Forms of prose

 

A short story could be defined as a short piece of fiction that concentrates on a single incident, a single character (or very few characters), or the creation of a single effect or impression.
It is marked by an economy of expression and tightness of form, and can be read in one sitting. The defining factor of the short story is that it should be short. With the growth of various periodicals, the short story has become the most widely read literary form.

There were several early forms of the short story such as the fable (a short story conveying a moral, in which the characters are animals with human qualities; for example, the Greek fables of Aesop and the Sanskrit collection Hitopadesha), the fabliau (a short, satirical or comic tale in verse, known for its bawdiness; for example, the medieval French tales 'Gombert and the Two Clerks' and 'The Snow Baby'), and the folktale (short stories of unknown origin which exist mostly in the oral form; for example, English folklore related to Robin Hood, and Indian tales of the cleverness of Birbal or the wit of Tenali Raman).

 
The short story was recognised as a major literary form in the nineteenth century. The form first became popular not in England, but in America. Even there, the term 'short story' was used only in the 1880s. Edgar Allan Poe was the first important author to analyse this form and discuss the various effects that a short story could have, such as surprise and fear. Other American writers include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and O. Henry. Some examples of well- known short stories are 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' by Washington Irving, 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry, 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant, and 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' by James Thurber. Famous collections of short stories include Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination (published posthumously in 1902), Dubliners (1914) by James Joyce, and Interpreter of Maladies (1999) by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Today, the short story is a very popular form all over the world and appears in almost every language. Famous writers of short stories include Anton Chekhov, Arthur Conan Doyle, D.H. Lawrence, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, Franz Kafka, R.K. Narayan, Ray Bradbury, Saadat Hasan Manto, Isaac Asimov, Khushwant Singh, and Alice Munroe and so on.

Features of the short story

 
The short story is a distinct literary form. It must not be regarded as a shortened novel.

The short story contains all the major elements of fiction, such as plot, characters, dialogue and setting.

 

The short story tends to focus on a single plot. It concentrates on one character or a very small set of characters, in a single setting (or, at the most, two or three), and the main action covers a short period of time.

 
While the plot is usually not as complicated as that of a novel, the short story form can handle as wide a range of simple to heavy themes as the novel.

 
The short story is a concentrated form of prose narrative. The writing is economical and dense. There are no leisurely descriptions as found in the novel (unless it serves a specific purpose). Writers whittle down anything that does not contribute to the overall effect that they intend to produce in the reader.

 
The short story can end in suspense, with a surprise, an anticlimax, an epiphany, or in many other ways.

Novel
A novel could be defined as a long work of prose fiction containing characters, incidents and a plot. The word 'novel' comes from the Italian 'novella' meaning a 'piece of news' or 'tale', and was first applied to tales like Boccaccio's Decameron, which were very popular in the fourteenth century. Though it originated much after other genres like poetry and drama, it is one of the most popular forms of literature today.

When it comes to the British novel, many critics any consider Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) as the first English novel. Others dismiss the claim as they feel it is not a proper novel, but just a series of episodes, and some parts of his own life and experiences. Some critics believe the distinction should go to Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740), as it contains a well- developed plot. The popularity of Pamela paved the way for other novelists. Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollett and Laurence Sterne number among the great novelists of the eighteenth century.

 
The popularity of the novel grew with the passing of every century. In the nineteenth century, many great novels were written by authors such as Walter Scott, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, William Makepeace Thackeray, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, and Henry James, to name just a few. In the twentieth century, the novel saw tremendous changes and became a highly sophisticated art form in the hands of writers such as Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, John Fowles, Graham Greene, and William Golding. In the twenty-first century, novels are being written in almost every corner of the globe, and novelists continue to experiment with various styles, plots and techniques.

Essay
An essay could be defined as a short piece of writing that reveals the writer's views or analysis of a particular subject. As a literary form, it is difficult to study systematically since it varies greatly in style, treatment and method. It could range in length from Francis Bacon's brief pieces of concentrated wisdom, running into a page or two, to the book-length pieces by John Locke, Lord Macaulay and Herbert Spencer. The essay could vary in subject matter too. For example, Bacon shared his views on various subjects ranging from love, death and atheism to travel, marriage and gardens. The essays of the French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne are an assortment of random thoughts, quotations and anecdotes. Even with regard to treatment, each writer has his or her own style in approaching the subject. Charles Lamb employed a conversational style, taking the reader through a wide range  of emotions, while Jonathan Swift used biting satire to attack his opponents in his essays. So, a definition of the essay form cannot be made based upon its length, subject matter or treatment.

Biography and Autobiography

 
Diary, speeches, Letters and Travelogue.