Structure & form

Prose

Ordinary written language that runs in sentences and paragraphs without metrical structure.

Prose is the everyday form of writing—novels, essays, most speech on the page—organized by grammar rather than by line and meter. Writers use prose for its flexibility and its closeness to natural expression. It can still be highly crafted, with rhythm and music of its own.

Example

Austen’s polished, witty prose carries the novel’s irony and social observation entirely through ordinary sentences, no verse required.

Pride and Prejudice · Jane Austen

See it in action

Analyses on StoryBites that use prose:

Related terms

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