•Poetry

Poetry is something creates word pictures, describes moments, or expresses feelings. There are many
different forms of poetry. Two examples of poem forms are free verse and lyrical poems. A free verse
poem does not rhyme. A lyrical poem uses imagery to express a feeling and uses rhythm, regular meter,
and rhyme.

Read the poetry below.

The Elements of Poetry

|Verse|

Verse is one line of a poetry.

Poetries are written in groups of lines called stanzas. A stanza in a poetry is like a paragraph in a story.
There is a new idea or image appears in each stanza.

In the poetry “Mary’s Canary” Mary had a pretty bird is one verse of the poetry. The poem “Mary’s
Canary” is written in two stanzas.

|Rhyme|

Rhyme is created when two words have the same ending sounds. A poetry may have a rhyme scheme. A
rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming words in a poem.

In the poem “Mary’s Canary,” the words that rhyme are bird and word, yellow and fellow, sung and hung,
and Mary and canary. The rhyme scheme is every other line in one stanza.

|Meter|

Meter is the number of syllables in a line and how those syllables are accented. The meter helps to
create the rhythm of the poetry.
The first line of the poetry “Mary’s Canary” has 7 syllables and every other syllable is accented,
beginning with the first one.

|Theme|

Theme is the message or the image created by the poetry that the writer wants readers to understand.

The theme of the poetry “Mary’s Canary” is how much Mary enjoys her canary and his singing.

•Prose

Prose is the normal language (sentences and paragraphs) people use when writing or speaking. It is not
poetry and does not have a meter or rhythmical pattern.

Magazine articles, encyclopedias, and essays are all written in prose. Stories are also usually written in
prose.

Read the story below.

The Elements of Prose

|Characters|

Characters are the people or animals in the story. A story often describes the interaction of characters,
including their relationships and the changes they undergo.

In the story you just read, the characters are Brian, his mom, Alex, Kenya, and Mike.

|Setting|
Setting is when and where the story takes place.

There are two settings in this story. The first is Brian’s home and the second is art camp. The story takes
place over the summer.

|Plot|

Plot is what happens in the story, or the sequence of events.

The plot of the story is Brian is worried about going to art camp. When he arrives, there is only one spot
left for him to sit down. He meets three other kids at the table and they all start talking. Brian goes home
knowing he has new friends.

|Point of View|

The point of view of the story relates to the person telling the story. Sometimes the narrator is a
character in the story and uses the pronoun I to tell the story. This type of narrator tells the story from
a first-person point of view. Sometimes the narrator is not a character in the story and refers to the
characters by name or as he or she. This type of narrator tells the story from a third-person point of view.

This story is written in third-person point of view because Brian is not telling the story. The narrator
refers to Brian as he and the kids as they.

|Theme|

Theme is the lesson or message of a story. To identify the story’s message, look for clues in what the
characters say and do, what happens as the result of their actions, and how the characters change.

In this story, the theme is new and scary situations can change to be very happy events.

|Mood|

The mood of a selection is the feeling the author creates using story details, the setting, and images.
The mood of this story starts off worrisome because Brian is nervous about not knowing anyone at art
camp. But the mood changes by the end of the story when Brian is happy to meet three new friends.

•Drama

Drama is a type of literary work that describe human life with motion or action. Drama describes the
reality of life, character, and human behavior through the roles and dialogues that are staged. Stories in
drama contain conflicts and emotions specifically aimed at theater performances. Dramas are written in
a special form, which helps you to picture what is happening on stage. This special form is called a script.
A script contains the list of characters, the lines the characters say, and the stage directions. Drama
requires the quality of communication, situations and actions. These qualities can be seen from how a
conflict or problem can be presented in its entirety and in depth in a drama performance.

Drama is also a story that is acted out in front of people, or an audience. A drama can be a play, a puppet
show, a song, or a dance story that a person on stage performs for a group of people.

Read the drama below.

The Elements of Drama

|Characters|

The list of characters at the beginning of the play tells who will be appearing in the play. Some plays have
a narrator. The narrator gives the audience information about what is happening in the play.

Greta and Oma are the characters in the play, “The Heirloom.”

|Setting|

The setting is where and when the play takes place. Many plays have more than one setting.
The living room of Greta’s house during the afternoon is the setting of the play, “The Heirloom.” Because
it is a short play, there is only one setting.

|Descriptions|

Descriptions are related to the setting of the play, but provide much more information about what has
already happened before the play begins or how the characters are feeling before the first lines of
dialogue. Descriptions can also provide detailed information about the setting.

This is the description for “The Heirloom.”

[Greta has been sitting on the sofa, impatiently waiting for her Oma to arrive. She hasn’t seen her Oma
in several months. Greta can hardly contain her excitement; shortly Oma arrives at the house with a
small wrapped gift in her hand.]

|Dialogue|

The dialogue is the lines of text the characters speak in the play. The characters’ names appear before
the lines they speak. A play’s dialogue often tells what the characters are thinking and feeling.

The lines the character Greta speaks have the name GRETA at the beginning. The lines Oma speaks have
OMA at the beginning. Together these lines make up the dialogue of the play.

|Stage Direction|

Stage directions tell the actors what to do. They tell actors where to go on the stage, how to move, and
how to say their lines.

In the first line Greta speaks, the stage direction says she is very excited, so the line should be spoken
with excitement in the actor’s voice. The stage direction at the beginning of Oma’s first line tells the
actor that she should put the gift down on the table as she speaks this line.
|Theme|

Theme is the lesson or message of a play. To identify the play’s message, look for clues in what the
characters say and do, what happens as the result of their actions, and how the characters change.

The theme of the play, “The Heirloom,” is to treasure items that are passed down from generation to
generation. They are special parts of people’s past.