Prose Genres

Question 1

Chronicle

Answer 1

A list of events. Some chronicles may be in verse. The emphasis tends to be on action not inner life. Some chronicles are factual, some are not.

Question 2

Epistolary

Answer 2

A novel written in the form of an exchange of letters (epistles).

Question 3

Gothic

Answer 3

At its simplest the use of medieval and/or supernatural elements to create a horror story. Nowadays the word is often used to describe any story with antique horrors within it.

Question 4

Magic-realism

Answer 4

A novel written in a realistic style which incorporates impossible or unlikely events. Films may be described as magic-realist as well.

Question 5

Picaresque

Answer 5

A novel where the protagonist’s travels and encounters are more important than the protagonist’s character.

Question 6

Romance

Answer 6

A medieval prose or poetry text that tells a story in which barely possible and supernatural events are an essential feature of the action.

Question 7

Sentimental

Answer 7

Originally a person who was sentimental was in touch with their feelings, the sentimental novel is a literary genre of the late 18th century.

Question 8

Realistic/Naturalistic

Answer 8

A confusing distinction in so far the two terms are sometimes used as if synonymous but are sometimes used to differentiate stories that are factual in style and intention from those which are factual in style but symbolic in intention. There is disagreement about which term signifies which type of writing.

Question 9

What is the analytic term Interweaving?

Answer 9

The telling of several stories in one text; the stories are interwoven with each other.