Literary Genres What is a genre? literary genre n : a style of expressing yourself in writing [syn: writing style, genre]

Literary Genres So what does that definition mean? Dividing literary works into genres is a way of classifying them into particular categories, like fiction or nonfiction.

What genres will we study in this class? - Nonfiction - Fiction - Novels - Short Stories - Drama - Poetry

How will we study them? We will not look at these genres individually, but rather we will study all of them all year long. We may be simultaneously reading a novel and a short story at the same time that are all tied together by the same theme.

Nonfiction Nonfiction is a historically accurate story or narrative. The information is all factual. Some examples of Nonfiction: Biography Autobiography Newspapers Essays Speeches

Fiction A story or narrative that is based on imagination or made up. Some examples of fiction: Novel Short Stories Fiction is then broken into further categories. –Science Fiction –Realistic Fiction –Fantasy –Many other we’ll cover…

Types of Literary Genres Like mentioned earlier, after being broken up into fiction and nonfiction, literature can then be further broken up into different genres that each have specific characteristics. In order for us to identify these different genres, we must understand the different characteristics.

Literary Genres Short Stories Usually fictional Short in length COMPARED to a Novel. Usually only one main conflict.

Literary Genres DramaA form of storytelling that is composed primarily of dialogue and is viewed by an audience.

Literary Genres NovelMost fictional books, written in first or third person. Tells a longer story with many different conflicts and plot development.

Literary Genres Poetry Written in a specific form or rhyme. Evokes feeling, and much of that feeling is left up to the reader. Consists of figurative language-- we’ll cover this later, so don’t panic!!!!!!