Play Versus Short Story: What is the Difference?

What are the differences between a play and a short story?

PLAY

• dates back to Plato and Aristotle
• consists of acts and scenes
• drama comes from the Greek word "dran" which means to do or to act
• tells the story of one or more events
• consists of a few characters
• set on a stage
• tells story through dialogue
• use of literary devices
• theme should be evident as play unfolds
• setting self-evident
• top 100 stage plays (http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13581.Goodreads_Top_100_Stage_Plays_of_All_Time)

https://prezi.com/iupdawcjsone/renaissance-presentation/

SHORT STORY

• dates back to early 19th Century
• consists of a sequence of events (plot)
• has a clear beginning, middle and ending
• few characters
• read at one sitting
• tells story through narration and some dialogue
• strong character development
• frequent use of literary devices
• theme woven into the plot
• setting described through narration
• top 100 short stories (http://americanliterature.com/100-great-short-stories)

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Literary Devices: Weave Them Into Your Writing

"The point isn't to memorize literary devices; the point is to become familiar with them, learn how to use them, practice using them and weave them into your writing, to make it brighter, more imaginative and filled with a richness that it won't get otherwise." (Leah McLellan)

Here is a list of literary techniques that you can incorporate into your writing whether it's fiction or non-fiction.

1.  alliteration:  a series of words which all begin with the same letter

ex. "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."  Books with alliteration include Dr. Seuss' ABC and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse.

2.  assonance:  similar vowel sounds

ex. "Don't pander to a panhandler named Dan the Handiman."

3.  metonymy:  similar to a metaphor

ex. "He supported his family with his own sweat and blood."

4.  onomatopoeia:  the word imitates the sound

ex.  "The rain plip plopped against the window pane."  Books that focus on onomatopoeia are Going on a Bear Hunt and Mr. Brown can Moo Can You?

5.  oxymoron:  two words that have opposite meanings 

ex.  Great Depression; jumbo shrimp; deafening silence

6.  personification:  inanimate objects take on human characteristics

ex. "The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky."  Books that focus on personification are The Day the Crayons Quit and Charlotte's Web.

7.  asyndeton:  omit conjunctions in a list

ex.  "Write, revise, edit, proofread, repeat; that's your job as a writer."

8.  hyperbole:  exaggeration for effect

ex.  "He could have knocked me over with a feather."

9.  allusion:  referring to an actual historical event

ex.  "The Cold War was back on when I told the kids we weren't going to the movies."  Books that focus on allusion are Animal Farm and Harry Potter.

10.  anaphora:  repetition of a word/phrase at the beginning of successive clauses 

ex.  "If you don't dream, if you don't plan, if you don't act, if you don't take a chance, you'll never get anywhere."

11.  procatalepsis:  anticipates reader rejection and addresses it

ex.  "You might think these literary devices are silly or not worth your time.  If you ask any experienced writer however, you'll soon learn how valuable they truly are." 

12.  epizeuxis:  repetition of a word for effect

ex.  "All he ever did was whine, whine, whine."

13.  irony:  say one thing and mean the opposite; expect one thing and the opposite happens

ex.  A traffic cop gets his licence suspended for unpaid parking tickets.  Books that focus on irony are Pride & Prejudice and The Help.

14.  foreshadowing:  a hint of what is to come later in the story
ex.  Charles Dickens uses stormy weather to foreshadow changes in Pip's life in Great Expectations.  Little Red Riding Hood has good examples of foreshadowing.

Note:  For more information, visit http://simplewriting.org/15-divine-devices-to-drastically-improve-your-writing/.

https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/literary-terminology/deck/6224576

Picture Books: Not Just for Young Children

"The picture book, a mainstay of children's literature, with its lavish illustrations, cheerful colours and large print wrapped in a glossy jacket, has been fading...Publishers cite pressures from parents who are mindful of increasingly rigorous standardized testing in school." 

(Julie Bosman, New York Times)





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I remember visiting a used bookstore with my daughter and her friend.  Jacqueline, an avid reader, was perusing the picture books.  Her friend said:  "My Mom says that I'm too old for picture books" and moved on to the chapter books.  That mom seems to be part of the majority these days.  Many parents see picture books as books for babies or toddlers, not for school age children, and certainly not for preteens.  

Picture book sales are down.  In 2010, Simon & Schuster reported that only 10% of their children's book sales were picture books, down from 35% a few years before.  Scholastic reported a 5% to 10% drop in their picture book sales over the years 2007 to 2010.  Consequently, publishers are less likely to offer contracts to picture book authors.    

"[Yet] literary experts are quick to say that picture books are not for dummies," says Julie Bosman of the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html?_r=0).  While chapter books have more text, picture books often have a richer vocabulary.  After all, in most cases, it's a parent who reads the picture book to the child.  Therefore, the picture book has to appeal to both child and adult, a demand that the chapter book need not fulfill.  

Karen Lotz, a publisher at Candlewick Press, maintains that picture books promote an analogue way of thinking.  "From picture to picture, as the reader interacts with the book, their imagination is filling in the missing themes."

Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid courtesy http://andreaskyberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Picture-a-Tree-22-23.jpg.

Bill Glaister points out that picture books, especially advanced picture books (1000-2000 words), can be used in the classroom at all levels across the curriculum.  Here are some reasons why. 

1.  Picture books present complex ideas in a concrete manner.

2.  Picture books introduce moral issues.  They are a great way to start a discussion.  I met a Grade 7 & 8 teacher who used picture books to introduce Social Studies units.  For instance, a unit about Canadian Civil Rights could be introduced with the picture book Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged.

3.  Picture books lend humour to topics.  They can be a launching pad for drama.  I remember using The Berenstains Bears Tell the Truth for a Kindergarten skit about the importance of being honest, complete with a Little Tikes buggy (aka a shopping cart).

4.  Picture books often use complex literary devices.

5.  Picture books are a great way to introduce other genres.  If you want to discuss poetry, read Dr. Seuss books.

6.  Picture books can serve as models for the students' writing.

7.  Wordless picture books can serve as story starters.  Journey, by Aaron Becker, is a Caldecott Honor book.

8.  Picture books can be a resource for budding artists.  For example, Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid is a great example of plasticene art.

For the entire article, visit (http://www.uleth.ca/education/sites/education/files/PictureBooksForOlderReaders.pdf).

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How to Flavour Your Article with Anecdotes

"Anecdotes are like raisins in oatmeal cookies.  Sure, you can eat the cookies without them, but you'll miss out on the added flavour, contrasting texture and enhanced nutrition." 

(Michelle Ruberg in Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing)

Anecdotes don't just fall out of the sky onto your page like "manna", according to Michelle Ruberg. As a writer, you must search for them during your research and interviews.  While you are recording your names, dates and places, don't forget to include an anecdote or two.

Michelle Ruberg suggests that you draw them out of your subject by asking open-ended questions ex. "Tell me what happened when..." or "Describe what you saw when..."  Ideally, a face to face interview is the most productive.  Much of what we say is non-verbal, conveyed by our gestures and facial expressions; these are thing you can't pick up in a telephone conversation.  Don't forget to look for cultural distinctions and nuances as well.

As part of your research, documents can be a good source for anecdotes.  Eric Freedman, author of Pioneering Michigan, used a letter written by Jefferson Gage Thurber to his New England family to illustrate the panic following the 1832 cholera epidemic in Detroit.

"The panic at the time exceeded anything I ever imagined.  The timidity of our border settlers from sudden incursions of the Indians forms but a faint comparison.  I have no doubt from what little experience and observation I have had that fear has killed as many as the cholera." 

Where does an anecdote go in the article?  According to Michelle Ruberg, anywhere that it fits.  Steve Wilson's Folio magazine profile started with an Evel Knievel anecdote.

"One evening in 1973...Bob Bitchin pulled his chopper up to a stoplight on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.  He made eye contact with a man in a fur coat behind the wheel of a Ferrari.  When the light turned green, they raced.  The driver (who won) turned out to be Evel Knievel, and their late night of partying and entanglement with the law later made it into a Rolling Stone article."

Immediately upon reading this anecdote, your interest is piqued.  It pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading.

You can also put an anecdote at the heart of your piece as William Goldman did in his New York magazine article about wrestler turned film star Andre the Giant.  After being treated to several meals by Andre the Giant, Arnold Schwarznegger invited him out to dinner.

"...late in the meal, he snuck into the kitchen to give his credit card to the maitre d'.  As he was about to do this, he felt himself being lifted up into the air.  'When he had me up in the air, he turned me so I was facing him and he said:  'I pay.'  Then he carried me back to the table and set me down like a little boy.'  Oh yes, Andre was very strong."

The image I have of Andre the Giant lifting up former body builder Arnold Schwarznegger like a little boy is a powerful one.

An article can also end with an anecdote to drive a point home.  Douglas Preston included one in his National Geographic article about Cambodia.  He touched an ancestor stone, then:

"ran my finger through the cool grove of a lotus tree.  Here, broken soldiers from an Angkor temple had been put in the service of an even more ancient religion.  One of our soldiers, a skinny, barefoot teenager with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder, stopped at the shrine,placed his hands together and bowed deeply in an act of veneration.  A gecko called twice, and then the forest fell silent in the stifling noon day heat.  Life went on in this strange, timeless land."

Note the sharp words and vivid imagery Mr. Preston uses, just as you would see in a fiction piece.

Michelle Ruberg reminds you to write tightly when including anecdotes.  "An overly long and wordy anecdote detours readers".  If your word count is 1000, and you include an anecdote of 350 words, that only leaves you 750 words for the rest of your article.  However, if your word count is double that, you might have room for such an anecdote.

Think like a fiction writer.  Use devices like plot, dialogue, characterization, sharp words and description when writing an anecdote.  Remember, your anecdote should bolster your point; it should be more than just "window dressing".  If you have too many to fit in your piece, save the remaining anecdotes for future writing assignments.

Note:  For more information, visit http://resources.writersonlineworkshops.com/resources/using-anecdotes-to-flavor-your-articles/.

https://www.andertoons.com/speech/cartoon/3419/before-we-get-right-to-food-for-thought-id-like-to-begin-with-an-anecdote-appetizer