"Pro" 1: "Prose"

       In distinguishing “prose” from “verse” for students, I always went back to the Latin roots.  Why?  Because it always helped me.  “Prose” means “straightforward.”  So it’s the form of writing that appears in paragraphs.  The words go straight ahead until the sentence is completed and then straight ahead until the thought is completed. 

      “Verse” means “turn” as in “reverse” “turn back,” and it is the form of writing that appears in lines; you come to the end of the line, and you “turn” and begin again, come to the end of the next line and “turn” to begin anew.  Lines are units of the “turning” verse as sentences and paragraphs are the units of the “forwarding” prose.