Elements of Prose & Poetry Study Notes

Course Context & Learning Objectives

  • CORE115: 21st-Century Literature of the Philippines and the World
    • Focus: Elements of prose & poetry, their functions, and analytical use.
  • Objectives
    • Identify elements of fiction and poetry.
    • Discuss why those elements matter for comprehension.
    • Analyze the meaning of elements inside given literary texts.

Master List of Elements Mentioned

  • Shared / General
    • Structure
    • Narration / Point of View (POV)
    • Figurative Language
    • Symbolism
    • Theme
  • Primarily Prose
    • Characters
    • Setting
    • Plot
    • Conflict
  • Primarily Poetry
    • Structure & Sound
    • Persona (poetic voice)
    • Imagery

Nature of Prose ("Fiction")

  • Invented narrative; may draw from real events but presented as imagination.
  • Major forms: novel, short story, novella.
  • NOTE: Some textbooks simply call prose "fiction."
    • Always confirm context before labeling.

Nature of Poetry

  • Ancient form; reinvented across eras.
  • Defined as metrical composition in verse—rhymed or blank.
  • Combines meaning, sound, rhythm to evoke emotion.
  • Only overlap with prose elements occurs in Narrative Poetry (tells a story).

Structural Units

  • Prose
    • Chapters (novel/novella) or plot sections (short story)
    • Writing styles: descriptive, narrative, lyric.
  • Poetry
    • Stanzas: couplet (2), tercet (3), quatrain (4), cinquain (5), sestet (6), septet (7), octave (8).
    • Organized by sound patterns (rhyme schemes, meter).

Characters vs. Persona

Prose Characters

  • Central figures (people or animals) performing story actions.
  • Universally recognizable roles; analysis uses archetypes and psychology.

Poetic Persona

  • Speaker/voice the poet adopts.
    • May be autobiographical, detached observer, or fictional mask.

Modes of Characterization (Prose)

  • Flat
    • One‐dimensional, stereotypical; speeds plot.
  • Static
    • No internal change across narrative.
  • Dynamic
    • Undergoes essential change (protagonists often dynamic).
  • Round
    • Complex, multi-faceted (antagonists often round).

Jungian / Universal Archetypes (Carl Jung, 1917)

  • Creator, Caregiver, Everyman, Explorer, Innocent, Jester, Hero
  • Lover, Orphan, Rebel, Ruler, Sage, Magician
    • A single character can embody multiple archetypes.
    • Best analytical combo: Archetypal + Psychoanalytic Theory.

Narration / Point of View

Prose POVs

  • First-Person
    • Narrator = character ("I, we").
  • Second-Person
    • Addresses reader as "you" (rare).
  • Third-Person Omniscient
    • External narrator knows all thoughts/actions.
  • Third-Person Limited
    • External narrator knows thoughts of selected character(s).

Poetry: Persona (voice) again operates as POV.

  • May shift distances or reflect multiple layers of identity.

• POV analysis highlights emphasis and bias; full-text reading required for certainty.

Setting & Imagery

  • Setting (Prose)
    • "When" and "where" including historical context; supplies extra plot data.
  • Imagery (Poetry/Prose)
    • Descriptive language appealing to senses; uses figurative devices to enrich reader experience.

Plot (Prose)

  • Ordered sequence of events.
    • Exposition → Rising Action → Climax → Falling Action → Resolution/Denouement.

Conflict (Prose)

  • Drives tension; reader suspense over outcome.
  • External
    1. Character vs. Character
    2. Character vs. Society
    3. Character vs. Nature
    4. Character vs. Technology/Machine
    5. Character vs. Supernatural/Fate
  • Internal
    1. Character (Man) vs. Self

Symbolism (Prose & Poetry)

  • Object/person/animal/color that stands for larger idea, quality, or concept.

Figurative Language — Overall Purposes

  • Moves words beyond literal meaning to:
    • Add beauty
    • Heighten emotion
    • Transfer sensory impressions
    • Stimulate thought; deepen layers

Comprehensive List

Allusion, Euphemism, Hyperbole, Idiom, Irony, Litotes, Metaphor, Metonymy, Oxymoron, Onomatopoeia, Paradox, Personification, Pun, Rhetorical Question, Simile, Synecdoche, Symbol, Zeugma

Poetry-Specific Sound & Structural Devices

  • Alliteration – initial sound repetition.
  • Anastrophe – inverted syntax.
  • Anaphora – repeated opening word(s) across lines.
  • Consonance – repeated consonant sounds anywhere in line.
  • Repetition – entire lines/phrases for emphasis.
  • Parallel Structure – repeated grammatical pattern (e.g., "I came, I saw, I conquered").

Language Power & Analytical Tips

  • Examine dialogue for truth, real-life resonance, repeated phrases, title echoes, character speech habits.
  • Ask: How does figurative language shape both structure and meaning?

Irony, Oxymoron, Paradox

  • Irony: gap between expectation & reality.
    • Verbal (sarcasm), Situational, Dramatic.
  • Oxymoron: two contradictory terms paired ("deafening silence").
  • Paradox: seemingly impossible statement that proves true; breaks logic.

Example Sets

  • Oxymoron: stripper’s dressing room, bittersweet, small crowd, walking dead, random order, original copy.
  • Paradox: "This statement is a lie", time-travel murder of ancestor, Hamlet: "I must be cruel only to be kind", Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.

Metonymy vs. Synecdoche

  • Metonymy: substitution by association. ("The pen is mightier than the sword.")
  • Synecdoche: part represents whole. ("All hands on deck.")
    • Both require context; may overlap.

Theme

  • Central moral/idea/truth; single word or short phrase (e.g., justice, alienation).
  • Derives from human values or negative ideologies (pyramid of hate).
  • Represents emotion, condition, experience.

Steps to Identify Main vs. Subsidiary Themes

  1. List all detected themes.
  2. Determine which theme is indispensable (story collapses without it).
  3. Perform conflict test: which conflict wields greatest power/oppression?
  4. Remove climactic conflict/symbol hypothetically—does essence disappear?
  5. Relate conflicts to real-life truths.
  6. Cross-check how every element (plot, setting, symbolism, language) reinforces candidate main theme.
  7. Avoid assuming protagonist alone embodies theme.

Integrative Principle

  • \text{Whole Work} = \sum \text{(All Elements Interacting)}
    • Full understanding demands observing how authors braid elements to serve purpose & meaning.

Reflection / Application Prompts (from slides)

  • In ≤50 words, explain how knowing these elements aids your growth as a literary reader. (Any language)
  • Apply Reader-Response to Merlinda Bobis’s "Macdo"; note feelings.
  • Apply Formalist lens: list characters/archetypes, setting, conflicts, plot scenes, symbols, figurative lines, narrator(s).
  • Participation: Rank elements (except theme) from most to least important; justify in ≤100 words.