First, an advance apology to Crich. I do not mean to point my finger at you. I do want to use your quote to make a language point, however.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
Aside from epic poems which tell a story about a hero i.e. El Cid, Beowulf, Roland, Odysseus, etc. . . .
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The above quote is an example of a common mistake made by writers -- the misuse of i.e. and e.g. The former (i.e.) is a substitute for "that is", whereas the latter (e.g.) is a substitute for "for example." "That is" is used when the following named items are the only items or a complete list of items, not when they are just a sample. In contrast, e.g. is used when the following items are some but not all of the possibilities. In addition, "etc." is never used with either i.e. or e.g. because, in the case of i.e., there is no other possibility so there is no etc., and in the case of e.g., by definition the list is incomplete and thus etc. is redundant.
In addition, in American English, a "which" clause is separated by commas; a "that" clause is not separated by commas.
The above quote should have been
Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
Aside from epic poems, which tell a story about a hero, e.g., El Cid, Beowulf, Roland, Odysseus, . . .
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I also disagree with this statement:
Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
Fiction tells a story with a clear cut beginning, middle and end. "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree..." doesn't tell a story about a particular tree or have the classic story structure. For most intents and purposes prose and poetry are two different things.
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Fiction, nonfiction, prose, poetry, all forms of writing tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end -- even a 1-sentence story. Granted the forms are different and the clarity of each part may differ, but all writing forms have the 3 parts. Sometimes two of the three parts are combined in a single phrase or word or sentence, but the elements are there.
If you must find something to distinguish poetry from prose, I think you would be better served by focusing on the rhythmic differences than on the content differences.