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Prose is any writing without a formal structure of meter or rhyme only conforming to the basic rules of grammar. Writing which uses these structures is known as poetry. Although some works of prose may contain traces of metrical structure or versification a conscious blend of the two forms of literature is known as a prose poem. In a similar way poetry with less of the common rules and limitations of verse, which is closer to prose, is known as free verse.
The word prose comes from the Latin prosa meaning straightforward and this clearly describes the type of writing that prose embodies, writing unadorned with obvious stylistic devices. Poetry is considered to be artificially developed, "The best words in the best order", whereas prose is thought to be less constructed and more reflective of ordinary speech, although good prose is just as carefully planned. Pierre de Ronsard, the French poet even said that his training as a poet had proved to him that prose and poetry were mortal enemies. The simple style of prose writing is usually adopted for the description of facts, or the discussion of ideas. This means that can be used for newspapers, magazines, novels, encyclopaedias, screenplays, philosophy, letters, essays, history, biography and many other writings.
The status of prose has changed throughout its history. Much of a society's early literature is written in the form of poetry at least that which is considered worth keeping. Prose was restricted to mundane and every-day uses such as legal documents and yearly records. When a country's literature produces other forms such as philosophy or history these works give prose a higher status but, even then, fiction does not often appear in prose until much later. Poetry is still often regarded as a higher form of literature to prose but the relatively late development of the novel offers competing and often superior examples of prose.
Prose was at one time synonymous with dull, unimaginative or laboured writing and the word prosaic has developed from prose to mean anything boring. Now the word prose tends to be reserved for particularly well written pieces of literature and even limited to small sections of a larger work even though prose still also means any writing that is not poetry. Prose that aspires to the highest quality but in fact is too elaborate and overblown is called purple prose perhaps because it makes the reader purple in the face.
Prose varies considerably depending on the purpose that the writing is put to. As prose is often considered to be representative of the patterns of normal speech many rhetorical devices are used in prose to emphasize points and enliven the writing. Prose which aims to be informative and accurate such as history or journalism usually strives to use the simplest language possible to express its points although this language often needs to get very advanced to describe a difficult issue. Facts are often repeated and reiterated in various ways so that they are understood by a reader but the excessive use of this technique can often make a serious piece of writing seem like a polemic.
In fiction prose can really flourish, take on many forms and a skilled author can alter how they use prose throughout a book to suggest different moods and ideas. A thriller often consists of short sentences with "punch" made up of equally short words which suggests very rapid actions and heightens the effect of a very fast moving plot. Conversely, longer sentences are used to slow down the action of a novel and give a panoramic overview of scene. Prose can vary to tell a reader how they should feel about events in a story; fear, humour, uncertainty, or to tell the reader about a character's age, intelligence, opinions or personality although dialogue is often excluded from being thought of as prose. There are many techniques within fiction and the mark of a great author is perhaps their ability to manipulate prose and even invent their own unique prose style to effectively communicate what they wish to say.
When a poem is translated from one language into another, particularly if it is an epic poem, the poem is often converted into prose. This is for two reasons, not only does it allow the reader to understand the plot more easily but also the translator is considered to be exercising less creative input if writing in prose. A translation should be an unchanged representation of the sense of the original but to impose rhyme and meter structures which are not the same in different languages is likely to significantly alter the poem.
See also
bs:Proza
de:Prosa
fr:Prose
nl:Proza
ja:散文
pl:Proza
fi:Proosa
sv:Prosa
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