POETRY, PROSE, FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE AND STANZA

PROSE

• Prose: This is the usual form of common written language. Ideas are expressed in complete sentences and are arranged in paragraphs. Essays, stories, novels, newspaper and magazine articles are all written in prose.

POETRY

• Poetry: This is a written form of language that is arranged in short lines and does not have to form complete sentences or strictly follow the rules of grammar. Because there are relatively few words in poems, it is important that poets choose their words carefully. The lines in poetry can have a rhythm and rhyme pattern but it is not required.

STANZA

• Stanza: A stanza is to a poem what a paragraph is to a story, essay, or novel. Stanzas are collections of words, phrases, and sentences within a poem. Their length may vary and they are separated by spacing within the poem.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

• figurative language -- a form of language that stretches the meaning of phrases; uses a creative way of describing things

Simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and personification are a few types.