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ELA 4: Comparing Poetry, Plays, and Prose 267 Views


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Description:

Watch this video and you'll be total prose at identifying poetic literature. 

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

Let’s close our eyes and think about ice cream for a second. [Boy in class closes eye and thinks about ice cream]

00:16

Don't think too hard, though.

00:17

We don’t want you drooling all over your desk.

00:20

Ice cream comes in a lot of flavors: [Flavours of ice cream]

00:22

Chocolate…

00:23

Vanilla…

00:24

Strawberry…mmm…

00:25

Three very different flavors, but they all serve the same purpose: to make your life

00:29

a little bit sweeter. [Girl looks at different flavors of ice cream]

00:31

Now think of these very different flavors as different kinds of writing.

00:34

We know, writing isn't quite as delicious, but just stay with us…

00:38

First you have a play, complete with characters, dialogue and stage directions. [Play text in chocolate ice cream]

00:42

Second comes poetry, with rhythm, rhyme and meter.

00:45

Lastly comes prose, with paragraphs and chapters separating the words.

00:49

Each kind of writing is different, but it all serves the same purpose: to convey the

00:53

writer's ideas.

00:55

And bonus! [Girl reading about prose, plays and poetry]

00:56

If you read all three, you can reward yourself with ice cream.

00:59

See? [Girl receives ice cream and jumps up and down]

01:00

It all comes full circle.

01:02

Choosing your favorite type of writing is important…almost as important as choosing

01:06

your favorite ice cream flavor. [Person chooses favorite ice cream flavor]

01:08

Each writing style has its own pros and cons.

01:10

Hah.

01:11

Prose and cons.

01:12

Get it?

01:13

Ahem.

01:13

Poetry, for instance, allows you to create something with lots of rhythm and rhyme, making [Poetry rapping in the street]

01:17

it more interesting or pleasing to hear read aloud.

01:20

It's also great for experimentation, since you can break up sentences into different

01:24

lines to make the reader think about what you're saying in different ways.

01:28

The main con of poetry is that it’s not always easy to understand.

01:31

And you'll find that most readers prefer easy.

01:33

Which is a great pro for prose! [Prose book appears]

01:36

It's straightforward and well-organized.

01:38

Writers can use paragraphs and chapters to further organize the action and ideas to make

01:43

reading even easier.

01:44

But it's not all rosy pros for prose. [Foot squashes flowers]

01:47

Ever opened a book, seen all those words, and immediately wanted to close the book again?

01:51

Yeah, that’s the con of prose.

01:53

It can come across as a bit dull, as it has no interesting rhyming or rhythms like a poem, [Prose book in the street with a stereo playing music]

01:58

and can occasionally feel too long-winded.

02:01

The third format, plays, can be great fun for the writer, as it allows them to write

02:05

something that’s meant to be performed!

02:07

Writers get to explain what they want the stage to look like, how they want characters

02:11

to behave, and what they want the characters to say. [Writer throws script at actors on stage]

02:14

It’s kind of like playing dolls… but with people.

02:17

The downside is that it’s often hard to get across exactly how or when you want something

02:21

to happen, especially when so much of it has to be done through the dialogue.

02:24

This means that the writer can't be sure that what they write will turn out how they intended

02:28

it to.

02:29

Which isn’t so great for those control freak writers.

02:31

So the next time you have a great idea you want to get out, consider the pros and cons [Man has idea and considers pros and cons]

02:36

of each writing style to decide which one suits your idea best.

02:39

Remember: there's no “best” writing format – only different ones.

02:42

And just check with your parents before you do that whole ice cream reward thing… [Girl with ice cream and Mom appears]

02:46

If they say it's not a cool idea, then you didn’t hear it from us…

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