The document explains the key differences between prose and poetry, highlighting that prose is written in a natural form with grammatical sentences while poetry utilizes aesthetic and rhythmic qualities in a metrical structure. It describes various forms of prose and poetry, including types of poetry such as free verse and blackout poetry. The document also introduces a creative exercise for making blackout poetry using existing text sources.

1. Grade 7
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROSE AND
POETRY

2. Literature can be categorized into
two main classifications based on
the structure of language.
These two categories are known as
prose and poetry. Prose is the
language in its original and natural
form, i.e., the language that is found
in newspapers, textbooks, novels.
Poetry is a form of literature that
uses aesthetic and rhythmic
qualities of language to evoke
meaning.
The main difference between prose
and poetry is that prose is written
naturally whereas poetry is written in
a metrical structure.

3. Prose is a major form of literature;
both fiction and nonfiction are included in
prose. Novels, novellas, short
stories, biographies,
autobiographies, memoirs, essays, travel
books, academic essays, thesauruses,
textbooks, etc. are all written in prose.
The language is grammatical in nature
and consists of a natural flow of speech,
instead of metrical structure. It is
composed of full grammatical sentences,
and these sentences are then grouped in
paragraphs. The language used in
nonfiction such as newspaper, textbooks,
travel books, etc. are devoid of figures of
speech, and other decorations and ideas
are expressed in a direct and
straightforward manner. The spoken
language can also be classified as prose.
WHAT IS PROSE

4. Since the spoken language has the
characteristics of prose, many people
find it easier to write prose than poetry.
Another significant factor that contributes
to this preference is the word limit in
poetry; poets often use a limited number
of words to express their ideas.

5. Poetry is a form of literature that
uses aesthetic and rhythmic
qualities of language to evoke
meaning. Factors such as rhyme,
rhythm, metric syllables, etc. are
taken into account to create
poetry. Poetry is normally used to
express something in an artistic
and aesthetic way.
However, the language of poetry
is not as natural or free as prose.
Poetic language tends to be
more decorative and creative
than the language used in
prose; attention is especially
What is Poetry

6. A poem is composed of lines; a line
can be very long or as short as one
word. A stanza is made up of several
stanzas.
Poems can be classified into different
types depending on the structure of
the stanzas. Free verse, blank
verse, cinquain, diamante poems are
some examples of these structures.
As mentioned above, poets use a
limited number of words to express
their ideas in poetry. This is why one
line can be as short as one word.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand
the meaning of the poem by reading it
only once or twice. An in-depth
reading and analysis may be required
What is Poetry

7. Blackout Poetry Is A
Fascinating Art Form You Can
Try At Home Right Now.
Start by finding some pages
with words on them.
These can come from
magazines, newspapers, or
very old falling-apart books that
you are ready to let go.
Blackout Poetry

8. Then give them these
instructions…
1. Skim your page of
words. Don’t read
carefully, as the point is
just to grab an idea from
the words, not take them
in. Find a word, phrase,
or general theme that you
like.
Blackout Poetry

9. 2. Go through and lightly
circle the words or phrases
you might want to use. Grab
a blank piece of paper and
write them down in order,
then read through them.
Cross out the words you
don’t want. If you need a few
connecting words (like “a”,
“the”, “it”, etc.) then dive
back in and see if you can
find them between the words
you want to connect. You
often can.
Blackout Poetry

10. 3. Go back through your
poem and boldly box the
words you are keeping
with pen, sharpie, dark
pencil, etc. Erase any
circles around words you
don’t want.
Blackout Poetry

11. 4. Read through your final poem.
Sketch in a few images or symbols
on your page that relate to the
theme of your poem. Now it’s time
to start blackening. Using a
sharpie, pen, or pencil, black out
everything that is NOT a word in
your poem or one of your own
sketches.
(This is a nice time to play some
music, a podcast, or a Ted Talk,
so everyone can relax and enjoy
this part of the process with a little
entertainment.)
Blackout Poetry

12. 5. Write out your final poem to
display next to your blackout
poetry. Add punctuation if you
wish.
The show begins.
Water swirled
lighting up drifting glow.
I watched its glimmer
fleeting
flicker out.
A trail of sparkles set out at
sunset.
6. Finally, share your poetry!
Blackout Poetry