prose
Language without meter
Prose is ordinary written or spoken language, as distinct from verse or poetry.
Where poetry has meter and often rhyme, prose flows in sentences and paragraphs without formal rhythmic structure.
Most of what people read—novels, essays, news articles, emails—is prose.
The word can carry a slight edge: to call something prosaic or mere prose suggests it lacks imagination or beauty.
New and unusual
- fictionImagined narrative work
- essayShort argumentative prose work
- narrativeAccount of events
- chapterDivision of a book
paragraph · author · manuscript · storytelling · plot · character · setting · theme
Written personal recollection
- autobiographySelf-penned life narrative
- biographyWritten life account
- memoirsWritten personal history
- personal essayAutobiographical prose work
reminiscence · confession · testimony · portrait · profile · hagiography · psychobiography
Persuasive verbal grace
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- dictionChoice of words
cadence · syntax · fluency · clarity · coherence · rhythm · tone · voice
Recorded language on surface
- draftingCreating technical blueprints
- editingRefining content for clarity
- revisionAltering to improve
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
composition · punctuation · grammar · exposition · argumentation · thesis · discourse · sentence
Clear and uncomplicated
- unadornedLacking decoration or ornament
- directUndeviating or to guide
- simpleFree of complexity
- clearWithout obstruction or fog
matter-of-fact · workmanlike · utilitarian · functional · readable · accessible · economical · understated
Analyzing and evaluating fiction
- critiqueDetailed evaluative analysis
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- theoryExplanatory set of principles
- reviewCritical written assessment
interpretation · deconstruction · semiotics · poststructuralism · close reading · exegesis · commentary · annotation
Commonplace, lacking excitement
- pedestrianOne traveling afoot
- uninspiredLacking creative spark
- banalUnoriginal and dull
- dullLacking edge or interest
humdrum · commonplace · unimaginative · flat · leaden · plodding · dry · vapid
Break from traditional forms
- RomanticismEmotion-centered artistic movement
- RealismMovement depicting ordinary life
- TranscendentalismIntuition-based American idealist movement
- VictorianOf a prim era
Elizabethan · Renaissance · Baroque · Neoclassicism · Enlightenment · Postmodernism · Minimalism
Casual, everyday language
- conversationalRelating to informal dialogue
- chattyInclined to converse freely
- casualRelaxed and informal
- vernacularEveryday regional speech
anecdotal · rambling · stream-of-consciousness · confessional · folksy · breezy · discursive · unpretentious
novel
New and unusual
chapter · paragraph · author · manuscript · storytelling · plot · character · setting · theme · dialogue
memoir
Written personal recollection
- autobiographySelf-penned life narrative
- biographyWritten life account
- memoirsWritten personal history
personal essay · reminiscence · confession · testimony · portrait · profile · hagiography · psychobiography
eloquence
Persuasive verbal grace
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
diction · cadence · syntax · fluency · clarity · coherence · rhythm · tone · voice · register
writing
Recorded language on surface
structure · composition · punctuation · grammar · exposition · argumentation · thesis · discourse · sentence · word choice
straightforward
Clear and uncomplicated
clear · matter-of-fact · workmanlike · utilitarian · functional · readable · accessible · economical · understated · unembellished
literary criticism
Analyzing and evaluating fiction
- critiqueDetailed evaluative analysis
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- theoryExplanatory set of principles
review · interpretation · deconstruction · semiotics · poststructuralism · close reading · exegesis · commentary · annotation · scholarship
mundane
Commonplace, lacking excitement
- pedestrianOne traveling afoot
- uninspiredLacking creative spark
- banalUnoriginal and dull
dull · humdrum · commonplace · unimaginative · flat · leaden · plodding · dry · vapid · lifeless
Modernism
Break from traditional forms
- RomanticismEmotion-centered artistic movement
- RealismMovement depicting ordinary life
- TranscendentalismIntuition-based American idealist movement
Victorian · Elizabethan · Renaissance · Baroque · Neoclassicism · Enlightenment · Postmodernism · Minimalism
colloquial
Casual, everyday language
- conversationalRelating to informal dialogue
- chattyInclined to converse freely
- casualRelaxed and informal
vernacular · anecdotal · rambling · stream-of-consciousness · confessional · folksy · breezy · discursive · unpretentious · spontaneous
- British LiteratureShakespeare, Dickens, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Austen
- humanitiesphilosophy, history, literature, philosophy class, novels
- literary formsnovel, novels, novella, poetry, poetry collections
- literary workspoems, novels, poetry, fiction, plays
- literary contentpoetry, fiction, essays, verse, anthology
- Musical & Literary Termsmelody, symphony, cantata, libretto, songwriting
proselyricism
Expressive, melodic quality
eloquence · purple prose · flights of fancy · sublimity · grandiloquence
- spare prose
- purple proseOverly elaborate, emotional writing
- fictional proseImagined stories in writing
- concise proseBrief, efficient written expression
- prose and verseWriting's basic categories
- prose styleWriter's characteristic expression
prosaic, prosody, prosaically, prose poem, prose-poem, prose poems