What Is Prose Example In Classic Novels?

2025-08-29 15:04:31 230

4 Answers

Elijah
Elijah
2025-08-31 13:28:24
On a slow Saturday I traced some favorite passages to try and define what counts as a prose example in a classic novel, and I ended up thinking in terms of function more than form. There are at least three useful kinds of examples: the opening sentence that sets a worldview (like the ironic assertions in 'A Tale of Two Cities'), the descriptive stretch that builds setting and mood (e.g., Dickens’ crowded London scenes), and the interior monologue or free indirect discourse that blurs narrator and character thoughts (a technique Eliot and later writers use to powerful effect in 'Middlemarch').

Instead of listing lines, I like comparing how different authors use sentence length and punctuation. Short, clipped sentences speed up a scene and feel urgent; long, winding sentences let you luxuriate in mood and thought. In practice, read a chapter twice—once aloud to feel the rhythm, and once silently to watch how meaning accumulates. That method turned simple reading into little experiments for me, revealing why certain passages stay vivid years later.
Delilah
Delilah
2025-09-01 09:32:48
When I want to point to quick prose examples, I think of iconic openings and a few kinds of passages. Short, punchy openings like 'Call me Ishmael.' or the famous start of 'A Tale of Two Cities' instantly show how voice sets tone. Then consider character-focused prose: a tight interior paragraph from 'Jane Eyre' or a sarcastic social sketch in 'Pride and Prejudice'—both are prose doing different jobs.

If you’re exploring, flip to chapter ones or a dramatic interior scene and ask: is the language musical, clinical, ironic, or urgent? That will tell you why the passage is a strong prose example and whether you want more of that style in your reading list.
Wesley
Wesley
2025-09-01 22:05:18
Sometimes I tuck myself into a corner with a mug of tea and the classics, and what really grabs me is how a single passage can show what 'prose' means in a novel. Prose examples are the ordinary-sounding sentences that carry tone, character, and atmosphere—like the gently ironic narration that opens 'Pride and Prejudice' or the blunt, immediate 'Call me Ishmael.' Both are prose, but they sit on opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum: Austen’s measured, social-observant sentences versus Melville’s terse, almost biblical starter.

Other moments that stick with me are the long, flowing descriptions in 'War and Peace' that let Tolstoy think aloud about history, or the spare, image-rich paragraphs in 'The Great Gatsby' that drip with melancholy. A prose example might be a paragraph of interior thought in 'Crime and Punishment' where a character’s grammar collapses into obsession, or a sharp, satirical paragraph in 'Don Quixote' that plays with realism. In short, look for passages where the author’s choice of words, sentence length, rhythm, and voice combine to do more than tell—you’ll feel the prose as style, mood, and character all at once.
Addison
Addison
2025-09-02 22:43:40
I've got a soft spot for the really varied looks prose can take. When I talk about a prose example in a classic, I’m thinking of how sentence rhythm and word choice reveal the writer’s stance. For instance, 'Madame Bovary' gives us Flaubert’s surgical, precise sentences that critique romantic illusions; 'Anna Karenina' lets Tolstoy weave long psychological paragraphs that pull you inside a mind. Then there’s the colloquial, rolling voice of 'Huckleberry Finn' that feels like a narrator talking to you by a river.

Prose examples don’t have to be ornate—sometimes a single short line packs a punch—other times it’s a whole descriptive page that reads like music. If you want to study this, compare a book’s opening scene, a dialogue-heavy chapter, and an interior monologue: you’ll see how prose shifts to carry different parts of the story.
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