Prologue Worksheets
About Our Prologue Worksheets
A prologue is an opening section of a story or play that provides background information, sets the tone, or foreshadows key events before the main narrative begins. It gives readers context, mood, or insight-often introducing crucial characters or themes right at the start. You'll find prologues in novels, plays, or epics, where authors want to frame the main story with anticipation or perspective.
Our Prologue worksheet collection helps students recognize and craft effective beginnings that anchor their stories. Activities include analyzing famous prologues, comparing prologues and epilogues, previewing story tone, and even writing their own narrative openings. These worksheets blend reading, analysis, and creative writing so learners understand how to use a prologue purposefully and powerfully.
By working through them, students will learn how to create or interpret prologues that engage readers, set expectations, and enhance narrative clarity. They'll gain a concrete skill in storytelling that lays the groundwork for stronger plots, memorable beginnings, and disciplined framing.
Looking At Each Worksheet
Advantages and Disadvantages
Students list what a prologue can offer (like context and suspense) and what it might risk (like spoilers or slowing pace). This sharpens their understanding of when and how prologues should be used. It encourages thoughtful choices in storytelling structure.
Beauty Beginnings
Learners compare prologues that feel poetic versus those that feel functional. They analyze how tone and language style set expectations. It builds awareness of voice as a hook.
Dual Debut
Students examine two different prologues for one story-written in alternate tones or voices. They discuss how the choice of opening affects reader perception. It emphasizes the power of starting lines to steer narrative mood.
Intro Insights
Learners break down a prologue by identifying what it introduces: setting, character, or mystery. They connect those elements to reader anticipation. It teaches how setup shapes engagement.
Jurassic Journey
Students read a prologue inspired by adventure or prehistoric scenes and identify how it primes readers for setting and stakes. They reflect on how such openings ignite curiosity. It links sensory detail to narrative launch.
Past Perspective
Learners analyze prologues written in retrospective voice (older narrator reflecting back). They explore how hindsight colors tone and theme. It enriches understanding of temporal point of view.
Prologue Peek
Students write a one-paragraph prologue previewing a scene or conflict-in just a setup without giving away the main story. This hones economy and intrigue. It's practice in narrative balance.
Prologue Perspectives
Learners compare prologues from different points of view-first-person vs third-person. They assess how that perspective shifts emotional distance and framing. It hones insight into narrative angle.
Prologue Primer
This is an instructional sheet defining what a prologue is and listing its common functions. Students underline key terms and reflect on examples they've read. It sets a shared foundation for the unit.
Prologue Pros
Students identify examples where a prologue significantly improves a story, noting why it works. They articulate the benefits of strong openings. It builds appreciation for narrative framing.
Prologue vs Epilogue
Learners contrast the goals of a prologue and an epilogue-what do each bring to the story arc? They chart differences in tone, timing, and function. It promotes structural clarity.
Romeo's Reveal
Students analyze the opening Chorus of Romeo and Juliet, noting how it telegraphs tragedy and themes. They discuss how a prologue can guide audience interpretation. It blends literary analysis with dramatic structure.
Story Starter
Learners draft a prologue for their own story concept-crafting a mood-setting or context-providing opener. It supports imaginative framing skills. It's immersive practice in story launch.
True or False Tales
Students identify statements about prologues as true or false to test concept accuracy. This ensures understanding of prologue purpose and form. It's a quick comprehension check.
What Happens?
Learners read a standalone prologue and predict what might follow in the main story. They revisit after reading the actual story to compare. It practices foreshadowing interpretation.
Understanding Prologues As A Literary Devices
A prologue is a brief introductory section placed before the main narrative, providing context, tone, or background-sometimes set in a different time, voice, or perspective. It primes readers with information or mood that enhances understanding of the ensuing action. A well-crafted prologue introduces without overshadowing, offering just enough setup to spark interest and clarity.
Authors use prologues when they want to give essential context, hint at themes, introduce dramatic stakes, or create suspense from the outset. You can recognize one by its placement-before Chapter 1 or Act 1-and its content, which often stands slightly apart in tone or purpose. The best prologues feel mysterious or compelling, purposefully framing what follows. A weak one may feel irrelevant or spoil too much, diluting dramatic momentum.
Prologues relate to devices like foreshadowing, world-building, or framing narratives. A common mistake is using them as dumping grounds for backstory-effective prologues integrate context with narrative energy.
Well Known Uses Of Prologue
Prologues are common in plays, novels, and epics-skilled beginnings that invite readers into rich, layered stories.
Example 1: In Romeo and Juliet, the Chorus delivers a prologue summarizing the tragic fate of the star-crossed lovers and setting the play's tone before any characters appear.
Example 2: In The Great Gatsby, the opening passages serve as a prologue of sorts-setting tone, mood, and thematic questions about wealth and disillusionment before the main narrative kicks off.