Prose genres

1. Short story

• emerged in US in 1820s

• Influential definition by Edgar Allen Poe

  Singleness of effect and economy of means; focus on moment of crisi; crisis plays out in tightly controlled plot

• Key features:

  • Relative brevity

  • small number of characters

  • single plot line

  • beginning in media res

  • focus on moment of crisi

• Iceberg-theory → There's much more underneath → What is being unsaid is just as important as what is being said

2. Novella

• emerged in Italy during medieval period

• particularly popular in Germany in 18th, 19th and 20th century

• Key features:

  • between 30,000 and 60,000 words (50-100 pages)

  • larger cast of characters, more backstory, more extended plot lines

  • often use of frame narrative

3. Novel

• English novel originated in late 17th and early 18th century

• integrated featured of many existing prose genres

• Key features:

  • extended fictional text

  • large cast of characters, multiple plot-lines, detailed descriptiond

  • many subgenres