Key words: Find and take

Introduction to
note of definitions
Prose:
Prose Style and Figurative language
Context Idioms
Monosyllabic
Learning Objective:
To introduce and Polysyllabic
comment upon the
features of Prose Style
and context
 Starter: Discuss with your partner
and brainstorm your ideas

What is Prose?

Prose is a form of language that exhibits a grammatical structure and a

natural flow of speech rather than a rhythmic structure (as in traditional
poetry).
 The Prose style may include:
Balance of narration and dialogue
Balance of description, exploration of thoughts and feeling and action
Construction of sentences (e.g.
short/long/simple/complex/questions/statements/exclamations)
Use of vocabulary
(poetic/colloquial/scholarly/plain/monosyllabic/polysyllabic)
Amount of and kind of figurative language (metaphors/similes/symbols)
Use of punctuation
Length of paragraphs
Features unique to the voice of a writer (use of repetition/particular
idioms/rhythm that mimics the speaking voice)
Task: Read the extract from Cormac
McCarthys The Road
Note a few first thoughts
about your impressions of
the style this could be a
collection of adjectives.
 The Road- An extract
Cormac McCarthy

He studied the sky. There were days when the ashen overcast thinned and now
the standing trees along the road made the faintest of shadows over the snow.
They went on. The boy wasnt doing well. He stopped and checked his feet
and retied the plastic. When the snow started to melt it was going to be hard to
keep their feet dry. They stopped often to rest. Hed no strength to carry the
child. They sat on the pack and ate handfuls of the dirty snow. By afternoon it
was beginning to melt. They passed a burned house, just the brick chimney
standing in the yard. They were on the road all day, such day as there was. Such
few hours. They might have covered three miles.
He thought the road would be so bad that no one would be on it but he was
wrong. They camped almost in the road itself and built a great fire, dragging
dead limbs out of the snow and piling them on the flames to hiss and steam.
There was no help for it. The few blankets they had would not keep them
warm.
 Task: In your pairs annotate and
analyse
Read the article again specifically looking at your
given prose style feature. Be ready to feedback in 5
minutes

Mini-Plenary: Which features of

prose style do you think contribute most
to your first impressions?
 Task: Writing about Prose style.
Complete the table
Prose Extract 1 Evidence/Quote Extract 2 Evidence/
Feature Quote
Balance of
narration and
dialogue

Select one extract and write a detailed paragraph about the its prose style
using evidence and explanations to support your points.
In extract X, the writer uses short sentences to create an emotionless, detached style. This is
particularly noticeable in the phrase . . Here his use of the word .. and his techniques of
. contribute to a sense of ., which has .. effect on the reader.
 Plenary

Read your partners paragraph and give feedback

Take a moment to make corrections to your
paragraph
Share your amended paragraphs with the class.