose form without a metrical pattern and without a proper rhyme scheme . However, other poetic elements such as symbols metaphors , and figurative language are used extensively to make the language poetic. Writing a prose poem involves using all these poetic elements, including many others that a poet could think about.

It is not difficult to write a prose poem. It, however, involves a step-by-step approach.

• Think about an idea related to a specific theme , or a choose topic.
• Think poetically and write as prose is written but insert notes, beats, and patterns where necessary.
• Use repetitions , metaphors, and similes extensively.
• Revise, revise and revise to make it melodious.

Prose Edda vs. Poetic Edda

Prose Edda refers to a collection of stories collected in Iceland, or what they are called the Icelandic Saga. Most of the Prose Edda stories have been written by Snorri Sturluson while has compiled the rest written by several other writers. On the other hand, most of the poems about the Norse gods and goddesses are called the Poetic Edda. It is stated that almost all of these poems have been derived from the Codex Regius written around the 13 th century though they could have been composed much earlier. Such poems are also referred to as Eddaic poetry. In other words, these poetic outputs and writings are classical poetic pieces mostly woven around religious themes.

Examples of Prose in Literature

Prose is an essential literary device in literature and the foundation for storytelling. The prose in literary works functions to convey ideas, present information, and create a narrative for the reader through the intricate combinations of plot, conflict , characters, setting, and resolution . Here are some examples of prose in literature:

Example 1: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.

Steinbeck’s gifted prose in this novel is evident in this passage as he describes the last moment of sunset and the onset of darkness. Steinbeck demonstrates the manner in which a writer can incorporate figurative language into a prose passage without undermining the effect of being straightforward with the reader. The novel’s narrator utilizes figurative language by creating a metaphor comparing the sun to a drop of liquid, as well as through personifying dusk and darkness as they “crept.” This enhances the novel’s setting, tone, and mood in this portion of the story.

However, though Steinbeck incorporates such imagery and poetic phrasing in this descriptive passage, the writing is still accessible to the reader in terms of prose. This demonstrates the value of this literary device in fictional works of literature. Writers can still master and offer everyday language and natural speech patterns without compromising or leaving out the effective descriptions and use of figurative language for readers.

Example 2: This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

In this poem by Williams, he utilizes poetic prose to create a hybrid work of literature. The poem is structured in appearances like a poetic work with line breaks and stanzas . However, the wording of the work flows as prose writing in its everyday language and conversational tone. There is an absence of figurative language in the poem, and instead, the expression is direct and straightforward.

By incorporating prose as a literary device in his poem, Williams creates an interesting tension for the reader between the work’s visual representation as a poem and the familiar, literal language making up each individual line. However, rather than undermine the literary beauty of the poem, the prose wording enhances its meaning and impact.

Example 3: Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

This passage introduces Vonnegut’s work of short fiction. The narrator’s prose immediately sets the tone of the story as well as foreshadows the impending conflict. The certainty and finality of the narrator’s statements regarding equality in the story establish a voice that is direct and unequivocal. This unambiguous voice set forth by Vonnegut encourages trust in the narration on behalf of the reader. As a result, when the events and conflict in the story turn to science fiction and even defy the laws of physics, the reader continues to “believe” the narrator’s depiction of the plot and characters.

This suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader demonstrates the power of prose as a literary device and method of storytelling. By utilizing the direct and straightforward nature of prose, the writer invites the reader to become a participant in the story by accepting what they are told and presented through the narrator. This enhances the connection between the writer as a storyteller and a receptive reader.

Synonyms of Prose

Prose has a few close synonyms but cannot be used interchangeably. Some of the words coming near in meanings are unlyrical, unpoetic, factual, literal, antipoetic, writing, prosaic and factual.

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Literary Devices

Literary devices, terms, and elements, definition of prose.

Prose is a communicative style that sounds natural and uses grammatical structure. Prose is the opposite of verse, or poetry, which employs a rhythmic structure that does not mimic ordinary speech. There is, however, some poetry called “prose poetry” that uses elements of prose while adding in poetic techniques such as heightened emotional content, high frequency of metaphors, and juxtaposition of contrasting images. Most forms of writing and speaking are done in prose, including short stories and novels, journalism, academic writing, and regular conversations.

The word “prose” comes from the Latin expression prosa oratio , which means straightforward or direct speech. Due to the definition of prose referring to straightforward communication, “prosaic” has come to mean dull and commonplace discourse. When used as a literary term, however, prose does not carry this connotation.

Common Examples of Prose

Everything that is not poetry is prose. Therefore, every utterance or written word that is not in the form of verse is an example of prose. Here are some different formats that prose comes in:

• Casual dialogue : “Hi, how are you?” “I’m fine, how are you?” “Fine, thanks.”
• Oration : I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. –Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Dictionary definition : Prose (n)—the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse.
• Philosophical texts: Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. –Friedrich Nietzsche
• Journalism: State and local officials were heavily criticized for their response to the January 2014 storm that created a traffic nightmare and left some motorists stranded for 18 hours or more.

Significance of Prose in Literature

Much of the world’s literature is written in a prose style. However, this was not always the case. Ancient Greek dramas, religious texts, and old epic poetry were all usually written in verse. Verse is much more highly stylized than prose. In literature, prose became popular as a way to express more realistic dialogues and present narration in a more straightforward style. With very few exceptions, all novels and short stories are written in prose.

Examples of Prose in Literature

I shall never be fool enough to turn knight-errant. For I see quite well that it’s not the fashion now to do as they did in the olden days when they say those famous knights roamed the world.

( Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes)

Don Quixote is often considered the forerunner of the modern novel, and here we can see Cervantes’s prose style as being very direct with some sarcasm.

The ledge, where I placed my candle, had a few mildewed books piled up in one corner; and it was covered with writing scratched on the paint. This writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small—Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton. In vapid listlessness I leant my head against the window, and continued spelling over Catherine Earnshaw—Heathcliff—Linton, till my eyes closed; but they had not rested five minutes when a glare of white letters started from the dark, as vivid as spectres—the air swarmed with Catherines; and rousing myself to dispel the obtrusive name, I discovered my candle wick reclining on one of the antique volumes, and perfuming the place with an odour of roasted calf-skin.

( Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë)

In this prose example from Emily Brontë we hear from the narrator, who is focused on the character of Catherine and her fate. The prose style mimics his obsession in its long, winding sentences.

“I never know you was so brave, Jim,” she went on comfortingly. “You is just like big mans; you wait for him lift his head and then you go for him. Ain’t you feel scared a bit? Now we take that snake home and show everybody. Nobody ain’t seen in this kawn-tree so big snake like you kill.”

( My Antonia by Willa Cather)

In this excerpt from  My Antonia , Willa Cather uses her prose to suggest the sound of Antonia’s English. She is a recent immigrant and as the book progresses her English improves, yet never loses the flavor of being a non-native speaker.

Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton. Do not think I am very much impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn. He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton.

( The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway)

Ernest Hemingway wrote his prose in a very direct and straightforward manner. This excerpt from  The Sun Also Rises demonstrates the directness in which he wrote–there is no subtlety to the narrator’s remark “Do not think I am very much impressed by that as a boxing title.”

The Lighthouse was then a silvery, misty-looking tower with a yellow eye, that opened suddenly, and softly in the evening. Now— James looked at the Lighthouse. He could see the white-washed rocks; the tower, stark and straight; he could see that it was barred with black and white; he could see windows in it; he could even see washing spread on the rocks to dry. So that was the Lighthouse, was it? No, the other was also the Lighthouse. For nothing was simply one thing. The other Lighthouse was true too.

( To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf)

Virginia Woolf was noted for her stream-of-consciousness prose style. This excerpt from  To the Lighthouse demonstrates her style of writing in the same way that thoughts occur to a normal person.

And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again, drunkenness already diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing, everything that is speaking. . .ask what time it is and wind, wave, star, bird, clock will answer you: “It is time to be drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish.”

(“Be Drunk” by Charles Baudelaire)

Unlike the previous examples, this is an example of a prose poem. Note that it is written in a fluid way that uses regular grammar and rhythm, yet has an inarguably poetic sense to it.

Test Your Knowledge of Prose

1. Choose the best prose definition from the following statements: A. A form of communicating that uses ordinary grammar and flow. B. A piece of literature with a rhythmic structure. C. A synonym for verse. [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #1″] Answer: A is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

2. Why is the following quote from William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” not an example of prose?

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove

A. It has a rhythmic structure. B. It contains rhymes. C. It does not use ordinary grammar. D. All of the above. [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #2″] Answer: D is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

3. Which of the following excerpts from works by Margaret Atwood is a prose example? A. 

You’re sad because you’re sad. It’s psychic. It’s the age. It’s chemical. Go see a shrink or take a pill, or hug your sadness like an eyeless doll you need to sleep.

“A Sad Child” B. 

I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off.

The Handmaid’s Tale C. 

No, they whisper. You own nothing. You were a visitor, time after time climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming. We never belonged to you. You never found us. It was always the other way round.

“The Moment” [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #3″] Answer: B is the correct answer.[/spoiler]

What Is Prose In Literature? 7 Top Prose Examples

What is prose in literature ? Discover our expert guide with helpful prose examples and learn about the most impactful prose you can find in the literary world today.

Prose is any writing in an ordinary language without a rhyme scheme or formal metrical structure . Prose can take many forms, including short stories, poetry, and essays. When completing a prose piece, the organization of the words is essential to create a path the reader can follow. Still, there’s no need for lines to be of equal length or consider alliteration or other literary devices.

Prose follows the standard format of using sentences to build paragraphs. There’s a good chance your favorite novel, poem, or speech was written in prose format, as prose is the most common form of writing. When editing for grammar, we also recommend taking the time to improve the readability score of a piece of writing before publishing or submitting it. You might also be wondering, what is an iambic pentameter ?

Different Types Of Prose

Short stories, prose poetry, heroic prose, prose fiction and nonfictional prose, newspaper articles, key elements of prose literature, 1. great expectations by charles dickens, 2. the catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger, 3. the masque of the red death by edgar allan poe, 4. the hunger games by suzanne collins, 5. a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith, 6. as you like it by william shakespeare, 7. the war of the worlds by h.g. wells.

While prose is common and easy to find in literature, there are several categories into which prose can fall. Read our guide with writing advice from authors to build your writing confidence.

Many authors write in prose for short stories, allowing their characters to explain the story to the reader in ordinary language. Writing in prose can make it easier for readers to understand literary work. The familiar, everyday speech that prose-style short stories take on allows the author to focus on telling the story from their character’s point of view, helping readers understand their story’s world.

It can be challenging for poets to convey their ideas when they’re working to stick to a particular rhyme scheme, worrying about line breaks, or struggling to fit their work into a certain number of stanzas. Writing prose, free verse, and poetry allows poets to share their ideas in a way that makes sense to them and their readers rather than following a format set up by someone else.

This type of prose poem is meant to be passed down through oral tradition. Heroic prose tells the story of a key figure in a culture’s present or history and helps to ensure that a culture’s values are passed from one generation to the next.

The difference between prose fiction and nonfictional prose is simple: fiction tells stories created in the author’s imagination, while nonfiction prose tells stories of events in real life. Both types of prose can follow the natural flow of speech, making it easy for the reader to follow the storyline.

Newspaper articles are often written in prose, with the reporter telling the story as it unfolded in real life, using language that follows how people usually speak.

Check out our canonical literature explainer.

When writing prose, it’s essential to consider the key elements that will help bring your narrative to life for your reader. Whether you’re writing an article, a short story, a novel, a poem, or other types of writing, paying attention to the key elements of prose will allow your reader to imagine the world you’re creating with your writing entirely. Key elements of prose include: 

• Character : Character development helps readers understand who plays a role in your story. While main character development is vital, you’ll also want to flesh out the other characters in your prose to help your readers understand how they interact. Be sure to help your reader see how your character grows and changes over time. There’s no need for your characters to stay stagnant–growth is a normal part of life, and working to show your readers how their experiences affect their personality and outlook on life can help them seem more real.
• Setting: Your reader needs to fully be able to picture the world you’re creating in your writing. Pay attention to what you see when you imagine your character’s world, and take plenty of time to describe their environment to your reader. Whether you’re describing a place that currently exists or a world that only exists in your imagination, developing the setting of your story can help your readers feel like they’re there, going through each experience you describe for your characters.
• Plot: Your plot is your storyline, and you’ll want to work carefully to be sure that your plot follows a clear path. When developing your plot, keep an eye out for plot holes, such as a character struggling with money suddenly being able to go on vacation. The more realistic your plot, the better your reader can identify with your story. 
• Point of View: Decide whether you want to tell your story from a first-person, second-person, or third-person point of view. Many prose writers use the first-person point of view, allowing the characters to speak directly to the reader. 
• Mood: What feeling do you want your readers to have as they enjoy your story? Perhaps you want them to feel inspired, or you want them to feel conflicted as they consider the hard truths that your character has to face as they grow and learn. The setting, character development, vocabulary choices, and writing style can all help your reader feel the mood you’re creating with your writing. 

Examples Of Prose In Literature

In this passage, Dickens expertly conveys one of the many difficulties of growing up–the fear of becoming someone you do not want to be. Many growing adults cling to the safety of youth, only to be overcome by the difficulties of adulthood that lead them to participate in the same behaviors they despise. Dickens’ prose writing style makes this passage relatable to readers, as they can feel the main character, Pip, baring his soul.

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” – Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

One of the many reasons Catcher is renowned as a classic is Salinger’s ability to convey protagonist Holden Caulfield’s thoughts to the reader clearly (but not concisely). Caulfield shares his story like many people find their inner voice working–taking tangents and roundabouts, exploring new ideas, and returning to old ideas. As a result, many readers feel they know Caulfield by the end of the novel, even though he’s a fictional character created by Salinger’s imagination.

“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Known for creating macabre worlds that infuse readers’ nightmares, Poe’s ability to use everyday language to paint a clear picture continues to be envied by writers. In Masque, Poe helps the reader to understand the extravagance of the party he attends. The author’s detailed description leaves the reader with no questions about the party, allowing them to picture precisely how the scene appeared as partygoers met their brutal final fate.

“There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion, even by the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made.” Edgar Allan Poe , The Masque of the Red Death

Moviegoers and book lovers alike are familiar with the plight of Katniss, the heroine of The Hunger Games series. In this passage, near the beginning of the series, readers get to know their protagonist and relate to her, similar to getting to know a real-life friend. 

Katniss describes struggles in school, family issues, and trying to hide her true feelings, all shared by many. Collins’ use of prose makes it simple for readers to put themselves in the shoes of Katniss.

“And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me.” Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

The coming-of-age tale of a young New York girl is a testament to the strength of the human spirit. Smith expertly makes the reader feel as if the tree is a character in the story and returns to this metaphor several times throughout the novel.

The book’s protagonist, Francie Nolan, shares characteristics with the trees that survive in the harsh Brooklyn environment. In this novel, the protagonist does not speak directly to the reader. However, Smith writes so readers feel like they’re listening to a friend describe their life and hardships. 

“Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.” Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Shakespeare is one of the most prominent writers of all time, so he has many great examples of prose in literature . Skillfully using language to underscore social distinctions in his plays, he strategically uses prose and verse to show social status in As You Like It . 

Characters from lower social classes typically communicate using prose, which is used to portray their unpretentious and straightforward mannerisms. In contrast, the upper class uses rhythmic verse with poetic form and descriptive language. The deliberate use of prose and verse creates a stark contrast between the characters, allowing the reader to understand the social status and characteristics portrayed.

“Time travels at different speeds for different people. I can tell you who time strolls for, who it trots for, who it gallops for, and who it stops cold for.” William Shakespeare , As You Like It

H.G. Wells is often called the “father of science fiction” due to his immense success as an author. His works span various genres, but he is best known for his speculative novels with compelling narrative and vivid characters. 

In War of the World, Wells employs meticulously detailed prose to show the terrifying invasion by Martians. The captivating story is shown through descriptive prose that blends fiction and reality into one mesmerizing tale. To learn more, check out our guide on stream of consciousness poetry!

“Few people realize the immensity of vacancy in which the dust of the material universe swims.” H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds

Amanda has an M.S.Ed degree from the University of Pennsylvania in School and Mental Health Counseling and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. She has experience writing magazine articles, newspaper articles, SEO-friendly web copy, and blog posts.

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What is Prose? Definition, Examples of Prose

Home » The Writer’s Dictionary » What is Prose? Definition, Examples of Prose

Definition of prose: Prose is often defined as straightforward rather than poetic writing.

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.

Heroic prose pieces are written or oral stories that follow the traditional structure used by oral expressionists such as Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey . Both of these pieces include such structures as an invocation to the Muses or epithets that are used in oral storytelling.

Prose in poetry refers to works that include large amounts of poetic devices such as imagery, alliteration, and rhythm but are still written in a straightforward manner rather than in verse form.

The Function of Prose

Prose is used when the writer wants to tell a story in a straightforward manner. It should be used when the writer wants their writing to resemble everyday speech.

Examples of Prose in Literature

Here are some examples of prose in literature:

Nonfictional prose can be found in Zora Neale Hurston’s autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road because the piece is told in a straightforward manner:

• “I was born in a Negro town. I do not mean by that the black back-side of an average town. Eatonville, Florida, is, and was at the time of my birth, a pure Negro town—charter, mayor, council, town marshal and all.”

Fictional prose is used in John Kennedy Toole’s only novel A Confederacy of Dunces :

• “ Ignatius himself was dressed comfortably and sensibly. The hunting cap prevented head colds. The voluminous tweed trousers were durable and permitted unusually free locomotion.”

Dramatic prose can be found in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare often uses prose in this play when servants talk to show their lack of education and has higher-class characters talk in verse form. Here a servant speaks:

• “Now I’ll tell you without asking: my master is the great rich Capulet; and if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray, come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry!”

Define prose: Prose is writing that resembles everyday speech. It is straightforward, ordinary language rather than following a meter or rhythmic pattern like poetry.

Final example of prose:

Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem is written using the ordinary language found in prose:

• “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil.”

• Literary Terms
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write a Prose

I. What is a Prose?

Prose is just non-verse writing. Pretty much anything other than poetry counts as prose: this article, that textbook in your backpack, the U.S. Constitution, Harry Potter – it’s all prose. The basic defining feature of prose is its lack of line breaks:

In verse, the line ends

when the writer wants it to, but in prose

you just write until you run out of room and then start a new line.

Unlike most other literary devices , prose has a negative definition : in other words, it’s defined by what it isn’t rather than by what it is . (It isn’t verse.) As a result, we have to look pretty closely at verse in order to understand what prose is.

II. Types of Prose

Prose usually appears in one of these three forms.

You’re probably familiar with essays . An essay makes some kind of argument about a specific question or topic. Essays are written in prose because it’s what modern readers are accustomed to.

b. Novels/short stories

When you set out to tell a story in prose, it’s called a novel or short story (depending on length). Stories can also be told through verse, but it’s less common nowadays. Books like Harry Potter and the Fault in Our Stars are written in prose.

c. Nonfiction books

If it’s true, it’s nonfiction. Essays are a kind of nonfiction, but not the only kind. Sometimes, a nonfiction book is just written for entertainment (e.g. David Sedaris’s nonfiction comedy books), or to inform (e.g. a textbook), but not to argue. Again, there’s plenty of nonfiction verse, too, but most nonfiction is written in prose.

III. Examples of Prose

The Bible is usually printed in prose form, unlike the Islamic Qur’an, which is printed in verse. This difference suggests one of the differences between the two ancient cultures that produced these texts: the classical Arabs who first wrote down the Qur’an were a community of poets, and their literature was much more focused on verse than on stories. The ancient Hebrews, by contrast, were more a community of storytellers than poets, so their holy book was written in a more narrative prose form.

Although poetry is almost always written in verse, there is such a thing as “prose poetry.” Prose poetry lacks line breaks, but still has the rhythms of verse poetry and focuses on the sound of the words as well as their meaning. It’s the same as other kinds of poetry except for its lack of line breaks.

IV. The Importance of Prose

Prose is ever-present in our lives, and we pretty much always take it for granted. It seems like the most obvious, natural way to write. But if you stop and think, it’s not totally obvious. After all, people often speak in short phrases with pauses in between – more like lines of poetry than the long, unbroken lines of prose. It’s also easier to read verse, since it’s easier for the eye to follow a short line than a long, unbroken one.

For all of these reasons, it might seem like verse is actually a more natural way of writing! And indeed, we know from archaeological digs that early cultures usually wrote in verse rather than prose. The dominance of prose is a relatively modern trend.

So why do we moderns prefer prose? The answer is probably just that it’s more efficient! Without line breaks, you can fill the entire page with words, meaning it takes less paper to write the same number of words. Before the industrial revolution, paper was very expensive, and early writers may have given up on poetry because it was cheaper to write prose.

V. Examples of Prose in Literature

Although Shakespeare was a poet, his plays are primarily written in prose. He loved to play around with the difference between prose and verse, and if you look closely you can see the purpose behind it: the “regular people” in his plays usually speak in prose – their words are “prosaic” and therefore don’t need to be elevated. Heroic and noble characters , by contrast, speak in verse to highlight the beauty and importance of what they have to say.

Flip open Moby-Dick to a random page, and you’ll probably find a lot of prose. But there are a few exceptions: short sections written in verse. There are many theories as to why Herman Melville chose to write his book this way, but it probably was due in large part to Shakespeare. Melville was very interested in Shakespeare and other classic authors who used verse more extensively, and he may have decided to imitate them by including a few verse sections in his prose novel.

VI. Examples of Prose in Pop Culture

Philosophy has been written in prose since the time of Plato and Aristotle. If you look at a standard philosophy book, you’ll find that it has a regular paragraph structure, but no creative line breaks like you’d see in poetry. No one is exactly sure why this should be true – after all, couldn’t you write a philosophical argument with line breaks in it? Some philosophers, like Nietzsche, have actually experimented with this. But it hasn’t really caught on, and the vast majority of philosophy is still written in prose form.

In the Internet age, we’re very familiar with prose – nearly all blogs and emails are written in prose form. In fact, it would look pretty strange if this were not the case!

Imagine if you had a professor

who wrote class emails

in verse form, with odd

            line breaks in the middle

of the email.

VII. Related Terms

Verse is the opposite of prose: it’s the style of writing

that has line breaks.

Most commonly used in poetry, it tends to have rhythm and rhyme but doesn’t necessarily have these features. Anything with artistic line breaks counts as verse.

18 th -century authors saw poetry as a more elevated form of writing – it was a way of reaching for the mysterious and the heavenly. In contrast, prose was for writing about ordinary, everyday topics. As a result, the adjective “prosaic” (meaning prose-like) came to mean “ordinary, unremarkable.”

Prosody is the pleasing sound of words when they come together. Verse and prose can both benefit from having better prosody, since this makes the writing more enjoyable to a reader.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

What Is Prose? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples

Prose definition.

Prose  (PROHzuh) is written language that appears in its ordinary form, without metrical structure or line breaks. This definition is an example of prose writing, as are most textbooks and instruction manuals, emails and letters, fiction writing, newspaper and magazine articles, research papers, conversations, and essays.

The word  prose  first entered English circa 1300 and meant “story, narration.” It came from the Old French  prose  (13th century), via the Latin  prosa oratio , meaning “straightforward or direct speech.” Its meaning of “prose-writing; not poetry” arrived in the mid-14th century.

Types of Prose Writing

Prose writing can appear in many forms. These are some of the most common:

• Heroic prose:  Literary works of heroic prose, which may be written down or recited, employ many of the same tropes found in the oral tradition. Examples of this would include the  Norse Prose Edda  or other legends and tales.
• Nonfictional prose:  This is prose based on facts, real events, and real people, such as  biography ,  autobiography , history, or journalism.
• Prose fiction:  Literary works in this style are imagined. Parts may be based on or inspired by real-life events or people, but the work itself is the product of an author’s imagination. Examples of this would include novels and short stories.
• Purple Prose:  The term  purple prose  carries a negative connotation. It refers to prose that is too elaborate, ornate, or flowery. It’s categorized by excessive use of adverbs, adjectives, and bad  metaphors .

Prose and Verse

While both are styles of writing, there are certain key differences between prose, which is used in standard writing, and verse, which is typically used for  poetry .

As stated, prose follows the natural patterns of speech. It’s formed through common grammatical structures, such as  sentences  that are built into paragraphs. For example, in the opening paragraph of Diana Spechler’s  New York Times  article “ Among the Healers ,” she writes:

We arrive at noon and take our numbers. The more motivated, having traveled from all over Mexico, began showing up at 3 a.m. About half of the 80 people ahead of us sit in the long waiting room on benches that line the walls, while others stand clustered outside or kill the long hours wandering around Tonalá, a suburb of Guadalajara known for its artisans, its streets edged with handmade furniture, vases as tall as men, mushrooms constructed of shiny tiles. Rafael, the healer, has been receiving one visitor after another since 5. That’s what he does every day except Sunday, every week of his life.

Although Spechler utilizes some of the literary devices often associated with verse, such as strong  imagery  and  simile , she doesn’t follow any poetic conventions. This piece of writing is comprised of sentences, which means it is written in prose.

Unlike prose, verse is formed through patterns of  meter ,  rhyme , line breaks, and  stanzaic  structure—all aspects that relate to writing  poems . For example, the  free verse  poem “ I am Trying to Break Your Heart ” by Kevin Young begins:

I am hoping

to hang your head

While this poem doesn’t utilize meter or rhyme, it’s categorized as verse because it’s composed in short two-line stanzaic units called  couplets . The remainder of the poem is comprised of couplets and the occasional monostich (one-line stanza).

• Prose Poetry

Although verse and prose are different, there is a form that combines the two: prose poetry. Poems in this vein contains poetic devices, such as imagery, white space,  figurative language ,  sound devices ,  alliteration ,  rhyme ,  rhythm , repetition, and heightened emotions. However, it’s written in prose form—sentences and paragraphs—instead of stanzas.

Examples of Prose in Literature

1. José Olivarez “ Ars Poetica ”

In this prose poem, Olivarez writes:

Migration is derived from the word “migrate,” which is a verb defined by Merriam-Webster as “to move from one country, place, or locality to another.” Plot twist: migration never ends. My parents moved from Jalisco, México to Chicago in 1987. They were dislocated from México by capitalism, and they arrived in Chicago just in time to be dislocated by capitalism. Question: is migration possible if there is no “other” land to arrive in. My work: to imagine. My family started migrating in 1987 and they never stopped. I was born mid-migration. I’ve made my home in that motion. Let me try again: I tried to become American, but America is toxic. I tried to become Mexican, but México is toxic. My work: to do more than reproduce the toxic stories I inherited and learned. In other words: just because it is art doesn’t mean it is inherently nonviolent. My work: to write poems that make my people feel safe, seen, or otherwise loved. My work: to make my enemies feel afraid, angry, or otherwise ignored. My people: my people. My enemies: capitalism. Susan Sontag: “victims are interested in the representation of their own sufferings.” Remix: survivors are interested in the representation of their own survival. My work: survival. Question: Why poems? Answer:

Olivarez crafted this poem in prose form rather than verse. He uses literary techniques such as surprising syntax, white space, heightened emotion, and unexpected turns to heighten the poetic elements of his work, but he doesn’t utilize verse tools, such as meter, rhyme, line breaks, or stanzaic structure.

2. Herman Melville,  Moby Dick

Melville’s novel is a classic work of prose fiction, often referenced as The Great American Novel. It opens with the following lines:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

3. Toni Morrison,  Playing in the Dark

Playing in the Dark , which examines American literature through the lens of race, freedom, and individualism, was originally delivered while Morrison was a guest speaker at Harvard University. She begins:

These chapters put forth an argument for extending the study of American literature into what I hope will be a wider landscape. I want to draw a map, so to speak, of a critical geography and use that map to open as much space for discovery, intellectual adventure, and close exploration as did the original charting of the New World—without the mandate for conquest.

Further Resources on Prose

David Lehman edited a wonderful anthology of prose poetry called  Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present .

For fans of prose in fiction, the editors of Modern Library put together a list of the  100 greatest novels .

Nonfiction prose fans may enjoy  Longform , which curates and links to new and classic nonfiction from around the web.

Related Terms

• Blank Verse

Any writer looking to master the art of storytelling will want to learn the literary devices in prose. Fiction and nonfiction writers rely on these devices to bring their stories to life, impact their readers, and uncover the core truths of life. You can, too, with mastery over the different literary devices! 

If you’re not familiar with the common literary devices, start with this article for definitions and examples. You may also benefit from brushing up on the six elements of fiction , as most prose stories have them. Combined with the following literary devices in fiction and nonfiction, these framing elements can help you write a powerful story.

10 Important Literary Devices in Prose

We’ve included examples and explanations for each of these devices, pulling from both contemporary and classical literature. Whether you’re a writer, a student, or a literary connoisseur, familiarize yourself with the important literary devices in prose.

1. Parallelism (Parallel Plots)

Parallelism refers to the plotting of events that are similarly constructed but altogether separate.

Are you familiar with the phrase “history often repeats itself”? If so, then you’re already familiar with parallelism. Parallelism refers to the plotting of events that are similarly constructed but altogether separate. Sometimes these parallels develop on accident, but they are powerful tools for highlighting important events and themes.

A surprising example of parallelism comes in the form of the Harry Potter series. As an infant, Harry is almost killed by Voldemort but is protected by his mother’s love. Eighteen years later, Harry must die in order to defeat Voldemort, thus shouldering the burden of love himself.

What does this parallelism do for the story? Certainly, that’s open to interpretation. Perhaps it draws attention to the incompleteness of love without action: to defeat Voldemort (who personifies hatred), Harry can’t just be loved, he has to act on love—by sacrificing his own life, no less.

This is unrelated to grammatical parallelism , a different literary device.

2. Foil Characters

A foil refers to any two characters who are “opposites” of each other.

A foil refers to any two characters who are “opposites” of each other. These oppositions are often conceptual in nature: one character may be even-keeled and mild, like Benvolio in Romeo & Juliet, while another character may be quick-tempered and pugnacious, like Tybalt.

What do foil characters accomplish? In Romeo & Juliet , Benvolio and Tybalt are basically Romeo’s devil and angel. Benvolio discourages Romeo from fighting, as it would surely end in his own death and separation from Juliet, whereas Tybalt encourages fighting out of family loyalty.

Of course, foils can also be the protagonist and antagonist, especially if they are character opposites. A reader would be hard-pressed to find similarities between Harry Potter and Voldemort (except for their shared soul). If you can think of other embodiments of good versus evil, they are most assuredly foils as well.

Foil characters help establish important themes and binaries in your work.

Foil characters help establish important themes and binaries in your work. Because Shakespeare wrote Benvolio and Tybalt as foils, one of the themes in Romeo & Juliet is that of retribution: is it better to fight for honor or turn the other cheek for love?

When considering foil characters in your writing, consider which themes/morals you want to turn your attention towards. If you want to write about the theme of chaos versus order, and your protagonist is chaotic, you might want a foil character who’s orderly. If you want to write about this theme but it’s not central to the story, perhaps have two side characters represent chaos versus order.

Learn more about foil characters here:

What is a Foil Character? Exploring Contrast in Character Development

You’ll often hear that “diction” is just a fancy term for “word choice.” While this is true, it’s also reductive, and it doesn’t capture the full importance of select words in your story. Diction is one of the most important literary devices in prose, as every prose writer will use it.

Diction is best demonstrated through analyzing a passage of prose, so to see diction in action, let’s take apart the closing paragraphs of The Great Gatsby . 

Take a look at the highlighted words, as well as the opposition between different highlights. F. Scott Fitzgerald juxtaposes many different emotions in this short, poignant passage, resulting in an ambivalent yet powerful musing on the passage of time. By focusing the diction of this passage on emotions both hopeful and hopeless, Fitzgerald masterfully closes one of the most important American novels.

For a further analysis of diction, as well as some great examples, check out our article expanding upon word choice in writing !

The mood of a story or passage refers to the overall emotional tone it invokes.

The mood of a story or passage refers to the overall emotional tone it invokes. When writers craft a mood in their work, they’re heightening the experience of their story by putting you in the characters’ shoes. Since mood requires using the right words throughout a scene, mood can be considered an extended form of diction.

The writer cultivates mood by making consistent language choices throughout a passage.

The writer cultivates mood by making consistent language choices throughout a passage of the story. Take, for example, the cliché “it was a dark and stormy night.” That phrase wasn’t clichéd when it was first written; in fact, it did a great job of opening Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Paul Clifford . The narrator’s dark, bleak description of the weather brings the reader into the bleary, tumultuous life of its protagonist, building a mood in both setting and story.

Or, consider this excerpt from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë:

Charlotte is quick to build the mood, keying in on Jane’s sombre beginnings before juxtaposing it against the ironic perfection of her siblings. Jane’s world is clear from the beginning: a cloudy house amidst a sunny street.

Learn more about this device at our article on mood in literature.

What is Mood in Literature? Creating Mood in Writing

5. Foreshadowing

A foreshadow refers to any time the writer hints towards later events in the story.

Foreshadowing is a powerful literary device in fiction, drawing readers ever-closer to the story’s climax. A foreshadow refers to any time the writer hints towards later events in the story, often underscoring the story’s suspense and conflict.

Sometimes foreshadowing is obvious, and sometimes you don’t notice it until rereading the story.

Sometimes foreshadowing is obvious, and sometimes you don’t notice it until rereading the story. For example, the foreshadowing in Harry Potter makes it fairly obvious that Harry will have to die. Once the idea of horcruxes, or “split souls,” was introduced in the books, it was only a matter of time before readers connected these horcruxes to the psychic connection Harry shared with Voldemort. His mission—to die and be reincarnated—becomes fairly obvious as the heptalogy comes to a close.

However, sometimes foreshadowing is much more discreet. In Jane Eyre , for example, it’s clear that many of the people in Jane’s life are keeping secrets from her. Rochester doesn’t let anyone know about his previous marriage but it gets alluded to several times, and St. John is reluctant to admit that he does not actually love Jane, foreshadowing Jane’s return to Rochester. All of this combines to reinforce Jane’s uncertain place in the world and the journey she must take to settle down.

6. In Media Res

In Media Res refers to writing a story starting from the middle

From the Latin “In the middle of things,” In Media Res is one of the literary devices in prose chiefly concerned with plot. In Media Res refers to writing a story starting from the middle; by throwing the reader into the center of events, the reader’s interest piques, and the storytelling bounces between flashback and present day.

Both fiction and nonfiction writers can use In Media Res, provided it makes sense to do so. For example, Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale begins in the middle of a dystopian society. Atwood leads us through the society’s establishment and the narrator’s capture, but all of this is in flashback, because the focus is on navigating the narrator’s escape from this evil world.

In Media Res applies well here, because the reader feels the full intensity of this dystopia from its start. Writers who are writing stories in either alternate worlds or very private worlds may benefit from this literary device in fiction, as it helps keep the reader interested and attentive.

7. Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience understands more about the situation than the story’s characters do.

Dramatic irony is a literary device in prose in which the audience understands more about the situation than the story’s characters do. This is an especially important literary device in fiction, as it often motivates the reader to keep reading.

We often see dramatic irony in stories which involve multiple points-of-view.

We often see dramatic irony in stories which involve multiple points-of-view. For example, the audience knows that Juliet is still alive, but when Romeo discovers her seemingly dead body, he kills himself in grief. How ironic, then, for Juliet to wake up to her lover’s passing, only to kill herself in equal grief. By using dramatic irony in the story, Shakespeare points towards the haphazardness of young love.

8. Vignette

A vignette is a passage of prose that’s primarily descriptive, rather than plot-driven.

A vignette (vin-yet) refers to a passage of prose that’s primarily descriptive, rather than plot-driven. Vignettes throw the reader into the scene and emotion, often building the mood of the story and developing the character’s lens. They are largely poetic passages with little plot advancement, but the flourishes of a well-written vignette can highlight your writing style and the story’s emotions.

The story snippets we’ve included are striking examples of vignettes. They don’t advance the plot, but they push the reader into the story’s mood. Additionally, the prose style itself is emotive and poetic, examining the nuances of life’s existential questions.

9. Flashback

A flashback refers to any interruption in the story where the narration goes back in time.

A flashback refers to any interruption in the story where the narration goes back in time. The reader may need information from previous events in order to understand the present-day story, and flashbacks drop the reader into the scene itself.

Flashbacks are often used in stories that begin In Media Res, such as The Handmaid’s Tale. While the main plot of the story focuses on the narrator’s struggles against Gilead, this narration frequently alternates with explanations for how Gilead established itself. The reader gets to see the bombing of Congress, the forced immigration of POC, and the environmental/fertility crisis which gives context for Gilead’s fearmongering. We also experience the narrator’s separation from her daughter and husband, supplying readers with the story’s highly emotive world.

10. Soliloquy

A soliloquy is a long speech with no audience in the story.

Soliloquy comes from the Latin for self (sol) and talking (loquy), and self-talking describes a soliloquy perfectly. A soliloquy is a long speech with no audience in the story. Soliloquies are synonymous with monologues, though a soliloquy is usually a brief passage in a chapter, and often much more poetic.

Shakespeare’s plays abound with soliloquies. Here’s an example, pulled from Scene II Act II of Romeo and Juliet .

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.

Romeo isn’t talking to anyone in particular, but no matter: his soliloquy is rife with emotion and metaphor, and one can’t help but blush when he expresses how his love for Juliet makes her like the sun to him.

As a literary device in prose, soliloquy offers insight into the characters’ emotions. Soliloquy doesn’t have to be in dialogue, it can also take the form of private thoughts, but a soliloquy must be an extended conversation with oneself that exposes the character’s own feelings and ideas.

Write Powerful Literary Devices in Prose with Writers.com

The literary devices in Jane Eyre , Romeo & Juliet, and The Great Gatsby help make these stories masterful works of fiction. By using these literary building blocks, your story will sparkle, too. Take a look at our upcoming courses in fiction and nonfiction , and take the next step in writing the great American novel. Happy writing!

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1.7: The Prose Genre

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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 an oral interp 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.

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.”

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.

Performance of Prose

Since prose is written in a style most like our natural speech, it is often the first genre you may tackle in your adventure through the world of oral interpretation.

Sometimes, a work of prose is more expository in nature rather than narrative (telling a story), focused on providing information or developing an argument as opposed to developing a plot. A narrative prose piece, on the other hand, tells a story from a first- or third-person narrator’s point of view. A performer of prose should understand the author’s intention behind the style of the work. The performer should thoroughly analyze the narrator or primary voice of the work to choose a performance approach that honors that voice’s point of view, personality, biases, feelings, etc.

Particularly in narrative prose, you will sometimes see more than one persona represented in the work. These may exist in the form of character dialogue throughout the piece. As a prose performer, you must examine these characters and determine how to perform them in a way that makes them distinct from the primary voice (narrator). You can do this using the various vocal and body language elements discussed in chapters 3 and 4. All characters should have some sort of body and/or vocal change that works with the interpretation given to that character. It can be your stance, how you hold your shoulders/head/posture, specific gestures to that character, or an accent or higher vocal tone. Do not go overboard, this should be subtle. Most importantly, be consistent with these choices, doing them each time the character speaks so as not to confuse your audience. Consider the following to add depth to your characterizations:

• Feel free to commit to an emotion that the character experiences.
• Consider adding reaction moments even when characters do not have anything to say. Characters can react whether they speak or not.
• Control your body. Avoid nervous rocking back and forth or nervous twitches such as wiggling your foot or playing with your pant leg.
• Use facial expressions. Your face should be “alive” at all times. Every narrator’s/character's facial expressions should be appropriate for that character. Practicing in front of a mirror can help.
• Use appropriate focal points (see chapter 4 in Body Language). If you determine through analysis that the narrator or primary voice is speaking to a group of people, engage the audience with eye contact using an audience focal point. Use the layout of classroom to your advantage, scanning and picking individuals to look at for an extended time during specified intense moments add to the performance. Though, if you determine whether the primary voice is speaking to no one in particular, perhaps rather to his or herself, you may need to use the inner-expressed focal point, looking into space as one may do while talking on the phone. When interpreting character dialogue, use different off-stage focal points to indicate characters looking at one another while speaking.
• Use appropriate vocal characteristics for the various personae. Play with tone, rhythm, volume, and all forms of dynamics. The secret with vocals is variation, and this can help make your various personae in a piece more distinct.
• Get to know the personae of the piece beyond the words in the literature. For deeper characterization, consider the possible history, backstories, and the relationships that exist between the characters and voices of the prose. Most of the time, these conclusions will be drawn simply from your own understanding and assumptions. That is fine. You can use those to help you make performance and delivery decisions for characterization.

Often, a prose piece may be too long for you to perform it in its entirety, and you will have to make a “cutting.” This involves selecting a chunk(s) from the entire work that still fit within the theme or message the performer is aiming to convey to the audience to include within a performance. Later, this chapter addresses cutting literature for performance, but in short, it works best to select large chunks for performance rather than piecing small lines and segments together to preserve as much of the rhythm and flow of an author’s words as possible. One key exception to this might be in the cutting of “tag lines,” or the short bits of narration after a line of dialogue. These are phrases such as “he said,” “she shouted angrily,” or “they paused.” Since performers are using character vocalizations to bring literature to life for audiences, they will likely be DOING the actions indicated in these tag lines (e.g. shouting angrily or pausing). Including them when performing often seems unnecessary, and many interpers choose to omit them in performance.

Any fiction or non-fiction novel, essay, journal, or short story can be selected to be cut for a prose performance. The use of diction, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, intonation, pace and other elements of delivery will offer a rewarding experience for both interpreter and audience. Every delivery choice made for prose should benefit the piece, help tell the story or convey the information, and aid interpretation. Performing prose effectively, particularly a narrative piece with several characters, takes lots of practice, devotion, and creativity. The more work you have done analyzing the work and understanding it, the better you can bring the piece to light for your audience. Strive to convey the crisp mental imagery you had when you read it when you perform for your audience.

Attributions

Adapted from https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Humanities/Book%3A_Introduction_to_Humanities_(Larsen)/08%3A_New_Page , https://moodle.linnbenton.edu/course/view.php?id=4645 .

Definition of Prose

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.

Normal everyday speech is spoken in prose, and most people think and write in prose form. Prose comprises of full grammatical sentences, which consist of paragraphs, and forgoes aesthetic appeal in favor of clear, straightforward language. It can be said to be the most reflective of conversational speech. Some works of prose do have versification, and a blend of the two formats that is called “prose poetry.”

Example of a Poetry Verse vs. the Prose Form

Following is a poetry verse from a popular work of Robert Frost:

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

( Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening , by Robert Frost)

Following is the same sentiment written in prose form:

“The woods look lovely against the setting darkness and as I gaze into the mysterious depths of the forest, I feel like lingering here longer. However, I have pending appointments to keep, and much distance to cover before I settle in for the night, or else I will be late for all of them.”

The above paragraph is conveying a similar message, but it is conveyed in ordinary language, without a formal metrical structure to bind it.

Some Common Types of Prose

• Nonfictional Prose: A literary work that is mainly based on fact, though it may contain fictional elements in certain cases. Examples include biographies and essays.
• Fictional Prose: A literary work that is wholly or partly imagined or theoretical. Examples are novels.
• Heroic Prose: A literary work that may be written down or recited, and which employs many of the formulaic expressions found in oral tradition. Examples are legends and tales.
• Prose Poetry: A literary work that exhibits poetic quality – using emotional effects and heightened imagery – but which are written in prose instead of verse .

Examples of Prose in Literature

Prose in novels.

This is usually written in the form of a narrative , and may be entirely a figment of the author’s imagination.

Example #1: 1984 (By George Orwell)

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Example #2: David Copperfield (By Charles Dickens)

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”

Example #3: Anna Karenina (By Leo Tolstoy)

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

These examples of prose have been taken from novels, where the writers have employed their imaginations. They are examples of fictional prose.

Prose in Speeches

Prose used in speeches often expresses thoughts and ideas of the speaker .

Example #4: No Easy Walk to Freedom speech (By Nelson Mandela)

“You can see that there is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow (of death) again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires.”

Example #5: Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech (By Mother Teresa)

“The poor are very great people. They can teach us so many beautiful things.”

Example #6: Equal Rights for Women speech (By U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm)

“As for the marriage laws, they are due for a sweeping reform, and an excellent beginning would be to wipe the existing ones off the books.”

These prose examples have been taken from speeches where the writing is often crisp and persuasive, and suits the occasion to convey a specific message.

Prose in Plays

Prose written in plays aims to be dramatic and eventful.

Example #7: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (By Tennessee Williams)

“You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.”

Example #8: As You Like It (By William Shakespeare)

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players. “

Prose in plays is often in conversational mode and is delivered by a character . However, its style stays the same throughout the play according to the personality of the character .

Function of Prose

While there have been many critical debates over the correct and valid construction of prose, the reason for its adoption can be attributed to its loosely-defined structure, which most writers feel comfortable using when expressing or conveying their ideas and thoughts. It is the standard style of writing used for most spoken dialogues, fictional as well as topical and factual writing, and discourses. It is also the common language used in newspapers, magazines, literature, encyclopedias, broadcasting, philosophy, law, history, the sciences, and many other forms of communication.

What is Prose? Definition, Examples of Literary Prose

Prose is a form of written language that does not have a formal meter structure. Prose more closely mimics normal patterns of speech.

What is Prose?

Prose is a style of writing that does not follow a strict structure of rhyming and/or meter. Prose uses normal grammatical structures. Elements of prose writing include regular grammar and paragraph structures that organize ideas, forgoing more stylistic and aesthetic forms of writing found in poetry and lyrics.

Prose can include normal dialogue, speeches, novels, news reports, etc. Prose is distinguished from poetry which uses line breaks and has meter that tends to defy normal grammar rules.

In today’s literature, most stories are told in prose. There is no longer much emphasis on the oral tradition of storytelling, to which verse was very well suited. Since print came to be commonplace, storytellers tend to rely on prose to tell their stories because of the freedom it allows.

Different Types of Prose

There are different genres of writing that use prose style. Here are a few:

Nonfiction Prose

Nonfiction is a work of writing that is based on fact. Examples of nonfiction include memoirs, essays, instructions, biographies, etc.

Fiction Prose

Fiction is a genre of writing that is imagined or untrue. Novels use prose in order to tell stories. Subgenres of fiction can include fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, etc.

Heroic Prose

Heroic prose uses the hero archetype in order to tell stories of bravery and travel in which good triumphs over evil. These stories are meant to be recited orally. Heroic prose may use tricks such as rhyme and a slight rhythmic structure in order to enhance the effects of being read out loud but are not the same as the ancient hero tales which were written in strict poetic verse.

Prose Poetry

Prose poetry uses certain poetic qualities in order to add a lyrical or aesthetic value to the writing. However, it stops short of any regular or strict metered form. This style of writing creates bolder emotional effects and often relies on metaphors and imagery in order to create similar reactions in readers that poetry would, while still maintaining the prose style.

The Function of Prose

Prose provides a loose structure for writers which offers freedom and creativity in expression. With prose, a writer can be as imaginative and creative as they want—or they can write very dryly in order to convey a specific point. It all comes down to the writer’s purpose and intended effect. With prose, the sky is the limit.

Ultimately, prose is an efficient way to write and convey ideas. There is a reason why news reporters and journalists write in prose—they can clearly express details, key facts, and updates in a way that is accessible to all. If everything was written in poetry/verse, there might be some conflicts in how news and important messages were spread.

Examples of Prose in Literature

In fiction, prose can be manipulated in order to create very specific stylistic effects. For example, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights tends to use long, winding sentence structures in order to convey the tendency to become obsessive, which is a trait found in several characters.

This writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small—Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton. In vapid listlessness I leant my head against the window, and continued spelling over Catherine Earnshaw—Heathcliff—Linton, till my eyes closed; but they had not rested five minutes when a glare of white letters started from the dark, as vivid as spectres—the air swarmed with Catherines; and rousing myself to dispel the obtrustive name, I discovered my candle wick reclining on one of the antique volumes, and perfuming the place with an odour of roasted calf-skin.

Speeches are another place where prose is used to convey ideas. Consider the “No Easy Walk to Freedom” Speech by Nelson Mandela :

You can see that there is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires.

Essays are also written in prose. The philosopher Sir Francis Bacon , who influenced founders of the American colonies, wrote the essay “On Nobility” in which he speaks on nobility in government.

For nobility attempers sovereignty, and draws the eyes of the people, somewhat aside from the line royal. But for democracies, they need it not; and they are commonly more quiet, and less subject to sedition, than where there are stirps of nobles. For men’s eyes are upon the business, and not upon the persons; or if upon the persons, it is for the business’ sake, as fittest, and not for flags and pedigree.

Recap: What is Prose in Literature?

Prose is the style of writing that does not use a metered format like poetry does. It more closely resembles normal patterns of speech, with normal grammatical structures such as full sentences and paragraphs.

How to Judge Prose

Basic understanding.

Prose is an event in which students will use a short story, parts of a novel, or other published works of prose to construct a speech. Prose combines multiple elements of oral interpretation of literature. Prose corresponds to usual patterns of speech—that which you would find most every day in a particular space and time (in contrast to poetic form and language). Prose typically has a narrative with its related rises and falls, character development and dialogue, and often has humorous elements embedded. Students may not use poetry, nor drama (plays), in this category. Students must use a manuscript in Prose, which typically consists of a small three-ring binder with page protectors.

The time limits for Prose varies from state to state, so make sure to check on the time limit used at the tournament you are judging. For NSDA tournaments, high school students have 5 minutes with a 30 second grace period; middle school students have 7 minutes with a 30 second grace period.

Evaluating the Round

When judging all Interpretation events, it is helpful to keep the Dramatic Structure in mind.

Exposition sets the scene and gives background information. Exposition occurs throughout the cutting and enhances the audience’s understanding of what the characters in the program are experiencing. The Inciting Incident sets a conflict into motion and represents the beginning of the Rising Action, which complicates the plot. The Climax is the point of greatest intensity and the turning point of the plot. Falling Action resolves the conflict and Denouement gives a glimpse of life after the conflict. Are you able to follow the plot of the piece? Is the theme or narrative effectively conveyed? Does the selection flow well and make sense in terms of how it’s developed?

Consider the performer’s blocking. Blocking, or the movements a performer makes to convey space, emotion, and action, should enhance the performance, not distract from the story. Movements should be motivated by either internal or external factors. Internal motivation stems from how the character is feeling, while external motivation comes from a physical reaction to external factors. In Prose, the student is allowed to use the manuscript as a prop to enhance blocking as long as they maintain control of the manuscript at all times. Ask yourself: Does the presenter’s use of physicality, facial expression, and gestures enhance the performance? Does the overall blocking contribute to the interpretation of the material? Does the speaker avoid distracting and unmotivated movement? Is the presenter comfortable and commanding of their space?

Characterization reveals the personality of the character through line delivery, vocal, and facial expression, and varying levels of levity and intensity. Consider whether the speaker clearly distinguishes each of the characters in the selection. Are the character(s) and their attitudes clear? Does the presenter’s use of vocal qualities like diction, pausing, and volume advance the narrative?

Filling Out the Ballot

Performers are ranked compared to the other students in their room with the best performance receiving the one ranking. The judge may also be asked to assign speaker points, typically in a range from 90 and 100, with 100 being outstanding.

Each performance has a time limit with a 30-second grace period. If a performance exceeds the grace period, the student cannot be ranked first. There is no other prescribed penalty.

The judge will also write comments to the performers on the ballot addressing different areas of the performance. When critiquing a program, judges ought to reference areas of the Dramatic Structure that were strong or weak and suggest ways in which the student can improve upon the cutting. Judges should consider if there were particular parts of the performance where it was difficult to follow the narrative. If the performer’s blocking is ineffective, the judge ought to indicate ways the performer can improve on the ballot. Critiquing characterization requires the judge to consider whether the character’s response to a situation is believable. The ultimate goal of blocking, programming, and characterization is to create a fully realized performance that moves the audience. The performer who combines these three factors the best should receive the one ranking.

• Scriptwriting

What is Prose — Definition and Examples in Literature

• What is a Poem
• What is a Stanza in a Poem
• What is Dissonance
• What is a Sonnet
• What is a Haiku
• What is Prose
• What is an Ode
• What is Repetition in Poetry
• How to Write a Poem
• Types of Poems Guide
• What is an Acrostic Poem
• What is an Epic Poem
• What is Lyric Poetry

P rose can be a rather general literary term that many use to describe all types of writing. However, prose by definition pertains to specific qualities of writing that we will dive into in this article. What is the difference between prose and poetry and what is prose used for? Let’s define this essential literary concept and look at some examples to find out.

What is Prose in Literature?

First, let’s define prose.

Prose is used in various ways for various purposes. It's a concept you need to understand if your goal to master the literary form. Before we dive in, it’s important to understand the prose definition and how it is distinguished from other styles of writing. 

PROSE DEFINITION

What is prose.

In writing, prose is a style used that does not follow a structure of rhyming or meter. Rather, prose follows a grammatical structure using words to compose phrases that are arranged into sentences and paragraphs. It is used to directly communicate concepts, ideas, and stories to a reader. Prose follows an almost naturally verbal flow of writing that is most common among fictional and non-fictional literature such as novels, magazines, and journals.

Four types of prose:

Nonfictional prose, fictional prose, prose poetry, heroic prose, prose meaning , prose vs poetry.

To better understand prose, it’s important to understand what structures it does not follow which would be the structure of poetry. Let’s analyze the difference between prose vs poetry.

Poetry follows a specific rhyme and metric structure. These are often lines and stanzas within a poem. Poetry also utilizes more figurative and often ambiguous language that purposefully leaves room for the readers’ analysis and interpretation.

Finally, poetry plays with space on a page. Intentional line breaks, negative space, and varying line lengths make poetry a more aesthetic form of writing than prose. 

Take, for example, the structure of this [Why] by E.E. Cummings. Observe his use of space and aesthetics as well as metric structure in the poem. 

E.E. Cummings Poem

E.E. Cummings may be one of the more stylish poets when it comes to use of page space. But poetry is difference in structure and practice than prose. 

Prose follows a structure that makes use of sentences, phrases, and paragraphs. This type of writing follows a flow more similar to verbal speech and communication. This makes it the best style of writing to clearly articulate and communicate concepts, events, stories, and ideas as opposed to the figurative style of poetry.

What is Prose in Literature? 

Take, for example, the opening paragraph of JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye . We can tell immediately the prose is written in a direct, literal way that also gives voice to our protagonist . 

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

From this example, you can see how the words flow more conversationally than poetry and is more direct with what information or meaning is being communicated. Now that you understand the difference between poetry, let’s look at the four types of prose.

Related Posts

• What is Litotes — Definition and Examples →
• Different Types of Poems and Poem Structures →
• What is Iambic Pentameter? Definition and Examples →

Prose Examples

Types of prose.

While all four types of prose adhere to the definition we established, writers use the writing style for different purposes. These varying purposes can be categorized into four different types.

Nonfictional prose is a body of writing that is based on factual and true events. The information is not created from a writer’s imagination, but rather true accounts of real events. 

This type can be found in newspapers, magazines, journals, biographies, and textbooks. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl , for example, is a work written in nonfictional style.

Unlike nonfictional, fictional prose is partly or wholly created from a writer’s imagination. The events, characters, and story are imagined such as Romeo and Juliet , The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , or Brave New World . This type is found as novels, short stories, or novellas .

Heroic prose is a work of writing that is meant to be recited and passed on through oral or written tradition. Legends, mythology, fables, and parables are examples of heroic prose that have been passed on over time in preservation. 

Finally, prose poetry is poetry that is expressed and written in prose form. This can be thought of almost as a hybrid of the two that can sometimes utilize rhythmic measures. This type of poetry often utilizes more figurative language but is usually written in paragraph form. 

An example of prose poetry is “Spring Day” by Amy Lowell. Lowell, an American poet, published this in 1916 and can be read almost as hyper short stories written in a prose poetry style. 

The first section can be read below: 

The day is fresh-washed and fair, and there is a smell of tulips and narcissus in the air.

The sunshine pours in at the bath-room window and bores through the water in the bath-tub in lathes and planes of greenish-white. It cleaves the water into flaws like a jewel, and cracks it to bright light.

Little spots of sunshine lie on the surface of the water and dance, dance, and their reflections wobble deliciously over the ceiling; a stir of my finger sets them whirring, reeling. I move a foot, and the planes of light in the water jar. I lie back and laugh, and let the green-white water, the sun-flawed beryl water, flow over me. The day is almost too bright to bear, the green water covers me from the too bright day. I will lie here awhile and play with the water and the sun spots.

The sky is blue and high. A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of tulips and narcissus in the air."

While these four types of prose are varying ways writers choose to use it, let’s look at the functions of them to identify the strengths of the writing style. 

What Does Prose Mean in Writing

Function of prose in literature.

What is prose used for and when? Let’s say you want to tell a story, but you’re unsure if using prose or poetry would best tell your story.

To determine if the correct choice is prose, it’s important to understand the strengths of the writing style. 

Direct communication

Prose, unlike poetry, is often less figurative and ambiguous. This means that a writer can be more direct with the information they are trying to communicate. This can be especially useful in storytelling, both fiction and nonfiction, to efficiently fulfill the points of a plot.

Curate a voice

Because prose is written in the flow of verbal conversation, it’s incredibly effective at curating a specific voice for a character. Dialogue within novels and short stories benefit from this style.

Think about someone you know and how they talk. Odds are, much of their character and personality can be found in their voice.

When creating characters, prose enables a writer to curate the voice of that character. For example, one of the most iconic opening lines in literature informs us of what type of character we will be following.

Albert Camus’ The Stranger utilizes prose in first person to establish the voice of the story’s protagonist. 

“Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday.”

Build rapport with the reader

Lastly, in addition to giving character’s a curated voice, prose builds rapport with the reader. The conversational tone allows readers to become familiar with a type of writing that connects them with the writer. 

A great example of this is Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels . As a nonfiction work written in prose, Thompson’s voice and style in the writing is distinct and demands a relationship with the reader.

Whether it is one of contradiction or agreement, the connection exists through the prose. It is a connection that makes a reader want to meet or talk with the writer once they finish their work. 

Prose is one of the most common writing styles for modern writers. But truly mastering it means understanding both its strengths and its shortcomings. 

Different Types of Poems

Curious about learning about the counterpart to prose? In our next article we dive in different types of poems as well as different types of poem structures. Check out the complete writer’s guide to poetry types up next. 

Up Next: Types of Poems →

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

What is Prose?

Prose is ordinary language that follows regular grammatical conventions and does not contain a formal metrical structure. This definition of prose is an example of prose writing, as is most human conversation, textbooks, lectures, novels, short stories, fairy tales, newspaper articles, and essays.

Prose can be either fiction or non-fiction. It can be “poetic,” meaning that it has rhythmic structure and contains figurative language. Sermons, political speeches, and modernist writing are good examples of poetic fiction.

How Do you Identify Prose in Writing?

Distinguishing prose from poetry is usually just a matter of recognizing the basic conventions of prose writing: paragraphs and sentences that have proper grammar and mechanics. Poetry, on the other hand, contains lines and stanzas. And while there may be a cadence or rhythm to prose, it contains neither a regular meter nor a deliberate rhyme scheme.

Only one form of writing falls in a gray area, and that is the so-called “prose poem.” As the name suggests, prose poems contain a formal metrical structure but are written out like prose, in sentence and paragraph form.

Examples of Prose

Prose Example 1.  The Hunger Games,  by Suzanne Collins, is a prose novel.

Prose Example 2. “Cinderella” is a prose fairy tale.

Prose Example 3. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a prose story by Charlotte Gilman Perkins.

Prose Example 4. “The State of the Union Address” is a prose speech delivered early in the year by the sitting president of the United States.

Prose Example 5. “The Declaration of Independence” is a prose document signed by prominent American colonists who wished no longer to be under British rule.

(View all  literary devices )

Rhythm in Phonetics, Poetics, and Style

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In phonetics , rhythm is the sense of movement in speech , marked by the stress , timing, and quantity of syllables. Adjective: rhythmic .

In poetics, rhythm is the recurring alternation of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound and silence in sentences or lines of verse.

Pronunciation:  RI-them

From the Greek, "flow"

Examples and Observations

"In music, the rhythm is usually produced by making certain notes in a sequence stand out from others by being louder or longer or higher...In speech, we find that syllables take the place of musical notes or beats, and in many languages the stressed syllables determine the rhythm... "What does seem to be clear is that rhythm is useful to us in communicating: it helps us to find our way through the confusing stream of continuous speech, enabling us to divide speech into words or other units, to signal changes between topic or speaker, and to spot which items in the message are the most important." (Peter Roach, Phonetics . Oxford University Press, 2001)

Recognizing Rhythmic Defects

​"The writer is not advised to try consciously for special rhythmic effects. He ought, however, to learn to recognize rhythmic defects in his own prose as symptoms of poor or defective arrangement of sentences and sentence elements... "The following sentence will illustrate:

Oriental luxury goods—jade, silk, gold, spices, vermillion, jewels—had formerly come overland by way of the Caspian Sea; and a few daring sea captains, now that this route had been cut by the Huns, catching the trade winds, were sailing from Red Sea ports and loading up at Ceylon.

The sentence is passable and is perhaps not noticeably unrhythmical. But if we read this sentence in the form in which Robert Graves actually wrote it, we shall find that it is not only clearer, it is much more rhythmical and much easier to read:

Oriental luxury goods—jade, silk, gold, spices, vermillion, jewels—had formerly come overland by way of the Caspian Sea, and now that this route had been cut by the Huns, a few daring Greek sea captains were sailing from Red Sea ports, catching the trade winds and loading up at Ceylon.

(Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren, Modern Rhetoric , 3rd ed. Harcourt, 1972)

Rhythm and Parallelism

" Parallelism builds rhythm , and nonparallelism kills it. Imagine that Marc Antony had said: 'I came for the purpose of burying Caesar, not to praise him.' Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. "Inattentive writers muck up lists badly, throwing imbalanced cadences together and leaving their sentences scrambling. The elements of a list should echo each other in length, number of syllables , and rhythm. 'A government of the people, by the people, for the people' works. 'A government of the people, that the people created, for the people' doesn't." (Constance Hale, Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose . Broadway, 1999)

Rhythm and Meter

"Meter is what results when the natural rhythmical movements of colloquial speech are heightened, organized, and regulated so that pattern—which means repetition —emerges from the relative phonetic haphazard of ordinary utterance . Because it inhabits the physical form of the words themselves, meter is the most fundamental technique of order available to the poet." (Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter and Poetic Form , rev. ed. Random House, 1979)

Rhythm and Syllables

​"Pitch, loudness, and tempo combine to make up a language's expression of rhythm . Languages vary greatly in the way in which they make rhythmical contrasts. English uses stressed syllables produced at roughly regular intervals of time (in fluent speech) and separated by unstressed syllables—a stress-timed  rhythm which we can tap out in a 'tum-te-tum' way, as in a traditional line of poetry: The cur few tolls the knell of part ing day . In French, the syllables are produced in a steady flow, resulting in a 'machine-gun' effect—a syllable-timed rhythm which is more like a 'rat-a-tat-a-tat.' In Latin, it was the length of a syllable (whether long or short) which provided the basis of rhythm. In many oriental languages, it is pitch height (high vs. low)." (David Crystal, How Language Works . Overlook, 2005)

Virginia Woolf on Style and Rhythm

​" Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm . Once you get that, you can't use the wrong words. But on the other hand here am I sitting after half the morning, crammed with ideas, and visions, and so on, and can't dislodge them, for lack of the right rhythm. Now, this is very profound, what rhythm is, and goes far deeper than any words. A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it; and in writing...one has to recapture this and set this working (which has nothing apparently to do with words) and then, as it breaks and tumbles in the mind, it makes words to fit in." (Virginia Woolf, letter to Vita Sackville-West, September 8, 1928)

• The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples
• Understanding English Pronunciation Concepts
• An Introduction to Iambic Pentameter
• What Is Stress in Speech?
• What Is an Iamb in Poetry?
• French Rhythm or Le Rythme
• An Introduction to Blank Verse
• Tmesis: Grammatical and Rhetorical Term
• Connected Speech
• Phonetic Prosody
• Spondee: Definition and Examples from Poetry
• Definition and Examples in Rhyme in Prose and Poetry
• How to Identify and Understand Masculine Rhyme in Poetry
• Language Acquisition in Children
• Pause (Speech and Writing)
• What Is Poetry, and How Is It Different?

15 Informative Speech Examples to Inspire Your Next Talk

• The Speaker Lab
• May 13, 2024

Table of Contents

A good informative speech is one of the most effective tools in a speaker’s arsenal. But with so many potential topics out there, it can be tough to know where to start. That’s why we’ve compiled 15 informative speech examples to help you find your perfect subject. Whether you’re unearthing secrets from history for your listeners or delving into future technologies, informative speeches can prove to be the recipe for the perfect talk.

But crafting an effective informative speech is about more than just picking a topic. You have to research topics, put your thoughts in order, and speak up clearly and confidently. In this post, we’ll explore strategies for each step of the process, so you can create a speech that informs, engages, and makes a lasting impact on your listeners. Let’s get started.

15 Informative Speech Examples

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your next informative speech, look no further. Below are 15 examples of informative speech topics that are sure to engage and educate your audience.

• The history and evolution of social media platforms
• The benefits and drawbacks of renewable energy sources
• The impact of sleep deprivation on mental and physical health
• The role of emotional intelligence in personal and professional success
• The science behind climate change and its potential consequences
• The importance of financial literacy for young adults
• The influence of artificial intelligence on various industries
• The benefits of regular exercise and a balanced diet
• The history and cultural significance of a specific art form or genre
• The impact of technology on interpersonal communication
• The psychology behind procrastination and effective strategies to overcome it
• The role of diversity and inclusion in fostering innovation and creativity
• The importance of mental health awareness and resources for students
• The future of space exploration and its potential benefits for humanity
• The impact of globalization on local economies and cultures

These topics cover a wide range of subjects, from technology and science to psychology and culture. By choosing one of these informative speech examples, you’ll have plenty of material to work with to create an engaging and educational presentation.

Remember, the key to a successful informative speech is to choose a topic that you’re passionate about and that will resonate with your audience. Do your research, organize your thoughts, and practice your delivery to ensure that your message comes across loud and clear.

What Is an Informative Speech?

If you’ve ever been to a conference or seminar, chances are you’ve heard an informative speech. But what exactly is an informative speech? Simply put, it’s a type of speech designed to educate the audience on a particular topic. The goal is to provide interesting and useful information, ensuring the audience walks away with new knowledge or insights. Unlike persuasive speeches that aim to convince the audience of a viewpoint, informative speeches focus on explaining a subject clearly and objectively.

Types of Informative Speeches

Informative speeches come in various forms, each with its own purpose. The most common types are definition, explanation, description, and demonstration speeches. Depending on the objective, an informative speech can take on different structures and styles.

For example, a definition speech aims to explain a concept or term, while a demonstration speech shows the audience how to perform a task or process. An explanatory speech, on the other hand, provides a detailed account of a complex subject, breaking it down into digestible parts.

Purpose of Informative Speeches

At its core, the purpose of an informative speech is to share knowledge with the audience. These speeches are characterized by their fact-based, non-persuasive nature. The focus is on delivering information in an engaging and accessible way.

A well-crafted informative speech not only educates but also sparks curiosity and encourages further learning. By dedicating yourself to providing valuable information and appealing to your audience’s interests, you can succeed as an informative speaker.

Strategies for Selecting an Informative Speech Topic

Choosing the right topic is crucial for an effective informative speech. You want a subject that is not only interesting to you but also relevant and engaging for your audience. Consider their knowledge level, background, and expectations when selecting your topic.

One strategy is to focus on a subject you’re passionate about or have expertise in. This allows you to speak with authority and enthusiasm, making your speech more compelling. Another approach is to address current events or trending topics that are on people’s minds.

When brainstorming potential topics, consider your speech’s purpose and the type of informative speech you want to deliver. Is your goal to define a concept, explain a process, describe an event, or demonstrate a skill? Answering these questions will help guide your topic selection.

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How to Write an Informative Speech

Now that you’ve selected your topic, it’s time to start writing your informative speech. The key to a successful speech is thorough preparation and a clear, organized structure. Let’s break down the steps involved in crafting an engaging and informative presentation.

Researching Your Topic

Before you start writing, it’s essential to conduct thorough research on your topic. Gather facts, statistics, examples, and other supporting information for your informative speech. These things will help you explain and clarify the subject matter to your audience.

As you research, use reliable sources such as academic journals, reputable websites, and expert opinions to ensure the accuracy and credibility of your information. Take notes and organize your findings in a way that makes sense for your speech’s structure.

Structuring Your Speech

A typical informative speech structure includes three main parts, namely, an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should grab the audience’s attention, establish your credibility , and preview the main points you’ll cover.

The body of your speech is where you’ll present your main points and supporting evidence. Use clear transitions between each point to maintain a logical flow. The conclusion should summarize your key takeaways and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Outlining Your Speech

Creating an outline is a crucial step in organizing your thoughts and ensuring a coherent flow of information. Start by listing your main points and then add subpoints and supporting details for each section.

A well-structured outline will serve as a roadmap for your speech, keeping you on track and helping you stay focused on your key messages. It also makes the writing process more efficient and less overwhelming.

Writing Your Draft

With your outline in hand, it’s time to start writing your draft. Focus on presenting information clearly and concisely, using simple language and avoiding jargon. Provide examples and analogies throughout your informative speech in order to illustrate complex ideas and make them more relatable to your audience.

As you write, keep your audience in mind and tailor your language and examples to their level of understanding. Use transitions to link your ideas and maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.

Editing and Revising

Once you’ve completed your draft, take the time to edit and revise your speech. First, check for clarity, accuracy, and logical organization. Then, eliminate unnecessary details, repetition, and filler words.

Read your speech aloud to identify any awkward phrasing or unclear passages. Lastly, seek feedback from others and be open to making changes based on their suggestions. Remember, the goal is to create a polished and effective informative speech.

Delivering an Informative Speech

You’ve written a fantastic informative speech, but now comes the real challenge: delivering it effectively. The way you present your speech can make all the difference in engaging your audience and ensuring they retain the information you’re sharing.

Practicing Your Speech

Practice makes perfect, and this couldn’t be more true when it comes to public speaking. Rehearse your speech multiple times to build confidence and familiarity with the content. Practice in front of a mirror, family members, or friends to get comfortable with your delivery.

As you practice, focus on your pacing, intonation, and body language. Aim for a conversational tone and maintain eye contact with your audience. The more you practice, the more natural and engaging your delivery will become.

Using Visual Aids

Visual aids such as slides, charts, or props can enhance your informative speech by making complex information more accessible and engaging. When utilized in your informative speech, they can help illustrate key points, provide visual examples, and break up the monotony of a purely verbal presentation.

Of course, it’s important to ensure your visuals are clear, relevant, and easy to understand. Otherwise, they may end up obscuring your points instead of clarifying them. In light of this, avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or overwhelming your audience with too many visuals. Use them strategically to support your message, not distract from it.

Engaging Your Audience

Engaging your audience is crucial for a successful informative speech. Use rhetorical questions, anecdotes, or interactive elements to keep them involved and attentive. Encourage participation, if appropriate, and maintain a conversational tone to create a connection with your listeners.

Pay attention to your audience’s reactions and adapt your delivery accordingly. If you sense confusion or disinterest, try rephrasing your points or providing additional examples to clarify your message. Remember, your goal is to educate and inspire your audience, so keep them at the forefront of your mind throughout your speech.

Handling Nerves

It’s normal to feel nervous before and during a speech, but there are strategies to help you manage those nerves . Take deep breaths, visualize success, and focus on your message rather than your anxiety. Remember, your audience wants you to succeed, and a little nervousness can actually enhance your performance by showing enthusiasm and authenticity.

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, take a moment to pause, collect your thoughts, and regain your composure. Smile, make eye contact, and remind yourself that you’ve prepared thoroughly and have valuable information to share.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

To deliver an effective informative speech, it’s important to be aware of common pitfalls and mistakes. One of the biggest errors is overloading your audience with too much information. Remember, less is often more when it comes to public speaking.

Another mistake is failing to organize your content logically or using complex jargon without explanation. Make sure your speech has a clear structure and that you’re explaining any technical terms or concepts in a way that your audience can understand.

Finally, don’t neglect the importance of practice and preparation. Winging it or relying too heavily on notes can lead to a disjointed and unengaging speech. Take the time to rehearse, refine your delivery, and internalize your key points.

By avoiding these common mistakes and focusing on the strategies we’ve discussed, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates, engages, and inspires your audience.

Tips for Delivering a Compelling Informative Speech

Once you’ve chosen your topic and done your research, it’s time to focus on delivering a compelling speech. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Start with a strong attention-grabbing opening that draws your audience in and sets the tone for your speech.
• Use clear, concise language and avoid jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand.
• Incorporate storytelling, examples, and anecdotes to make your points more relatable and memorable.
• Use visual aids , such as slides or props, to enhance your message and keep your audience engaged.
• Practice your delivery and timing to ensure that you stay within your allotted time and maintain a natural, conversational tone.

By following these tips and choosing a topic that you’re passionate about, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates and inspires your audience.

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20 Bonus Topics for Informative Speeches

In case the informative speech examples above didn’t pique your interest, we have several more for you to consider. Ranging from topics like science and technology to history and education, these 20 topics are perfect for your next presentation.

• The history and development of virtual reality technology
• The benefits and challenges of remote work
• The science behind the formation of hurricanes and tornadoes
• The impact of social media on political campaigns and elections
• The importance of sustainable fashion and its environmental benefits
• The role of emotional support animals in mental health treatment
• The history and cultural significance of a specific cuisine or dish
• The impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems
• The benefits and risks of gene editing technology
• The psychology behind conspiracy theories and their spread online
• The importance of digital privacy and data security in the modern age
• The role of music therapy in healthcare and wellness
• The impact of deforestation on biodiversity and climate change
• The history and evolution of a specific sport or athletic event
• The benefits and challenges of alternative education models
• The science behind the human immune system and how vaccines work
• The impact of mass incarceration on communities and families
• The role of storytelling in preserving cultural heritage and traditions
• The importance of financial planning for retirement and old age
• The impact of urban agriculture on food security and community development

Choosing a Topic That Resonates With Your Audience

When selecting a topic for your informative speech, it’s important to consider your audience and what will resonate with them. Think about their interests, backgrounds, and knowledge levels, and choose a topic that will be both informative and engaging.

For example, if you’re speaking to a group of high school students, you may want to choose a topic that relates to their experiences or concerns, such as the impact of social media on mental health or the importance of financial literacy for young adults. If you’re speaking to a group of business professionals, you may want to focus on topics related to industry trends, leadership strategies, or emerging technologies.

By choosing a topic that resonates with your audience, you’ll be more likely to capture their attention and keep them engaged throughout your speech. And remember, even if you’re not an expert on the topic, you can still deliver an informative and engaging speech by doing your research and presenting the information in a clear and accessible way.

FAQs on Informative Speech Examples

What is an example of informative speech.

An example includes breaking down the impacts of climate change, detailing causes, effects, and potential solutions.

What are the 3 types of informative speeches?

The three main types are explanatory (breaks down complex topics), descriptive (paints a picture with words), and demonstrative (shows how to do something).

What are the 5 useful topics of an informative speech?

Top picks include technology advances, mental health awareness, environmental conservation efforts, cultural diversity appreciation, and breakthroughs in medical research.

What is an effective informative speech?

An effective one delivers clear info on a specific topic that educates listeners without overwhelming them. It’s well-researched and engaging.

Informative speech examples are everywhere, if you know where to look. From TED Talks to classroom lectures, there’s no shortage of inspiration for your next presentation. All you have to do is find a topic that lights your fire while engaging your audience.

Remember, a great informative speech is all about clarity, organization, and engagement. By following the tips and examples we’ve covered, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates, enlightens, and leaves a lasting impression. So go ahead, pick your topic, and start crafting your own informative speech today!

• Last Updated: May 9, 2024

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Can You Lose Your Native Tongue?

After moving abroad, I found my English slowly eroding. It turns out our first languages aren’t as embedded as we think.

Credit... Artwork by PABLO DELCÁN

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By Madeleine Schwartz

Madeleine Schwartz is a writer and editor who grew up speaking English and French. She has been living in Paris since 2020.

• May 14, 2024

It happened the first time over dinner. I was saying something to my husband, who grew up in Paris where we live, and suddenly couldn’t get the word out. The culprit was the “r.” For the previous few months, I had been trying to perfect the French “r.” My failure to do so was the last marker of my Americanness, and I could only do it if I concentrated, moving the sound backward in my mouth and exhaling at the same time. Now I was saying something in English — “reheat” or “rehash” — and the “r” was refusing to come forward. The word felt like a piece of dough stuck in my throat.

Listen to this article, read by Soneela Nankani

Other changes began to push into my speech. I realized that when my husband spoke to me in English, I would answer him in French. My mother called, and I heard myself speaking with a French accent. Drafts of my articles were returned with an unusual number of comments from editors. Then I told a friend about a spill at the grocery store, which — the words “conveyor belt” vanishing midsentence — took place on a “supermarket treadmill.” Even back home in New York, I found my mouth puckered into the fish lips that allow for the particularly French sounds of “u,” rather than broadened into the long “ay” sounds that punctuate English.

My mother is American, and my father is French; they split up when I was about 3 months old. I grew up speaking one language exclusively with one half of my family in New York and the other language with the other in France. It’s a standard of academic literature on bilingual people that different languages bring out different aspects of the self. But these were not two different personalities but two separate lives. In one version, I was living with my mom on the Upper West Side and walking up Columbus Avenue to get to school. In the other, I was foraging for mushrooms in Alsatian forests or writing plays with my cousins and later three half-siblings, who at the time didn’t understand a word of English. The experience of either language was entirely distinct, as if I had been given two scripts with mirroring supportive casts. In each a parent, grandparents, aunts and uncles; in each, a language, a home, a Madeleine.

I moved to Paris in October 2020, on the heels of my 30th birthday. This was both a rational decision and something of a Covid-spurred dare. I had been working as a journalist and editor for several years, specializing in European politics, and had reported across Germany and Spain in those languages. I had never professionally used French, in which I was technically fluent. It seemed like a good idea to try.

When I arrived in France, however, I realized my fluency had its limitations: I hadn’t spoken French with adults who didn’t share my DNA. The cultural historian Thomas Laqueur, who grew up speaking German at home in West Virginia, had a similar experience, as the linguist Julie Sedivy notes in “Memory Speaks,” her book about language loss and relearning her childhood Czech. Sedivy cites an essay of Laqueur’s in which he describes the first time he learned that German was not, in fact, a secret family language. He and his brother had been arguing over a Popsicle in front of the grocery store near his house:

A lady came up to us and said, in German, that she would give us a nickel so that we could each have a treat of our own. I don’t remember buying a second Popsicle, but I do remember being very excited at finding someone else of our linguistic species. I rushed home with the big news.

My own introduction to speaking French as an adult was less joyous. After reaching out to sources for a different article for this magazine with little success, I showed the unanswered emails to a friend. She gently informed me that I had been yelling at everyone I hoped to interview.

Compared with English, French is slower, more formal, less direct. The language requires a kind of politeness that, translated literally, sounds subservient, even passive-aggressive. I started collecting the stock phrases that I needed to indicate polite interaction. “I would entreat you, dear Madam ...” “Please accept, dear sir, the assurances of my highest esteem.” It had always seemed that French made my face more drawn and serious, as if all my energy were concentrated into the precision of certain vowels. English forced my lips to widen into a smile.

But going back to English wasn’t so easy, either. I worried about the French I learned somehow infecting my English. I edit a magazine, The Dial, which I founded in part to bring more local journalists and writers to an English-speaking audience. But as I worked on texts by Ukrainians or Argentines or Turks, smoothing over syntax and unusual idioms into more fluid English prose, I began to doubt that I even knew what the right English was.

Back in New York on a trip, I thanked the cashier at Duane Reade by calling him “dear sir.” My thoughts themselves seemed twisted in a series of interlocking clauses, as though I was afraid that being direct might make me seem rude. It wasn’t just that my French was getting better: My English was getting worse.

For a long time, a central question in linguistics was how people learn language. But in the past few decades, a new field of study called “language attrition” has emerged. It concerns not learning but forgetting: What causes language to be lost?

People who move to new countries often find themselves forgetting words in their first language, using odd turns of phrase or speaking with a newly foreign accent. This impermanence has led linguists to reconsider much of what was once assumed about language learning. Rather than seeing the process of becoming multilingual as cumulative, with each language complementing the next, some linguists see languages as siblings vying for attention. Add a new one to the mix, and competition emerges. “There is no age at which a language, even a native tongue, is so firmly cemented into the brain that it can’t be dislodged or altered by a new one,” Sedivy writes. “Like a household that welcomes a new child, a single mind can’t admit a new language without some impact on other languages already residing there.”

As my time in France hit the year mark and then the two-year mark, I began to worry about how much French was changing my English — that I might even be losing some basic ability to use the language I considered closest to my core. It wasn’t an idle concern. A few years earlier, when living in Berlin, I found the English of decades-long expats mannered and strange; they spoke more slowly and peppered in bits of German that sounded forced and odd. As an editor, I could see it in translators too: The more time people spent in their new language, the more their English prose took on a kind of Germanic overtone. Would the same thing happen to me?

Even languages that seem firmly rooted in the mind can be subject to attrition. “When you have two languages that live in your brain,” says Monika S. Schmid, a leader in the field of language attrition at the University of York, “every time you say something, every time you take a word, every time you put together a sentence, you have to make a choice. Sometimes one language wins out. And sometimes the other wins.” People who are bilingual, she says, “tend to get very, very good at managing these kinds of things and using the language that they want and not having too much interference between the two.” But even so, there’s often a toll: the accent, the grammar or a word that doesn’t sound quite right.

What determines whether a language sticks or not? Age, Schmid says, is an important factor. “If you look at a child that is 8, 9 or 10 years old, and see what that child could do with the language and how much they know — they’re basically fully fledged native speakers.” But just as they are good language learners, children are good language forgetters. Linguists generally agree that a language acquired in early childhood tends to have greater emotional resonance for its speaker. But a child who stops speaking a language before age 12 can completely lose it. For those who stop speaking a language in childhood, that language can erode — so much so that when they try to relearn it, they seem to have few, if any, advantages, Schmid says, compared with people learning that language from scratch. Even a language with very primal, deep connections can fade into the recesses of memory.

In her book, Sedivy cites a study conducted in France that tested a group of adults who were adopted from Korea between the ages of 3 and 8 . Taken into French homes, they quickly learned French and forgot their first language. The researchers compared these adults with a group of monolingual French speakers. The participants born in Korea could not identify Korean sentences significantly better than the French control group. Intimate moments of childhood can be lost, along with the language in which they took place.

Researchers have stressed that a first language used through later years can be remarkably resilient and often comes back when speakers return home. But even adults who move to a new country can find themselves losing fluency in their first language. Merel Keijzer, a linguist at the University of Groningen who studies bilingualism, surveyed a group of Dutch speakers who emigrated as adults to Australia. A classic theory of linguistic development, she told me, argues that new language skills are superimposed on older ones like layers of an onion. She thus expected that she would find a simple language reversion: The layers that were acquired later would be most likely to go first.

The reality was more complicated. In a paper Keijzer wrote with Schmid, she found that the Dutch speakers in Australia did not regress in the way that she predicted. “You saw more Dutch coming into their English, but you also saw more English coming into their Dutch,” she says. The pattern wasn’t simple reversion so much as commingling. They “tended to just be less able to separate their languages.” As they aged, the immigrants didn’t go back to their original language; they just had difficulty keeping the two vocabularies apart.

In “Alfabet/Alphabet: A Memoir of a First Language,” the poet Sadiqa de Meijer, who was born in Amsterdam, discusses her own experiences speaking Dutch in Canada. She worries that her language has become “amusingly formal” now that she doesn’t speak it regularly. A friend tells her that she now sounds “like a book.” Unless she is in the Netherlands, she writes: “Dutch is primarily a reading language to me now. The skill of casual exchanges is in gradual atrophy.” Her young daughter does not want to speak Dutch. “Stop Dutching me!” she says. For De Meijer, “people who speak a language they learned after early childhood live in chronic abstraction.”

This state of abstraction was one that I feared. On some level, the worry felt trivial: In a world where languages are constantly being lost to English, who would complain about a lack of contact with the language responsible for devouring so many others? The Europeans that I interviewed for work deplored the imperial nature of English; the only way to have their ideas heard was to express them in a language imposed by globalization. But what I missed was not the universal English of academics nor the language of peppy LinkedIn posts but the particular sounds that I grew up with: the near-rudeness of the English spoken in New York and its rushed cadence, the way that the bottoms of words sometimes were swallowed and cut off, as if everyone already knew what was being suggested and didn’t need to actually finish the thought. I missed the variegated vocabulary of New York, where English felt like an international, rather than a globalized language, enriched with the particular words of decades of immigrants. I began to listen to “The Brian Lehrer Show” on WNYC, a public-radio station in New York, with strange fervor, finding myself excited whenever someone called in from Staten Island.

The idea that my facility with English might be weakening brought up complicated feelings, some more flattering than others. When a journalism student wrote to ask if I would be a subject in his dissertation about “the experiences of nonnative English-speaking journalists” in media, I took the email as a personal slight. Were others noticing how much I struggled to find the right word?

A change in language use, whether deliberate or unconscious, often affects our sense of self. Language is inextricably tied up with our emotions; it’s how we express ourselves — our pain, our love, our fear. And that means, as Schmid, the language-attrition expert at the University of York, has pointed out, that the loss of a language can be tied up with emotion too. In her dissertation, Schmid looked at German-speaking Jews who emigrated to England and the United States shortly before World War II and their relationship with their first language. She sent questionnaires asking them how difficult it was for them to speak German now and how they used the language — “in writing in a diary, for example, or while dreaming.”

One woman wrote: “I was physically unable to speak German. ... When I visited Germany for 3 or 4 days in 1949 — I found myself unable to utter one word of German although the frontier guard was a dear old man. I had to speak French in order to answer his questions.”

Her husband concurred: “My wife in her reply to you will have told you that she could and did not want to speak German because they killed her parents. So we never spoke German to each other, not even intimately.”

Another wrote: “I feel that my family did a lot for Germany and for Düsseldorf, and therefore I feel that Germany betrayed me. America is my country, and English is my language.”

Schmid divided the émigrés into three groups, tying each of them to a point in Germany’s history. The first group left before September 1935, that is, before the Nuremberg race laws. The second group left between the enactment of those laws and Kristallnacht, in November 1938. The last group comprised those who left between Kristallnacht and August 1939, just before Germany invaded Poland.

What Schmid found was that of all the possible factors that might affect language attrition, the one that had a clear impact was how much of the Nazi regime they experienced. Emigration date, she wrote, outweighed every other factor; those who left last were the ones who were the least likely to be perceived as “native” speakers by other Germans, and they often had a weaker relationship to that language:

It appears that what is at the heart of language attrition is not so much the opportunity to use the language, nor the age at the time of emigration. What matters is the speaker’s identity and self-perception. ... Someone who wants to belong to a speech community and wants to be recognized as a member is capable of behaving accordingly over an extremely long stretch of time. On the other hand, someone who rejects that language community — or has been rejected and persecuted by it — may adapt his or her linguistic behavior so as not to appear to be a member any longer.

In other words, the closeness we have with a language is not just a product of our ability to use it but of other emotional valences as well. If language is a form of identity, it is one that may be changed by circumstance or even by force of will.

Stories of language loss often mask other, larger losses. Lily Wong Fillmore, a linguist who formerly taught at the University of California, Berkeley, once wrote about a family who emigrated to California several years after leaving China’s Canton province in 1989. One child, Kai-fong, was 5 when he arrived in the United States. At this point in his life, he could speak and understand only Cantonese. While his younger sister learned English almost immediately and made friends easily, Kai-fong, who was shy, did not have the same experience in school. His classmates called him “Chi, chi, chia pet” because his hair stuck out. Boys mocked the polyester pants his grandmother sewed for him. Pretty soon, he and his classmates were throwing rocks at one another.

Once Kai-fong started learning English, he stopped speaking Cantonese, even to members of his own family. As Wong Fillmore writes: “When Grandmother spoke to him, he either ignored her or would mutter a response in English that she did not understand. ... The more the adults scolded, the more sullen and angry Kai-fong became.” By 10, he was known as Ken and no longer understood Cantonese well. The family began to split along linguistic lines. Two children born in the United States never learned Cantonese at all. It is a story, Wong Fillmore writes, “that many immigrant families have experienced firsthand.”

The recognition in linguistics of the ease with which mastery of a language can erode comes as certain fundamentals of the field are being re-examined — in particular, the idea that a single, so-called native language shapes your innermost self. That notion is inextricable from 19th-century nationalism, as Jean-Marc Dewaele, a professor at the University of London, has argued. In a paper written with the linguists Thomas H. Bak and Lourdes Ortega, Dewaele notes that many cultures link the first words you speak to motherhood: In French, your native language is a langue maternelle, in Spanish, lengua materna, in German, Muttersprache. Turkish, which calls your first language ana dili, follows the same practice, as do most of the languages of India. Polish is unusual in linking language to a paternal line. The term for native language is język ojczysty, which is related to ojciec, the Polish word for father.

Regarding a first language as having special value is itself the product of a worldview that places national belonging at the heart of individual life. The phrase “native speaker” was first used by the politician and philologist George Perkins Marsh, who spoke of the importance of “home-born English.” It came with more than a light prejudicial overtone. Among Marsh’s recommendations was the need for “special precautions” to protect English from “becoming debased and vulgarized ... by association with depraved beings and unworthy themes.”

The idea of a single, native language took hold in linguistics in the mid-20th century, a uniquely monolingual time in human history. American culture, with its emphasis on assimilation, was especially hostile to the notion that a single person might inhabit multiple languages. Parents were discouraged from teaching their children languages other than English, even if they expressed themselves best in that other language. The simultaneous acquisition of multiple tongues was thought to cause delays in language development and learning. As Aneta Pavlenko, a linguist at Drexel University and the University of York, has noted, families who spoke more than one language were looked down on by politicians and ignored by linguists through the 1970s. “Early bilinguals,” those who learned two languages in childhood, “were excluded from research as ‘unusual’ or ‘messy’ subjects,” she writes. By contrast, late bilinguals, those who learned a second language in school or adulthood, were treated as “representative speakers of their first language.” The fact that they spoke a second language was disregarded. This focus on the importance of a single language may have obscured the historical record, giving the impression that humans are more monolingual and more rigid in their speech than they are.

Pavlenko has sought to show that far from being the historical standard, speaking just one language may be the exception. Her most recent book, a collection of essays by different scholars, takes on the historical “amnesia” that researchers have about the prevalence of multilingualism across the globe. The book looks at examples where multiple languages were the norm: medieval Sicily, where the administrative state processed paperwork in Latin, Greek and Arabic, or the early Pennsylvania court system, where in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was not unusual to hold hearings in German. Even today, Pavlenko sees a split: American academics working in English, often their only language, regard it as the standard for research. Europeans, obliged to work in English as a second language, are more likely to consider that fluency in only one language may be far rarer than conflict among multiple tongues.

According to Dewaele and his colleagues, “the notion of a single native language, determined entirely by the earliest experiences, is also not supported by neurology and neuroscience.” While there are many stories about patients who find themselves speaking their first language after a stroke or dementia, it’s also common for the recovered patients to use the language they spoke right before the accident occurred.

All of this has led some linguists to push against the idea of the “native” speaker, which, as Dewaele says, “has a dark side.” It can be restrictive, stigmatizing accents seen as impure, or making people feel unwelcome in a new home. Speakers who have studied a language, Dewaele says, often know its grammar better than those who picked it up with their family. He himself prefers the term “first-language user” — a slightly clunky solution that definitively decouples the language you speak from the person you are.

Around the time I realized that I had most likely become the No. 1 WNYC listener outside the tristate area, I started to seek out writers who purposefully looked away from their “native” language. Despite the once commonly held belief that a writer could produce original works only in a “mother tongue,” wonderful books have been written in acquired, rather than maternal, languages. Vladimir Nabokov began to write in English shortly before he moved to the United States. French was a vehicle for Samuel Beckett to push his most innovative ideas. “It’s only in Italian that I feel I’m at the center of myself,” Jhumpa Lahiri, who started writing in Italian in her 40s, said in a recent Paris Review interview. “It’s only when I’m writing in Italian that I manage to turn off all those other, judgmental voices, except perhaps my own.”

Could I begin to think about different languages not as two personas I had to choose between but as different moods that might shift depending on circumstance? Aspects of French that I used to find cold began to reveal advantages. The stiff way of addressing strangers offered its own benefits, new ways in which I could conserve personal privacy in a world that constantly demanded oversharing. My conversations in French changed, too: I was finally talking to others not as a child but as an adult.

The author Yoko Tawada, who moved to Germany from Japan in her early 20s, works on books in both Japanese and German; she writes fluidly in both languages. Tawada’s most recent novel to be translated into English, “Scattered All Over the Earth,” explores a future in which Japan is sunken underwater, lost to climate change. A Japanese speaker, possibly the last on earth, looks for a man who she hopes shares her language, only to find that he has been pretending to be Japanese while working at a sushi restaurant.

Using new languages, or even staying within the state of multilingualism, can provide distinct creative advantages. Tawada plays with homonyms and the awkwardness that comes from literal translation. What emerges in her work is not a single language but a betweenness, a tool for the author to invent as she is using it, the scholar Yasemin Yildiz has noted. Yildiz quotes an essay by Tawada called “From the Mother Language to the Language Mother,” in which a narrator describes the ways that learning German taught her to see language differently: Writing in the second language was not a constraint, but a new form of invention. Tawada calls her typewriter a Sprachmutter, or “language mother” — an inversion of the German word for mother tongue. In a first language, we can rarely experience “playful joy,” she writes. “Thoughts cling so closely to words that neither the former nor the latter can fly freely.” But a new language is like a staple remover, which gets rid of everything that sticks and clings.

If the scholarly linguistic consensus once pushed people toward monolingualism, current research suggesting that language acquisition may shift with our circumstances may allow speakers of multiple languages to reclaim self-understanding. In Mirene Arsanios’s chapbook “Notes on Mother Tongues: Colonialism, Class and Giving What You Don’t Have,” Arsanios describes being unsure which language to speak with her son. Her mother, from Venezuela, spoke Spanish, her father, from Lebanon, spoke French; neither feels appropriate to pass on. “Like other languages originating in histories of colonization, my language always had a language problem, something akin to the evacuation of a ‘first’ or ‘native’ tongue — a syntax endemic to the brain and to the heart.”

Is the answer a multitude of languages or a renunciation of one? “Having many languages is my language’s dominant language,” she writes. She must become comfortable with the idea that what she is transmitting to her son is not a single language but questions and identities that are never quite resolved. At the end of the text, she describes speaking with her son “in a tongue reciprocal, abundant and motherless.”

The scholars I talked to stressed that each bilingual speaker is unique: Behind the general categories is a human life, with all its complications. Language acquisition and use may be messier than was envisioned by rigid distinctions of native and nonnative and, at the same time, more individual.

My own grandmother, my mother’s mother, grew up speaking German in Vienna in what was itself a multilingual household. Her mother was Austrian and her father, born in what is now Serbia, spoke German with a thick Hungarian accent. She and her family moved throughout Europe during World War II; to Budapest, Trieste, Lille and eventually escaped through Portugal on a boat carrying cork to New York.

When they arrived in the United States, her mother did not want her to speak German in public. “She felt the animosity to it,” my grandmother recently told me. But my grandmother still wished to. German was also the language of Schiller, she would say. She didn’t go out of her way to speak German, but she didn’t forget it either. She loved German poetry, much of which she still recites, often unprompted, at 95.

When I mentioned Schmid’s research to her, she was slightly dismissive of the idea that her own language use might be shaped by trauma. She said that she found the notion of not speaking German after World War II somewhat absurd, mostly because, to her ear, Hitler spoke very bad German. She berated me instead for not asking about her emotional relationship to French, which she spoke as a schoolgirl in Lille, or Italian, which she spoke in Trieste. Each was the source of memories that might wax and wane as she recalled the foreign words.

Recently, she reconnected with an old classmate from her childhood in Vienna, who also fled Europe during the war, after she recognized her friend’s picture in The New York Post. They speak together in English. Her friend Ruth, she notes, speaks English with a German accent, but does not speak German anymore.

Madeleine Schwartz lives in Paris, where she is founder and editor in chief of The Dial, a magazine of international reporting and writing. She was a finalist for the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2023 and teaches journalism at Sciences Po Paris.

Read by Soneela Nankani

Narration produced by Tanya Pérez

Engineered by Brian St. Pierre

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