Poems, Plays, and Prose

Core Idea

Stories and ideas can be written in three main forms. Prose is written in sentences and paragraphs, like most chapter books. Poems are written in lines and stanzas and often use rhythm and sometimes rhyme. Plays, also called drama, are written to be performed, so they list a cast of characters, tell the setting, give each character's spoken lines, and include stage directions. Knowing these structures, which Common Core standard RL.4.5 asks fourth graders to explain, helps readers know how to read each kind of text.

How It's Best Learned

Show the same short scene written three ways: as a paragraph, as a poem and as a play script. Have students circle the features that are different, such as paragraph indents, line breaks and character names in capital letters. Then perform the play version, with one student reading the stage directions silently and acting them out.

Common Misconceptions

• All poems rhyme. (Many poems do not rhyme. Poems are mainly marked by lines, stanzas and attention to sound and rhythm.)
• Stage directions are lines that actors say out loud. (Stage directions tell actors what to do, how to speak, or what the stage looks like. They are not spoken.)
• A story written as a play is not really a story. (Plays tell stories too. They show the story through what characters say and do instead of through a narrator.)

Explainer

Open three different books, and the pages may look very different even if they tell similar stories. That is because writers can choose among three main forms: prose, poetry and drama.

Prose is the most common form. It is written in sentences that are grouped into paragraphs, and paragraphs can be grouped into chapters. Most stories you read, like chapter books and picture books, are prose. A narrator usually tells what happens and what characters think.

Poetry looks different on the page. A poem is written in lines, and the poet decides where each line ends. Groups of lines are called stanzas, or verses. Poets pay close attention to the sounds of words. Many poems have a beat, or rhythm, that you can tap as you read aloud. Some poems rhyme, but many do not. A poem can tell a story, describe something, or share a feeling.

Drama, or a play, is written to be performed on a stage. A play usually begins with a list of characters, sometimes called the cast. It often tells the setting at the start of each scene. Instead of a narrator, the play shows the story through dialogue. Each character's name comes first, followed by the words that character says. Stage directions, often in italics or parentheses, tell what characters do or how they speak, such as *(whispering)* or *(runs off stage)*. Actors do not say the stage directions out loud.

Here is the same moment written in each form.

Prose: Maya opened the door and gasped. Snow covered everything.

Poem:

The door swings wide,

and Maya sees

a world gone white

from roofs to trees.

Play:

MAYA: *(opening the door)* Oh! Look at all the snow!

Each form asks you to read a little differently. With prose, follow the narrator. With a poem, read slowly, listen to the sounds, and notice where the lines break. With a play, imagine the actors and use the stage directions to picture the action. When you start a new text, look at the page first and ask, "Is this prose, a poem or a play?"