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Lesson Menu PLAY ALL What is genre/ subgenre? Genre: Fiction Fiction –Realistic FictionRealistic Fiction –Historical FictionHistorical Fiction –Science FictionScience Fiction –FantasyFantasy –AdventureAdventure –MysteryMystery Genre: Drama Drama Genre: Nonfiction Nonfiction –InformationalInformational –BiographyBiography –AutobiographyAutobiography Genre: Folklore Folklore –Fairy TaleFairy Tale –LegendLegend –MythMyth –Tall TaleTall Tale –FableFable Genre: Poetry Poetry Teacher Note: A handout that accompanies this presentation is available at:

What is Genre and Subgenre? Genre and Subgenre

What is Genre? Text fits into categories. Those categories are called genre. Genre are basic book categories. Think of it this way: Muffin This is the “text.” Food This is the basic “genre.”

What is Subgenre? Subgenre takes categorization of text a step further. It goes beyond the generalization of genre. Let’s see our example again and identify the subgenre of the “text”. Muffin This is the “text.” Food This is the basic “genre.” Pastry This is the specific “subgenre.”

LOOKING AHEAD Next, we’ll look at types of genre and subgenre…

Genre: Fiction Genre and Subgenre

DEFINING FICTION Fiction, as a whole, is creative and imaginative writing. The characters or setting can be made up. This does not necessarily mean that fictional work always includes stuff that can’t or won’t happen, or things that don’t exist. Fictional work can include impossible ideas or events, but it can also seem true, although it didn’t happen in real life. Let’s take a look at the different subgenre within the fictional genre.

Subgenre: Realistic Fiction Realistic fiction is a subgenre of the fiction genre. A realistic fiction story is a story that seems or could be real, although the characters or setting may be made up.

Subgenre: Historical Fiction Historical fiction is a subgenre that deals with a particular time period in the past. The setting is oftentimes a real place, and sometimes an historical fiction story may be based around an event that actually happened. The characters may be made up.

Subgenre: Mystery Stories in the Mystery subgenre often seem to be real events or things that could happen. The key difference that sets realistic mysteries apart from realistic fiction is the fact that mysteries are suspenseful. Oftentimes, an event happens and the characters want to know “Who did it?” or “What caused it?” and they examine evidence and find clues, although the mystery isn’t usually solved until the very end of the story. Often, there are multiple “suspects” in the story, and one by one the suspects are ruled out until only one remains.

Subgenre: Adventure Adventure books have lots of action in them, and usually there are dangerous or extraordinary events in them to keep them action-packed.

A NEW LOOK AT FICTION As you saw from the previous four examples, fiction isn’t all about impossible feats or unrealistic events. Next, we will look at some fiction subgenres that do have unrealistic events and/or impossible feats…

Subgenre: Science Fiction Science Fiction is a type of fiction that is set in the future and includes scientific and technological advancements that are sometimes totally unrealistic. This is like the opposite of historical fiction. Historical fiction deals with the past, or, events that have already happened, whereas Science Fiction deals with the future and scientific advancements in the future or changes in the way of life from the time the book was written to the time that is portrayed in the book. historical fiction

Subgenre: Fantasy Fantasy is a subgenre of fiction that includes impossible elements (such as magic, talking animals, or the like) and the theme of fantasy is make-believe.

ONE LAST LOOK AT FICTION So, as you just saw, fiction is, basically made up. Even if the story seems real, if it didn’t happen, it is fictional. Of course, there are some fictional books that totally defy the laws of nature and seem totally unrealistic. Remember that both elements are part of the fiction genre.

Genre: Drama Genre and Subgenre

DRAMA Drama is, as the name suggests, dramatic. Writing in the Drama genre includes play and movie scripts. Sometimes, people divide the genre Drama into comedies and tragedies. Comedies are funny, whereas tragedies are sad.

Genre: Nonfiction Genre and Subgenre

DEFINING NONFICTION The nonfiction genre includes factual/ true writing. It presents true information, and, in most cases, won’t have a plot like you’d see in a fiction book. However, it is good to read nonfiction text and articles because they provide valuable information.

Subgenre: Informational Informational text is written to provide information about a certain topic or topics. The information given may vary. It may be about a culture, place, event, idea, animal, or object. The main purpose of this text is to give knowledge to the reader. Simple!

Subgenre: Biography A biography is like informational text, but it deals specifically with people. A biography is a book written about a real person that isn’t written by the “subject” of the text. An example of this would be if you wrote a book about somebody else’s life. Be careful! If you’re writing about yourself, this isn’t considered a biography. This is an…

Subgenre: Autobiography An autobiography is like a biography in the sense that is written by a real person. The difference is that a biography is a book written about someone but written by someone other than the subject of the text, whereas an autobiography is written about a person by that same person. Remembering those key facts can keep you from confusing the two similar subgenres.

ONE LAST LOOK Remember that the nonfiction genre deals with facts and information and that three subgenres of nonfiction are Informational, Biography, and Autobiography.

Genre: Folklore Genre and Subgenre

DEFINING FOLKLORE Some people put folklore as a subgenre of fiction, but there is a distinguished difference between the two. Recall that fictional writing deals with creativity and imagination. Those same ideas may be displayed in folklore as well, but folklore deals with culture and tradition. Folklores are stories passed down orally through generations. Often, folklore stories come from different cultural backgrounds where, before writing, the leader of a culture would tell stories to be passed down throughout that culture. Although folklore nowadays is usually written down, it originates as an oral story. Sometimes, the subgenres of folklore are confused with the subgenres of fiction, because, although folklore may be imaginative and creative, the big difference is the origin of the text.

Subgenre: Fairy Tale Often confused with fantasies, fairy tales are indeed stories that have unbelievable feats (such as magic or talking animals) but, like previously mentioned, the distinguished difference is in the origin of the text. A fairy tale and a fantasy may be nearly the same text, but if the origin is from a cultural background and the story was passed down orally, it is a fairy tale, no matter what.

Subgenre: Legend Legends are stories of the past that are believed but can’t be proven true. Some cultures create legends about how things came to be, or how the world was formed. Although these stories are believed by those cultures, they can’t be proven true. And, of course, legends are traditional cultural stories that are passed down orally.

Subgenre: Tall Tale Tall Tales often are staged in the Wild West, and are funny. Characters’ abilities are often exaggerated to add to the humor of the story.

Subgenre: Myth Myths are religious cultural stories (such as the Greek myths about the gods and goddesses.) They deal with that culture’s religion and, again, are passed down orally. If a mythological story wasn’t passed down orally, it is often either informational or fantasy writing.

Subgenre: Fable Fables are short stories that have a moral or lesson attached to them. They are cultural stories meant to teach lessons, and are passed down orally through generations.

Genre: Poetry Genre and Subgenre

POETRY Poetry is a genre all on its own. Poetry can be about anything really, and may rhyme or have rhythm to convey its meaning. Poems are different than other writing because they don’t necessarily follow all of the rules of writing, but they are still good to read. Poems often convey the author’s feelings or ideas, although they may be a little confusing at times.

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