Literary Genres Poetry Science Fiction Historical Fiction Mystery Fantasy Tall Tale Informational Fable Fairy Tale Biography Legend Myth Drama Autobiography Realistic Fiction

Genre can be defined as … A category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content

Fiction vs. Nonfiction Fiction  a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact Nonfiction a literary work based on factual information

Types of Literary Genres

Types of Nonfiction Informational Biography Autobiography Memoir

Informational Nonfiction writing about a topic, including books and newspaper or magazine articles

Biography An account of a person's life written by another Nonfiction that is informational writing about real people

Autobiography An account of a person's life written by themselves Nonfiction that is a biography of a person written by himself or herself

Memoir An account of the personal experiences of an author A memoir usually focuses on a particular event or time period in the author’s life

Types of Fiction Realistic fiction Traditional Literature Folktales Historical Fiction Science Fiction Fantasy Mystery Traditional Literature Folktales Fairy Tales Legends Tall Tales Fables Myths

Realistic Fiction Believable fiction that is set in the present Realistic fiction is simply stated as real kids with real problems solved in a realistic manner in a real world setting.

Historical Fiction Fiction that is set in the past Fiction in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author

Science Fiction Fiction that deals with science and technology Scientific discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background.

Fantasy Highly imaginative fiction that uses unrealistic or supernatural elements

Mystery Fiction that includes secrets or crimes to be solved

Traditional Literature Traditional Literature originated in the stories passed down orally throughout history Folktales Legends Fairy Tales Tall Tales Fables Myths

Folktales Folktales deal with adventures both plausible and implausible wrapped in the forms of human or animal abilities

Fairy Tales Traditional Literature that showcases magical characters and objects

Legends Traditional Literature that portrays a hero figure, supposedly based on a real person but often exaggerated

Tall Tale Traditional Literature that is usually humorous and exaggerates characteristics and accomplishments Usually assumed to be untrue

Fable Traditional Literature that teaches a moral or lesson, often including animals as characters

Myth Traditional Literature that attempts to explain how things came to be and may involve heroic quests

Poetry Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. Poetry has been known to use meter and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary.

Drama A dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage (theater)

Follow-up Activity Now that you are familiar with each genre -please work in groups of 4 to identify the genre of each book in the bucket that corresponds to your group’s number. Be prepared to explain your choices. Created by Lynn Gingras (2007)