1. Narrative Poetry vs. Prose
How do I distinguish among narrative poetry and prose?

2. What’s the Purpose?
NarrativePoetry is a form of writing that is meant to
1. entertain
2. express
Prose is a form of writing that is meant to:
1. inform
2. express
3. persuade
4. entertain

3. Text Features
POETRY
There are several features of poetry that make it unique from other forms of writing. These are:
Varied in length
Written in lines and stanzas
Uses sound devices (rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc…)
Takes poetic license with space, punctuation, grammar, etc…
Uses word pictures to build sensory impressions and create images
Plays with the sounds of words and the rhymes of phrases
Is usually intended to be read aloud
Prose
There are several features of prose that make it unique from other forms of writing. These are:
Written using paragraphs
May contain dialogue
Can be either fiction or nonfiction
Can have headings and/or subheadings
Can be accompanied by graphics (charts, photos)

4. Different Forms Narrative Poetry can take several forms. These are:
Epics
Ballads
Lyrical Poems
Narrative Poems
Prose can take several forms. These are:
Biography
Autobiography
Essay
Novel
Short Story
Novella
Article
Fable / Folktale
Folktale

5. Narrative Poetry
Narrative poetry originated by groups reciting the poem orally and passing it down from generation to generation.
Its meter and rhyme structure made it easier to memorize and deliver orally to a crowd. Thus, it is one of the oldest forms of poetry.
A narrative poem tells a story and shares many things with short stories including narrator, characters, setting, plot, conflict and resolution, HOWEVER, they also uses imagery, figurative language and different sound patterns to grab and hold the audience’s attention.
Typically it begins with descriptions of characters and setting.

6. The Narrator
A narrative poem is told from the point of view of a narrator.
This narrator can be a main character in the story, a character who has witnessed the particular events of the story, or a character who is retelling the story he has heard from someone else.

7. Epics
An EPIC which is a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in an elevated style.
Though most narrative poetry is fictional, it can also be nonfictional and tell the story of a war or a biography of a real person.
A narrative poem can also be a combination of these two elements such as the epic, Homer’s “The Iliad” & “The Odyssey.”

8. Ballads
A ballad fits under this category because it is a simple narrative poem of folk origin which is adapted for singing and written in verses rather than stanzas.

9. Allusion
If the poet makes a reference to a famous and often historical person, place, event, or work of literature in their poem – they are making an ALLUSION

10. Connotation: Denotation: Word Choice/Diction
The way a word makes us feel.
Denotation:
The actual dictionary definition of the word.
Words can give us different feelings when we hear them…some positive, some negative, and everything in between!
Find some examples in the following poem…
click
“Meeting at Night,”