A prologue may offer a striking event, a voice or a time far from the opening chapter. Its usefulness as a reading question begins with what it makes you expect, rather than whether you think all novels should have one.
Write the expectation before continuing
After the prologue, record two questions you genuinely have. Perhaps you want to identify a person or understand why an ordinary object has been singled out. Keep the questions narrow enough to recognise later.
Then read the first chapter without demanding immediate answers. Mark where the new scene connects with the prologue and where it takes your attention elsewhere.
Distinguish delay from disappearance
A question that remains open after one chapter has not necessarily been abandoned. Note what the novel supplies instead: a different viewpoint, a relationship, or the daily setting around the larger event.
In an invented example, a prologue shows an empty house, while chapter one follows somebody preparing to move. The connection invites a question; it does not establish what caused the house to become empty.
Return after reading further
Revisit your first notes before rewriting them. Seeing how your expectations changed is part of the pleasure of reading.
Use a journal that goes beyond plot summary to retain those changes. A useful entry can explain how the prologue guided your attention without revealing the ending to somebody else.
