MAJOR GENRES OF LITERATURE
known as sudden fiction, short-short stories,
FICTION – refers to a story that comes from a
writer’s imagination, as opposed to one
based strictly on fact or a true story
 THRILLER – it keeps readers on their toes & use
plot twists, red herrings, and cliffhangers to
keep them guessing until the end
 HORROR – meant to scare, startle, shock, and
even repulse readers
 HISTORICAL FICTION – novels take place in the
past, written with a careful balance of research
and creativity.
 ROMANCE
 SPECULATIVE FICTION – a genre that
encompasses a number of different types of
fiction, from science fiction to fantasy to
dystopian.
 SCIENCE FICTION – novels or stories with
imagined elements that doesn't exist in the real
world. Some are inspired by "hard" natural
sciences like physics, chemistry, and astronomy
 FANTASY – are speculative fiction stories with
imaginary characters set in imaginary universes
 DYSTOPIAN – Societies viewed as worse than
the one in which we live
 UTOPIAN – Societies viewed as better than the
one in which we live
 STEAMPUNK – subgenre of science fiction that
incorporates retrofuturistic technology and
aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial
steam-powered machinery.
 CYBERPUNK –a subgenre of science fiction in a
dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus
on a "combination of lowlife and high tech"
featuring advanced technological and scientific
achievements, such as artificial intelligence and
cybernetics
 BIOPUNK – a subgenre of science fiction that
focuses on biotechnology. It is derived from
Cybepunk, but focuses on the implications of
biotechnology rather than mechanical
cyberware and information technology.
Biopunk is concerned with synthetic biology
 MAGICAL REALISM – born out of the realist art
movement and is closely associated with Latin
American authors in which fantastical things are
treated not just as possible, but also as realistic
 REALISTIC FICTION – novels that are set in a
time and place that could actually happen in the
real world. they depict real people, places, and
stories in order to be truthful as possible
 FLASH FICTION - defined as very short, is also
microfiction, or microstories
3 CHARACTERISTICS OF FLASH FICTION
BREVITY – compresses an entire story into
the space of a few paragraphs. commonly
uses word limits from just six words to
around 1,000 words on the longer end
A COMPLETE PLOT – has a beginning,
middle, and end
SURPRISE – often incorporates surprise,
usually in the form of a twist ending or an
unexpected last line. it is to prompt the
reader to think deeply
 CHICK-LIT - generally deals with the issues of
modern women humorously and lightheartedly.
They are usually written by women, are
addressed to women, and tell one particular
story to women.
 MYSTERY – a genre where the nature of an
event, usually a murder or other crime, remains
mysterious until the end of the story
DRAMA
 COMEDY
 TRAGEDY
 FARCE – A nonsensical genre of drama, which
often overacts or engages slapstick humor
 MELODRAMA – an exaggerated drama, which is
sensational and appeals directly to the senses of
the audience
 MUSICAL
NONFICTION – is a broad genre of writing that
encompasses all books that aren't rooted in a fictional
narrative
 HISTORY – consists of true accounts of historical
eras and events, this dwells purely in objective
facts
 BIOGRAPHY – story of another person's life
written by another author
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY – story of a real person's life
written by that person
 MEMOIRS – any narrative writing based in the
author's personal memories
 TRAVEL GUIDES – offering suggestions and
practical information for travelers bound for a
particular destination
 TRAVELOGUE – they recount an author's
specific experience traveling somewhere
 ACADEMIC TEXTS – designed to instruct readers
on a particular topic
 PHILOSOPHY INSIGHT – many are published by
university-affiliated publishing houses
  JOURNALISM – is most regularly consumed in
the form of newspapers and magazines, along
with monthly journals, TV news reports, and
more.
 SELF HELP / INSTRUCTION – concerns business
successes, buoying confidence, staying
organized, relationship advises, dieting, and
financial management
 GUIDES / USER MANUALS – focused on specific
skills like cookbooks, musical notations, athletic
instructions, and tutorials for home hobbyists
 COMMENTARY – this is where analysis and
reflection on real-world events are distilled
through the prism of an author's point of view

POETRY

 THEME – is a truth, lesson or message about life

 RHYTHM – is the beat, sound and feels of the
poem
 MOOD - the feeling the poet is trying to convey
 LINE – is a single row of words in a poem
 METER – Is the number and style of accented
syllables in a line
 STANZA – is a group of lines in a poem
 RHYME – describes words that have the same
ending sound
 TEXTULA – A poetry genre mastered by Frank
Rivera. Entire poems are written and read on
mobile phones.
- TANAGA
- any type as long as it has meter and rhyme
- / - end of line
- // or /// end of every stanza