What is a verse novel?
I found this youtube clip to be a great representation of what verse novels are. The narrator does a wonderful job of explaining what it is, the theme of novels, who it is suited for, and many other aspects of verse novels. I hope you enjoy the short 2-minute clip!
What Genre is a Verse Novel??
When you think about verse novels, where do you believe it fits into relation to genre? When I first read an article over the question of genre, I too was taken aback and didn’t know how to categorize it. When I think about verse novels my immediate instinct is to categorize them as a poetry books and be done with it. A further look into verse novels and I know that I am wrong. Verse novels are not just poetry. In an article by Mike Cadden titled The Verse Novel and the Question of Genre he explains the divide between verse novels and typical poetry. He says, “The voice of the verse novel is usually in the form of character narration rather than in the external narrative voice of the traditional long story poem or epic” (Cadden p.3). This for me was my turning point in seeing verse novels as not just mere poetry. Verse novels also lead to them as being viewed as a drama. Cadden says, “The verse novel lends itself, and has for centuries, to a physical, oral rendering, which adds the visual to the voice and provides what the genre of drama gives us” ( Cadden p.5). Countless times in school I can remember acting out verse novels. One children’s verse novel I particularly remember acting out was Love that Dog by Sharon Creech. which leads me to agree with Cadden that drama is indeed an important facet of verse novels.
When I take a step back and re-evaluate the genre at question for verse novels I see it as its own genre that has many combining aspects to it. I see poetry, drama, and a novel. Cadden says, “Instead of worrying about which of two genres the verse novel is most like, possibly creating a version of genre tug of war, we should use the form as a gateway to three genres in the nexus that it forms between them all. In fact, the verse novel could be the touchstone text for transitions among units on the novel, poetry, and drama” (Cadden p.6). I think as a future teacher it is important to allow students to explore with this genre and come up with their own understanding of a verse novel. In many cases, I believe students will be so mesmerized with verse novels that they won’t have time to evaluate what they are reading, which I feel is a wonderful aspect especially for the reluctant readers who feel they cannot understand poetry.
