Poems, Plays, and Prose: Spotting the Differences

English · Reading Comprehension · ages 9-10

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Read this piece of writing.
The gate swung wide, the puddle shone, my dog ran out to play.
He shook his coat all over me and splashed the rain away.
Which form is it?
- Prose
- A poem
- A play script
Read this piece of writing.
The rain stopped at last. Nima pulled on her boots and ran down to the gate. Her dog was already waiting by the puddle.
Which form is it?
- A poem
- A play script
- Prose
Look at the play script's layout. What usually appears right before the story begins, listing who is in the play?
- The stage directions
- The cast list
- The dialogue
A poem is usually divided into chapters.
Circle one: True False
In a play script, you see a character's action written in italics inside brackets, like (crosses the room). What is this called?
- Dialogue
- Stage directions
- A stanza
Read this piece of writing.
Scene 1. A bus stop in the rain. OMAR: (folding his umbrella) You are late again. PRIYA: The bus was later than me.
Which mark tells you this is a play script and not prose?
- The name printed in front of each spoken line
- The full stops at the ends of the sentences
- The capital letter that starts each sentence
Zoe's writing is split into scenes. Ali's writing is split into paragraphs and chapters. What are they writing?
- Zoe is writing a play and Ali is writing prose
- Zoe is writing prose and Ali is writing a poem
- Zoe is writing a poem and Ali is writing a play
A play script prints a name in front of a line, like this:
SAM: Not yet.
What is that name there for?
- It tells the reader and the actors who says the line
- It tells the reader where to pause and take a breath
- It gives the scene its title
A play script says:
TINA: (dropping her bag) I forgot my homework.
You want to write that same moment as prose. What happens to the words in brackets?
- Tina says them out loud to the class
- They become a sentence that tells the reader Tina dropped her bag
- They stay in brackets so the reader can skip them
A story says:
"I lost the key," whispered Ravi, backing away from the door.
Which one shows that same moment written as a play script?
- Ravi whispered that he had lost the key, then backed away from the door.
- Ravi. "I lost the key." He backed away from the door.
- RAVI: (backing away from the door) I lost the key.

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Poems, Plays, and Prose: Spotting the Differences W1-mt_4IxR66uGLc-s1

A poem · Short lines are grouped into two blocks with a stanza break between them, and play and away rhyme at the ends, so this is a poem.
Prose · The words run on as full sentences inside one paragraph, with no stanzas and no speaker names, so this is prose.
The cast list · The cast list comes first and names every character before the play begins.
False · Poems are divided into stanzas, not chapters. Chapters belong to prose.
Stage directions · Stage directions tell actors how to move or speak, and they're set apart from the spoken lines.
The name printed in front of each spoken line · OMAR and PRIYA stand in front of the words they say, with no quotation marks. Prose would tuck that speech into a paragraph instead.
Zoe is writing a play and Ali is writing prose · Scenes are the parts a play is cut into. Paragraphs gathered into chapters are the parts of prose.
It tells the reader and the actors who says the line · The name marks the speaker, so everyone knows whose line it is. Pausing is what a poem's line breaks do, and a scene is named up in the heading.
They become a sentence that tells the reader Tina dropped her bag · Prose has no actors to instruct, so the stage direction turns into a sentence that describes what Tina does.
RAVI: (backing away from the door) I lost the key. · A play script puts the speaker's name in front of the line with no quotation marks, and turns the action into a stage direction in brackets.