Prose

The term is applied to all forms of written or spoken expression which do not have a regular rhythmic pattern. The word derives from "Latin Prosa or proversa oratio, 'straight forward discourse'" (Cuddon 705). Holman states "that while prose is like verse in that good prose has a rhythm, it is unlike verse in that this rhythm is not to be scanned by any of the normal metrical schemes" (382).

An example of a prose is "Homeric epic" (Fowler 191).

Work Cited

Holman, Hugh C. A Handbook To Literature. New York: The Odyssey Press, 1936.

Cudden, J. A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Fourth Edition. Great Britain, Penguin Group, 1977.

Fowler, Roger. A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms. London and New York: Routledge, 1987.