The Similarities and Differences Between Fiction, Drama, and Poetry - Essay Sample

Introduction

A fiction is any literary work or cinematographic work that narrates imaginary facts (described as fictitious). One of the licenses that every author has when writing a work of fiction is the use of imaginary scenarios and the power to mix elements of reality with others belonging to the fictitious. Some authors like Tolkien have created entire worlds with unreal beings and even a language of their own (Kennedy & Dana 17). All these elements have a meaning within that story and must maintain a certain coherence. Each story, be based on reality or present an imaginary alternative, must have a structure and coherence, where all the events that occur there are "realistic" from the point of view of the universe that is painted in it. One of the fundamental challenges of every fiction author is to offer a work that presents a convincing and compelling reality, which allows the reader to forget about his own life and move to the world of history while going through the fiction work.

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On the other hand, drama is a literary genre characterized by the representation of conflicting human actions and situations, which have been conceived for its staging, be it theatrical, televisual or cinematographic. In this sense, drama can also refer to the play itself. The dramas represent some episode or conflict in the life of their characters (Kirszner and Stephen 56). As such, the drama does not relate but represents and staged an action or situation in which a story is interwoven. The expressive resources are, fundamentally, dialogue, which is the exchange of ideas or thoughts between different characters; the soliloquy or monologue, which is the reflection of a character alone; the aside, which are the words of a character for himself, assuming he is not heard from anyone else, and the mutis, which indicates the exit of a character's scene. Structurally, the dramatic work is characterized by being divided into acts, which suppose an important inflection in the development of history and which are marked by the fall of the curtain; in scenes, which are the internal subdivision of the act where the same characters are present, and in pictures, which are the physical setting of the set.

Poetry is a literary genre that is characterized by being the most refined manifestation, through the word, feelings, emotions, and reflections that can be expressed by the human being around beauty, love, life or death. As such, it can be composed in both verse and prose. Formerly, poetry was written only in verses, governed by a set of rules on the composition called metric (Kennedy & Dana 85). However, modern poetry is characterized by the predominance of free verse, where the author has total freedom to arrange and organize the verses in the text and find their own rhythm, without ties of rhymes or metrics. Some of the general characteristics of poetry include it can be written in verse or in prose, it has rhythm, it makes use of elements of symbolic value, it makes use of the literary figures, among the most used is the metaphor, and modern poetry makes extensive use of free verse and rhyming assonance.

There are several differences between fiction, drama, and poetry. Poetry is usually very short, and individual words are more important to the significance of a poem. Moreover, words can have more than a significance, and these differences can change the significance of the poem in general. With drama, the words create a script, and the work is presented in the theater for many people to see (David 1). A poem could be interpreted, but it is less common expressed in the theater. In addition, a dramatic work has a fixed structure. It consists of the exposition, which contains important information, or a suspicious aspect of the argument. Then, there is the incident or the dramatic conflict. Then there is the climax or the moment with much of the action of the drama as a consequence of the incident; finally, there is the outcome or the resolution of the work. Other aspects of a drama include the playwright, the characters, the director, the actors, the stage, and the spectators. In a poetic work, it is possible that the narrator exists and, perhaps, some characters, but they are not essential to the significance of the poem.

Poetry is a genre within literature that is characterized by maintaining an aesthetic at the time of writing, respecting some basic characteristics of what has traditionally been conceived as poetry. The main characteristic is its writing in verse, differentiating itself from writing in prose as is the case of a fiction. The big difference is that the verse is not cut at the end of a line of writing, as in the case of fiction or drama, but cuts in the pauses that need to be highlighted. But poetry also has a well-known characteristic, although it is not an inherent condition, as is the case with verse (Leon 1). The rhyme is that the verses contain similar endings so that the syllables sound similar. For example: (a bird sings on the house roof, towards the blue and big sky, to each passing bird, it raises its elegant voice), the first verse has a similar ending to the third verse, although they do not have a similar ending. This is intonation, and that is the third characteristic although it is not purely related to its writing, but rather to its reading. This is not the case with fiction or drama works.

Lastly, drama has, by definition, a concrete dimension: the story is staged, that is, realized, made real. If history can be, and generally is, fictional, the staging, which is mainly the theater as such, belongs to reality. The genre is, therefore, both fictional and real, insofar as history, when it is played out, temporarily arrives at reality. In fact, its reality begins at the rising of the curtain and stops with the end of the room. Drama is therefore not a "realistic" genre (it is not about conformity or kinship with the known reality) but rather of a "realized" kind, since it is fulfilled only in the representation. This should not be confused with fictional work, which can be realistic or improbable, with its realization, which brings history out of abstraction. Poetry, even more complex, perhaps embodies the opposite problem. Poetry is perceived as a totally foreign to the familiar reality (Write work contributors 1). On the contrary, its deep nature is rooted in the simplest emotions and the most concrete realities: the concern for poetry is above all to put into words individual emotions quite prior to any reflection or censorship. The recurring difficulty in understanding poetry comes from language itself, to which each lends impressions, images, memories, judgments. So much so that poetry, which is not narrative, provokes a flood of new, incongruous or absurd representations that are considered completely foreign to the real, because they do not correspond to the intelligible realm of the mind. In other words, poetry, non-narrative and (therefore) non-fictional, opposing the rational realm of the mind, is perceived as imaginative fiction; but its object is reality itself, before its comprehension by the mind. It cannot, therefore, be said that poetry is fictional: on the contrary, poetry is the "realistic" genre par excellence (this remains to be defined for certain sub-categories of poetry).

Poetry also differs from fiction and drama in that it uses repetition as a form of writing, uses verses, rhymes and takes great care of aesthetics. It uses the rhythm, the alliteration and the onomatopoeia that give poetry a musical character (David 1). Use metaphors, similes, metonymy, and irony, letting different interpretations arise. It uses rhetorical words and therefore can be extrapolated to other areas such as theater, singing or comedy.

There are also several similarities between the three. First, they all have several literary genres. Within the fiction are several literary genres, such as the fantastic (which includes fairy tales, horror, science fiction, cavalry novels, and heroic fantasy), the romance novel and the crime novel (detective stories or novels of spies). Within drama, there are different subgenres such as tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, and farce among others. Within poetry, there is epic poetry, dramatic poetry, lyric poetry, choral poetry, and bucolic poetry among others.

The second similarity is that in fiction, drama, and poetry, they all try to express feelings around the world. Poetry expresses feelings through the word, whether written or oral. It basically manifests deep feelings or great reflections as a sign of subjectivity. The lyrical poet presents his perception of reality, leaving aside the objectivity. Fictions also describe an environment, events, and characters that are very close to reality. It is not only a matter of credibility, but fiction is also a faithful mirror of the reality that is known (Kirszner & Stephen 16). All the adventures and evolutions of the characters are rigorously subjected to an analysis of the possibilities and limits of reality. In a general sense, drama is any literary composition that exposes an action through characters who speak and act among themselves in apparent objectivity. Drama seeks to achieve aesthetic beauty.

Thirdly, drama and poetry are influenced by social experiences and the environment of their authors. Fiction does not escape these elements; the handling of the genre and the stories that are born of it are not the same. Some regions provide stories of greater entertainment, while others seek introspection or psychological deepening in futuristic environments. Lastly, the three lay the foundations for continuous innovation in real society. These works are created for people to read and entertain and if they can learn something. Most pass from generation to generation and they express feelings or thoughts of the author, which can inspire respect and can change the mood of who reads or sees it. Lastly, they are all literary forms that pass stories to those watching or reading. They also share many elements such as plot, themes, and characters.

Works Cited

Davis, Spencer Hope. "Differences between Poetry & Drama." Pen and the Pad, 21 Nov. 2017, penandthepad.com/differences-between-poetry-drama-4493.html.

Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Longman, 2015.

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell, eds. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Compact 6th ed. Boston: Thompson Wadsworth: 2007

Leon. "What Is Drama and How Is It Different from Other Literature?" Wingardium Leviosa, 7 June 2012, literatelai.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/what-is-drama-and-how-is-it-different-from-other-literature/.

WriteWork contributors. "Compare the Similarities of short stories, poetry, and drama" WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 17 June 2008. Web. 28 Nov. 2018.