داﻧﺸﮕﺎه ﺻﻨﻌﺘﯽ ﺷﺎﻫﺮود ﺗﻔﺎوت و ﺷﺒﺎﻫﺖﻫﺎي داﺳﺘﺎن ﮐﻮﺗﺎه ﺑﺎ ژاﻧﺮﻫﺎي دﯾﮕﺮ ﻣﺪرس: دﮐﺘﺮ ﻣﺮادي ﻣﻘﺪم

What are the differences between (short) prose, poetry, and drama?

What is prose and what is poetry?

Well, we all have heard about these two but not all of us are clear about the fundamental differences between the two. Let us take a look and try to understand.

Poetry is art in itself.

 Either written down or spoken orally, poetry is characterized by an imaginative and attractive expression of one’s thoughts.  It is metrical, which means that poems are metered or structured. The structure or the meters give it a pattern.

 This pattern makes it easier and smoother to read.  There are rules which are followed while writing poetry (not mandatory though). Some examples are rhyme schemes, meters, number of verses etc.  One can easily distinguish between the verses and stanzas. Prose: Prose is not about rhyming or using ornamental words.

 It is simple but expressive.

 It expresses the feelings in a way which is easy to read and understand.  There are no verses or stanzas, sentences take their place in prose.

 It is straightforward.  Authors sometimes dabble between the two to give a good combination. Shakespeare uses both in some plays.  Short stories, novels, plays etc usually fall under this type of literature. Drama: Drama comes from a Greek word which means “action”.

 It refers to a play performed on the stage, television, or radio.

1 | P a g e

داﻧﺸﮕﺎه ﺻﻨﻌﺘﯽ ﺷﺎﻫﺮود ﺗﻔﺎوت و ﺷﺒﺎﻫﺖﻫﺎي داﺳﺘﺎن ﮐﻮﺗﺎه ﺑﺎ ژاﻧﺮﻫﺎي دﯾﮕﺮ ﻣﺪرس: دﮐﺘﺮ ﻣﺮادي ﻣﻘﺪم

 It is composed in verses or prose to tell a story involving emotions or to portray a character.

 The actors act out an event playing different characters.  The characters may use poetry or prose in their dialogue.

Prose is a type of writing that is quite close to the manner in which a person speaks, but is organised into grammatically correct sentences and paragraphs which identify groups of information that are related. Among the three, it is the only form with a strict set of rules for how it is organised. Today, what we see in our minds as prose is something that has evolved by design over several centuries of learning and experimentation.

Poetry is an attempt to take language to artistic extremes and therefore has no concrete definition. As an art form, it is allowed to break all the rules of language that we have designed for typical communication. In poetry, a word may not mean exactly what it says in the dictionary, there may be no punctuation, and the normal syntax may be altered. Often, form is as much a part of the experience of the poem as the words themselves.

And yet, some poetry is difficult to distinguish from prose. Or prose can be labelled as poetic, meaning that it uses its language more artfully than is strictly necessary.

Drama, as opposed to prose rather than as a type of, is any writing that is intended for performance rather than the experience of reading it. As in poetry, there are no hard and fast rules. Often, drama is not even recorded in its whole linguistic state, but when it is, it tends to include a mix of information intended for performers and/or collaborators you will never see in the performance but have an equal influence on the audience’s experience. The language itself can be in either poetry or prose or resemble neither at all. Often, dramatic writing more closely resembles natural speech than the other two forms.

2 | P a g e

داﻧﺸﮕﺎه ﺻﻨﻌﺘﯽ ﺷﺎﻫﺮود ﺗﻔﺎوت و ﺷﺒﺎﻫﺖﻫﺎي داﺳﺘﺎن ﮐﻮﺗﺎه ﺑﺎ ژاﻧﺮﻫﺎي دﯾﮕﺮ ﻣﺪرس: دﮐﺘﺮ ﻣﺮادي ﻣﻘﺪم

What are the similarities between drama, prose, and poetry?

Although each is a distinctive style of writing, the main similarities are: all three can be for entertainment; all three are used to express ideas or feelings; all three can be more effective if read aloud; and all three can follow certain rules, or be absolutely lawless in their form.

3 | P a g e