Okuzeka
Literature vocabulary · Plot and Structure

Prologue

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounCommon term

In literature, prologue means: An opening section before the main story that gives context, frames later events, or creates expectations for what follows.

In Turkish: prolog, giriş bölümü

How it is used

Used in novels, plays, and films. A prologue may show an earlier event, introduce the setting, or present a voice outside the main timeline.

Example sentences

  1. The editor suggested cutting the prologue because the village fire is explained more clearly through dialogue in the first chapter.

    Here prologue means the separate opening before chapter one, and the question is whether that opening adds needed story background.

  2. In seminar, we examined how the courtroom prologue makes readers suspect official testimony long before the narrator appears.

    In this sentence, the term highlights a framing device that shapes the reader's attitude before the central narrative begins.

Common collocations

  • opening prologue
  • write a prologue
  • the novel's prologue
  • plotThe series of connected events in a story and the way the writer arranges them, especially how one event causes another.
  • chapterOne of the main numbered or titled parts into which a book, especially a novel, is divided.

More terms: Plot and Structure

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: