Communication, poetry and storytelling

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It's in the Words
by: Richard

It's interesting that the subject all comes down to the words - the definitions of the words.

"A definition is the beginning of knowledge." - Demosthenes.

The two most poorly defined words in literature are the words "story" and "poem".

As one must have a datum of comparable magnitude to understand any other datum, consider the following:

Poetic<---------------->Prosaic

These two words merely define the two extremes of a gradient scale which describes the "style" of written or oral communication.

All written or oral communication falls somewhere on that scale in terms of style. But there must be more to "communication" than just style.

To communicate one must have something to say. And to worth receiving it, there must more value to it than just style.

One could simply say "Stop" which is a complete thought however; it is neither story nor poetry.

While it is certainly true that "Art is the quality of communication" - LRH. There are two types of "quality". One is the quality of what is being said, and the other is the quality of how one is saying it.

While one can simply use their voice as an instrument by humming a pretty tune however this is not a "song" anymore than strumming a guitar is a song. It may reach the quality of "music" but it is not a song because no "idea" is being communicated.

Or one could simply string together the words for; flowers, bees, trees, puppy dogs, and candy canes. We could even make it rhyme, and arrange it in iambic pentameter - would this qualify as a "poem"? Yes, but only of the lowest order because it has some "poetic" qualities.

We could also take the above and arrange it into the simplest, dullest arrangement - like a grocery list. By changing the style we have made it prosaic.

But this says nothing of the other quality - the significance of what is being communicated - the quality of the idea.

Songs, stories, and poems must contain a quality of significance, an importance. They must not only be about something, but they must comment on that subject. They must answer to - "Why are you telling me this?"

The "idea" that you mentioned is that significance. The better word for this is "premise". And the structure for a complete communication that contains a premise is the structure of a story which is composed of; premise, proofs, and conclusion.

Given the above, one could have a quality communication. Because it not only addresses a subject, but it expresses and idea "about" that subject, and most importantly it would mean something to us.

Therefore the most sophisticated; important and complete for of communication is a story. The story can be told in a prosaic or poetic style. It can be very long or it can be very short. I can rhyme or it can be as flat as a board.

In short, the complete communication can be pegged somewhere on the gradient scale between prosaic and poetic based on the style of the telling.

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Submitted by: Richard

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It's interesting that the subject all comes down to the words - the definitions of the words. "A definition is the beginning of knowledge." - Demosthenes. The two most poorly defined words in literature are the words "story" and "poem". As one must have a datum of comparable magnitude to understand any other datum, consider the following: Poetic<---------------->Prosaic These two words merely define the two extremes of a gradient scale which describes the "style" of written or oral communication. All written or oral communication falls somewhere on that scale in terms of style. But there must be more to "communication" than just style. To communicate one must have something to say. And to worth receiving it, there must more value to it than just style. One could simply say "Stop" which is a complete thought however; it is neither story nor poetry. While it is certainly true that "Art is the quality of communication" - LRH. There are two types of "quality". One is the quality of what is being said, and the other is the quality of how one is saying it. While one can simply use their voice as an instrument by humming a pretty tune however this is not a "song" anymore than strumming a guitar is a song. It may reach the quality of "music" but it is not a song because no "idea" is being communicated. Or one could simply string together the words for; flowers, bees, trees, puppy dogs, and candy canes. We could even make it rhyme, and arrange it in iambic pentameter - would this qualify as a "poem"? Yes, but only of the lowest order because it has some "poetic" qualities. We could also take the above and arrange it into the simplest, dullest arrangement - like a grocery list. By changing the style we have made it prosaic. But this says nothing of the other quality - the significance of what is being communicated - the quality of the idea. Songs, stories, and poems must contain a quality of significance, an importance. They must not only be about something, but they must comment on that subject. They must answer to - "Why are you telling me this?" The "idea" that you mentioned is that significance. The better word for this is "premise". And the structure for a complete communication that contains a premise is the structure of a story which is composed of; premise, proofs, and conclusion. Given the above, one could have a quality communication. Because it not only addresses a subject, but it expresses and idea "about" that subject, and most importantly it would mean something to us. Therefore the most sophisticated; important and complete for of communication is a story. The story can be told in a prosaic or poetic style. It can be very long or it can be very short. I can rhyme or it can be as flat as a board. In short, the complete communication can be pegged somewhere on the gradient scale between prosaic and poetic based on the style of the telling.

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Communication, poetry and storytelling

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