The Literary Type Before in-depth work on the paragraph can begin (which after all is the center of our concern in syntactical analysis), a preliminary step must be taken. It is necessary to decide what type of literary composition is before us. There are five basic literary forms used by the Biblical writers—if we may be allowed for the moment to paint with a wide brush and to use a somewhat sweeping generalization. These types may be listed as (1) prose, (2) poetry, (3) narrative, (4) wisdom, and