What are the similarities and differences between short stories, dramas, and poems?

These are differentiated by narrative: prose (short story, novel, epic) has more than ostar narrator; poetry (verse) has one narrator; drama has no narrator.  This is the division of "poetry" that Aristotle made in the Poetics.  Of course these divisions have been tested in modern times, but The Iliad, Wordsworth's work, Ibsen' work all conform to these distinctions.

All three are forms of Literature. Plays are the oldest, going back to ancient Greek times. Novels were introduced in the 18th century with Daniel Defoe often credited with having written the first with his most famous work, The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner, Written by Himself (1719). Short stories came later beginning around the turn of the 19th century. By 1830 several prominent authors like Sir Walter Scott, Dickens and Washington Irving had published collections of short stories, like "Rip Van Winkle." Edgar Allen Poe, Conan Doyle, Pushkin and Gogol added greatly to the short story genre in its early stages. So, one of the first differences is their state of antiquity: plays, novels, short stories.

Plays are meant to be performed on a stage, by actors who have memorized their lines, before a live audience. The action and scope is by necessity limited to what can be produced on a physical stage in a set amount of time. Novels are meant to be read at leisure by one individual or by one individual to a group of listeners. The action and scope is limited only by the logical connections the author has creative power to draw. As we see from modern novels by John Le Carre, action can cover many locations and long time periods. Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky shows action can cover a compressed period of time, even just days.

Short stories are similar to plays in that the space available necessarily limits the action and the scope. Action and scope must be focused to a narrow time and a single, focused problem, though flashback and flash-forward can expand the time, action and scope as in Faulkner's "A Rose for Miss Emily." So while all three are similar in having action, scope, time, location, and problem (conflict) all differ in how broadly or narrowly these can be developed.

Plays, novels and short stories all differ somewhat in the literary devices they make use of. Of course, structure differs in each with plays being governed by compact acts, novels by wide ranging chapters and short stories by stricter implementation of chapters or their elimination altogether. All develop themes and characters. While all employ foreshadowing and rhetorical techniques, only novels and short stories employ flashbacks and flash-forwards. While all employ symbolism and metaphor, plays address the audience directly. Novels and short stories provide narrated description of setting, characters and events; this is not needed in plays (except minimalist experimental plays) since the audience sees these directly. These are some of the major similarities and differences between plays, novels and short stories.

What are the main similarities and differences between drama, poetry, and short stories?

Referring to drama in the sense of a theatrical play, drama takes on a different dimension from the others. Playwriting differs from the short story and novel in that its structure separates the dialogue to each specific character. It also includes stage directions and other specific notes that are meant for the actor/reader but are not verbally communicated on stage. Poetry differentiates from the other forms in its structure, which is usally written in separate lines and stanzas. Poetry can be free verse or rhyming verse, and it is generally the most condensed form of all. Poems tend to be based on a single thought or event, with deliberate attention to a restrictive or specific sparsity of words.  A short story is a more condensed style (usually of 30 pages or less) of writing, usually--but not always--depicting a story line that takes place over a limited time period. Short stories,can also be dramatic. Dramatic elements can occur in most literary styles--novels, short stories, plays and even poetry. Dramatic elements usually involve some form of action and conflict.

What are the major similarities and differences between drama, poetry, and short stories?

The differences of these three types of writing are easier to understand than perhaps their similarities. 

Drama is often written in the form of a play.  It is divided into acts, which are further subdivided into scenes.  Drama can be comedic or tragic, but only includes the dialogue the characters are saying, sometimes accompanied by stage directions, which indicate what the characters are doing.  Some people consider drama or plays difficult to read because the reader needs to use his/her imagine to find out what's going on, rather than the author's descriptions.  Drama is alos meant to be acted out or read out loud, rather than read on the page.  SOme examples of drama are any of Shakespeare's plays, Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornotn Wilde, and The Glass Menagerie by Tennesee Williams.

Poetry stands out in its form--that is, the way it's written.  Poetry, in the technical definition is writing with meter (or some kind of rhythm of stressed or unstressed syllables.)  Often times, when you read a poem, the lines break mid-sentence and don't go all the way to the end of the page.  That's because the author is counting the number of syllable and making the rhytm of the words fit his poetry (this is less often true in more contemporary poetry.)  However, it is the sound of the words when read outloud that gives poetry its meaning.  Authors do their best to condense as much meaning into a few words as they can.  Poetry will often be filled with all kinds of figures of speech--similies, metaphors, personification, irony, etc--rather than simply stating a point and moving on.  Some examples of poems include "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death--" by Emily Dickinson, any of Shakespeare's sonnets (and many portions of his plays), and "The Road Less Travelled" by Robert Frost.  In addition, a lot of people consider song lyrics poetry. 

Short stories are written in prose, which is the opposite of poetry--it's normal, every day lanuage that we speak.  In a short story, an author tells a story that starts as close to the end as possible.  Short stories usually only have one plot, a few characters and can be read in a relatively short period of time.  They provide the read with brief descriptions of characters and places, and strive to tell a full story.  Some examples include "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, "The Lie" by Kurt Vonnegut, and "A Perfect Day for Bananfish" by J.D Salinger.

The similarities are that they are all usually works of fiction that strive to tell a complete story of the human experience.  The form in which each genre accomplishes that is what makes them different.

What are the similarities and differences between a poem, short story, and drama?

All of these literary forms are used to tell a story of some kind, but all three use different structural forms in order to do so.

Poetry is usually written in verse and structured by separate lines (and often stanzas) rather than in tradtional prose/paragraph form. It is often written for aesthetic purposes to arouse the emotions, and poetry utilizes literary devices such as meter and rhythm often not found in other forms. Other literary devices such as assonance, metaphors and alliteration are commonly found. Poems can be of a rhyming or non-rhyming nature.

Short stories are fictional pieces, usually written in a narrative format of 30 pages or less (as compared to the longer novella and novel), and written in prose, with sentences and paragraphs. They generally describe a much shorter event than the longer prose forms.

Drama can occur in poems, short stories, novellas and novels, but it is generally regarded as (or confused with) the Play--the type of distinctive structural form used in theatre. It always includes some form of action and conflict. Plays have their own specific structure, written in scenes and/or acts, with dialogue representing the predominant narrative. The dialogue of plays are written for individual characters, and are noted as such within the script. Stage directions and other non-dialogue instructions can also be included.