MAJOR GENRES OF LITERATURE

GENRE
• A category of artistic works
that can be divided into
form, style or subject
matter.
• (Style or Type)
Our Genre List
It is important to remember that
this list does not include all types
of genres found in literary works.

There are many different genre

classifications. We will learn
about only some of them.
Two main classifications:

Fiction
Non-fiction
Fiction
In this type of work, the author
may make up the entire story.

Authors can also choose to include

factual information in a made-up
story.

The author can have wizards

creating magic spells or it can be
about a teen who has a secret crush
or a person lost in the wilderness. The
subjects are limitless!
There are many different
types of fiction. . .
Historical Fiction:
The story takes the reader
back to a particular time period
where they learn about the
everyday life of a person.

The character may interact

with actual historical characters,
but usually, the main character is
not based on a real person.
Realistic Fiction:
The story usually
presents a problem to
be examined that could
be from anybody’s life.

These stories may

cover such topics as
family situations, peer
relationships, and
cultural differences.
Science Fiction:
This is a type of modern
fantasy. It explores scientific
fact and can pose ethical
questions about current scientific
trends and predictions.

The author focuses on the

adventure of exploring the
unknown and the wonder
of discovering new worlds
and people.
Mystery:

There are different

types of mystery stories, but
usually a crime has been
committed and the reader
wants to try to figure out
“whodunit”.

There is usually a great

deal of suspense and
intrigue.
Fantasy:
In this type of story, the
author has created a magical
world where anything is
possible.

There are many types of

fantasy -- from fables to
fairy tales. Stories may
include magical beings,
talking animals, or gods and
goddesses.
Fairy Tales: We often know we
are reading or hearing a fairy
tale with the words, “once upon
a time . . .”
Fairy tales often feature a fight
between good and evil. Evil
always loses to a triumphant
hero or heroine.
We also know it’s a fairy tale
because most end with “and
they lived happily ever after.”
Fables: These stories
usually have a moral
(lesson) that is being
taught. The story often
uses animals that speak
and act like humans.
Myths: a story or group of
stories that form part of the
traditional knowledge of a
society. Myths often use
imaginative plots and
characters to explain how the
world began and why nature
and people behave the way
they do.
What Genre?
Science fiction, fable, mystery, fairy tale, myth,
fantasy, historical fiction, realistic fiction

• The Tortoise and • Sleeping Beauty

the Hare • 39 Clues: The
• Hercules Maze of Bones
• The Hunger • Harry Potter
Games • The Midnight Ride
• Frindle of Paul Revere
 Non-Fiction
This category can also be called
“informational” material.

These types of books provide

information that is factual.

Nothing is make-believe in these

types of materials. More specific
examples of this type of genre would
be . . .
Biographies: A true
account of a person's
life written, composed,
or produced by
another person.

Autobiographies:
The biography of a
person written by
that person
Play
• Like a novel or a short story, a play
tells a story but it is written to be
acted out for an audience. Plays have
many unique literary elements such as
acts, scenes, stage directions, and
speech tags.
Poetry
• Poetry is an arrangement of words in
lines having rhythm. Sometimes those
lines rhyme, as in this narrative poem.
 Elements
of a
Short Story
Objectives
• Identify and define
elements of a short story

• Demonstrate mastery of
short story elements by
creating story grammar

Elements of a Short Story

 Overview
A Short Story is similar to your dish. It needs
the best ingredients for you to enjoy its delectable taste.

Stories are made up of four important

elements:

Setting
Characters, Plot,
and Theme
Elements of a Short Story
Setting
Tells the reader where and
when the story takes place.
 Setting
Time and place are where the action
occurs
Details that describe:
 Furniture
 Scenery
 Customs
 Transportation
 Clothing
 Dialects
 Weather
 Time of day
 Time of year
 The Functions of a Setting
 To create a mood or
atmosphere
 To show a reader a
different way of life
 To make action seem
more real
 To be the source of
conflict or struggle
 To symbolize an idea
Atmosphere
Characters and
Characterization
The people, and in some
stories, the animals that take
part in the story.
The description of the
personalities of the characters
in the story and the way in
which an author reveals their
personalities.
Two Identifications
of Characters
1. Protagonist –
the hero of the story

2. Antagonist –
the villain in the story
who is always
opposing the
protagonist
Methods of Characterization
Creating Believable Characters
• Indirect • Direct
– physical appearance
– the narrator’s
– speech, thoughts, direct
feelings, or actions of comments
the character about a
character
– speech, thoughts,
feelings, or actions of
other characters
Plot
• The chain of related events
that take place in a story.
• Built around conflict, which
is a struggle between
opposing forces.
Plot (definition)
• Plot is the organized
pattern or sequence of
events that make up a
story.
• Plot is the literary
element that describes
the structure of a story.
It shows arrangement
of events and actions
within a story.
 Parts of a Plot
 Exposition - introduction; characters,
setting and conflict (problem) are
introduced
 Rising Action- events that occur as
result of central conflict
 Climax- highest point of interest or
suspense of a story
 Falling Action - tension eases; events
show the results of how the main
character begins to resolve the conflict
 Resolution- loose ends are tied up; the
conflict is solved
 Plot Diagram
3

4
2
1
5
1. Exposition
• This usually occurs at the beginning of a short
story. Here the characters are introduced.
We also learn about the setting of the story.
Most importantly, we are introduced to the
main conflict (main problem).
 2. Rising Action
• This part of the story begins to develop the
conflict(s). A building of interest or suspense
occurs and leads to the climax. Complications
arise
 3. Climax
• This is the turning point of the story. Usually the
main character comes face to face with a conflict.
The main character will change in some way. This
is the most intense moment.
4. Falling Action
• Action that
follows the climax
and ultimately
leads to the
resolution
 5. Resolution
• The conclusion; all
loose ends are tied up.
• Either the character
defeats the problem,
learns to live with the
problem, or the
problem defeats the
character.
Putting It All Together

1. Exposition Beginning of
Story
2. Rising Action

Middle of Story
3. Climax

4. Falling Action
End of Story
5. Resolution
 Diagram of Plot
Climax

Introduction/
Exposition Resolution

Setting,
characters, and
conflict are
introduced
Special Techniques used in a Story
 Suspense- excitement, tension,
curiosity
 Foreshadowing- hint or clue about
what will happen in story
 Flashback- interrupts the normal
sequence of events to tell about
something that happened in the past
Special Techniques used in a Story

 Symbolism – use of specific objects or

images to represent ideas
 Surprise Ending - conclusion that
reader
does not expect.
• Frame Story: a story within a story
Types of Conflict
-Man vs. Man
-Man vs. Nature
-Man vs. Obstacle or Society
- Man vs. Supernatural Being
-Man vs. Himself
Conflict
Conflict is the dramatic struggle
between two forces in a story.
Without conflict, there is no
plot.
 Conflict
Conflict is a problem that must be
solved; an issue between the protagonist
and antagonist forces. It forms the basis
of the plot.
Conflicts can be external or internal
External conflict- outside force may be
person, group, animal, nature, or a
nonhuman obstacle
Internal conflict- takes place in a
character’s mind
 Types of External Conflict

Character vs Character

Character vs Nature

Character vs Society

Character vs Fate QuickTime™ and a

TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 Type of Internal Conflict

Character vs. Self

Point of View
• First Person Point of View- a
character from the story is
telling the story; uses the
pronouns “I” and “me”
• Third Person Point of View- an
outside narrator is telling the
story; uses the pronouns “he”,
“she”, “they”
Types of Third-Person Point of View
• Third-Person
Limited
– The narrator
knows the • Third-Person
thoughts and Omniscient
feelings on only – The narrator knows
ONE character in the thoughts and
a story. feeling of ALL the
characters in a story.
Theme
• The main idea of a story.
• It is not a moral, lesson, or a
rule for living.
Ex.
Love
Family Feud
Themes from ‘The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet’
Figurative Language
“Figuring it Out”
 Figurative and Literal
Language
Literally: words function exactly as defined
The car is blue.
He caught the football.

Figuratively: figure out what it means

I’ve got your back.
You’re a doll.
^Figures of Speech
 Simile

Comparison of two things using “like” or

“as.”

Examples

The metal twisted like a ribbon.

She is as sweet as candy.

 Important!

Using “like” or “as” doesn’t make a simile.

A comparison must be made.

Not a Simile: I like pizza.

Simile: The moon is like a pizza.

Metaphor

Two things are compared without using

“like” or “as.”

Examples

All the world is a stage.

Men are dogs.

Her heart is stone.

Personification
Giving human traits to objects or ideas.

Examples

The sunlight danced.

Water on the lake shivers.

The streets are calling me.

 Hyperbole

Exaggerating to show strong feeling or effect.

Examples

I will love you forever.

My house is a million miles away.

She’d kill me.

Understatement
Expression with less strength than
expected.
The opposite of hyperbole.

I’ll be there in one second.

This won’t hurt a bit.

Onomatopoeia
• A word that “makes” a sound
• SPLAT
• PING
• SLAM
• POP
• POW
Idiom
• A saying that isn’t meant to be taken
literally.
• Doesn’t “mean” what it says
• Don’t be a stick in the mud!
• You’re the apple of my eye.
• I have an ace up my sleeve.
 Pun
• A form of “word play” in which
words have a double meaning.
• I wondered why the baseball
was getting bigger and then it
hit me.
• I’m reading a book about anti-
gravity. It’s impossible to put
it down.
• I was going to look for my
missing watch, but I didn’t
have the time.
Proverb
• A figurative saying in which a bit of
“wisdom” is given.
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
• The early bird catches the worm
Oxymoron
• When two words are put together that
contradict each other. “Opposites”
• Jumbo Shrimp
• Pretty Ugly
• Freezer Burn
 Quiz

On a separate sheet of paper…

1. I will put an example of figurative

language on the board.
2. You will write whether it is an simile,
metaphor, personification, hyperbole,
pun, proverb, idiom, onomatopoeia,
oxymoron or understatement.
3. You can use your notes.
1

He drew a line as straight as an arrow.

 2

Knowledge is a kingdom and all who learn

are kings and queens.
 3

Can I see you for a second?

4

The sun was beating down on me.

 5

A flag wags like a fishhook there in the sky.

6
I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework,
my teacher assigns.
7
Ravenous and savage
from its long
polar journey,

the North Wind

is searching
for food—
8
Dinner is on the house.
9

Can I have one of your chips?

10
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
11.
• The clouds smiled down at me.
12.
• SPLAT!
13.
• She is as sweet as candy
14.
• I could sleep forever!
15.
• He drove his expensive car into a tree
and found out how the Mercedes
bends
16.
• I used to have a fear of hurdles, but I
got over it
17.
• The wheat field was a sea of gold.
18.
• The streets called to him.
19.
• POP!
20.
• She was dressed to the nines.
21.
• The early bird catches the worm.
22.
• Old news
23.
• Your face is killing me!
24.
• She was as white as a ghost.
25.
• She has a skeleton in her closet.
Elements of Poetry
 Elements of Poetry

•What is poetry?
•Poetry is not prose. Prose is the ordinary language
people use in speaking or writing.
•Poetry is a form of literary expression that captures
intense experiences or creative perceptions of the
world in a musical language.
•Basically, if prose is like talking, poetry is like singing.
•By looking at the set up of a poem, you can see the
difference between prose and poetry.
Distinguishing Characteristics of Poetry
• Unlike prose which has a narrator, poetry has a
speaker.
– A speaker, or voice, talks to the reader. The speaker is not
necessarily the poet. It can also be a fictional person, an
animal or even a thing

Example
But believe me, son.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you.
from “Once Upon a Time” by Gabriel Okara
Distinguishing Characteristics of Poetry
• Poetry is also formatted differently from
prose.
– A line is a word or row of words that may or
may not form a complete sentence.
– A stanza is a group of lines forming a unit. The
stanzas in a poem are separated by a space.
Example
Open it.

Go ahead, it won’t bite.

Well…maybe a little.
from “The First Book” by Rita Dove
 Figures of Speech

• A figure of speech is a word or expression that is not

meant to be read literally.

• A simile is a figure of speech using a word such as

like or as to compare seemingly unlike things.
Example
Does it stink like rotten meat?
from “Harlem” by Langston Hughes
 Figures of Speech

• A metaphor also compares seemingly unlike things,

but does not use like or as.
Example
the moon is a white sliver
from “I Am Singing Now” by Luci Tapahonso

• Personification attributes human like

characteristics to an animal, object, or idea.
Example
A Spider sewed at Night
from “A Spider sewed at Night” by Emily Dickinson
 Figures of Speech

• Hyperbole – a figure of speech in which great

exaggeration is used for emphasis or humorous
effect.
Example
“You’ve asked me a million times!”

• Imagery is descriptive language that applies

to the senses – sight, sound, touch, taste, or
smell. Some images appeal to more than one
sense.
Sound Devices
• Alliteration is the repetition of consonant
sounds at the beginning of words.
• Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds
within a line of poetry.
• Onomatopoeia is the use of a word or phrase,
such as “hiss” or “buzz” that imitates or suggests
the sound of what it describes.
Example of Sound Devices
“In the steamer is the trout
seasoned with slivers of ginger”
from “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee

And the stars never rise but I

see the bright eyes
from “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
Rhyme
• Rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed
vowel sound and any succeeding sounds in two
or more words.
• Internal rhyme occurs within a line of poetry.
• End rhyme occurs at the end of lines.
• Rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes
that may be designated by assigning a different
letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme
 Example

“All mine!" Yertle cried. "Oh, the things I now A

rule! A
I'm king of a cow! And I'm king of a mule! B
I'm king of a house! And what's more, beyond B
that,
C
I'm king of a blueberry bush and cat!
C
I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
For I am the ruler of all that I see!”
from “Yertle the Turtle”
by Dr. Seuss
“Penelope” by Dorothy Parker
A
In the pathway of the sun,
B
In the footsteps of the breeze,
Where the world and sky are one, A

He shall ride the silver seas, B

He shall cut the glittering C
wave. D
I shall sit at home, and rock; D
Rise, to heed a neighbor’s knock; E
Brew my tea, and snip my thread; E
Bleach the linen for my bed.
C
They will call him brave.
 Rhythm and Meter
• Rhythm is the pattern of sound created by the
arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a
line. Rhythm can be regular or irregular.
• Meter is a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables which sets the overall rhythm of certain
poems. Typically, stressed syllables are marked with
/ and unstressed syllables are marked with  .
• In order to measure how many syllables are per line,
they are measured in feet. A foot consists of a certain
number of syllables forming part of a line of verse.
Iambic Pentameter
• The most common type of meter is called
iambic pentameter
• An iamb is a foot consisting of an initial
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
For example, return, displace, to love, my heart.
• A pentameter is a line of verse containing 5
metrical feet.
Significance of Iambic Pentameter
• Iambic Pentameter is significant to the study of
poetry because
– 1. It is the closest to our everyday speech
– 2. In addition, it mimics the sound of heart beat; a
sound common to all human beings.
– 3. Finally, one of the most influential writers of our
times uses iambic pentameter in all that he writes –
William Shakespeare.
 Examples
Example #1
And death is better, as the millions know,

Than dandruff, night-starvation, or B.O

from “Letter to Lord Byron” by W.H. Auden

Example #2
When you are old and grey and full of sleep

And nodding by the fire, take down this book.

W.B. Yeats
 Connotation and Denotation

Connotation - the emotional and imaginative

association surrounding a word.

Denotation - the strict dictionary meaning of a word.

Example: You may live in a house, but we live in

a home.
Which of the following has a more
favorable connotation?

thrifty penny-pinching

pushy aggressive

politician statesman

chef cook

slender skinny
 Elements of Poetry

When we explore the connotation and

denotation of a poem, we are looking at the
poet’s diction.

Diction – the choice of words by an author or

poet.

Many times, a poet’s diction can help unlock the

tone or mood of the poem.
 IFElements of Poetry: Tone and
Mood
Although many times we use the words mood and tone
interchangeably, they do not necessarily mean the same
thing.
Mood – the feeling or atmosphere that a poet creates. Mood
can suggest an emotion (ex. “excited”) or the quality of a
setting (ex. “calm”, “somber”) In a poem, mood can be
established through word choice, line length, rhythm, etc.
Tone – a reflection of the poet’s attitude toward the subject
of a poem. Tone can be serious, sarcastic, humorous, etc.
 Narrative Poetry

• Narrative poetry is verse that tells a story.

• Two of the major examples of narrative poetry
include:
– Ballads – a song or poem that tells a story. Folk
ballads, which typically tell of an exciting or dramatic
event, were composed by an anonymous singer or
author and passed on by word of mouth for
generations before written down. Literary ballads are
written in imitation of folk ballads, but usually given
an author.
– Epics – a long narrative poem on a great and serious
subject that is centered on the actions of a heroic
figure
Dramatic Poetry
• Dramatic poetry is poetry in which one or more
characters speak.
– Each speaker always addresses a specific listener.
– This listener may be silent (but identifiable), or the
listener may be another character who speaks in
reply.
– Usually the conflict that the speaker is involved with
is either an intense or emotional.
Lyric Poetry
• Lyric poetry is poetry that expresses a speaker’s
personal thoughts and feelings.
– Lyric poems are usually short and musical.
– This broad category covers many poetic types and
styles, including haikus, sonnets, free verse and many
others.
Haikus
• The traditional Japanese haiku is an unrhymed
poem that contains exactly 17 syllables, arranged
in 3 lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables each.
• However, when poems written in Japanese are
translated into another language, this pattern is
often lost.
• The purpose of a haiku is to capture a flash of
insight that occurs during a solitary observation
of nature.
Examples of Haikus

Since morning glories

hold my well-bucket hostage
I beg for water
- Chiyo-ni First autumn morning:
the mirror I stare into
shows my father’s face.
- Kijo Murakami
Sonnets
• Background of Sonnets
– Form invented in Italy.
– Most if not all of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about
love or a theme related to love.
– Sonnets are usually written in a series with each
sonnet a continuous subject to the next. (Sequels in
movies)
Sequence of Sonnets
• Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and can be broken up by
the characters they address.
– The Fair Youth: Sonnets 1 – 126 are devoted to a young man of
extreme physical beauty. The first 17 sonnets urge the young
man to pass on his beauty to the next generation through
children. From sonnet 18 on, Shakespeare shifts his viewpoint
and writes how the poetry itself will immortalize the young man
and allow his beauty to carry on.
– The Dark Lady: Sonnets 127 – 154 talk about an irresistible
woman of questionable morals who captivates the young poet.
These sonnets speak of an affair between the speaker and her,
but her unfaithfulness has hurt the speaker.
– The Rival Poet: This character shows up during the fair youth
series. The poet sees the rival poet as someone trying to take his
own fame and the poems refer to his own anxiety and
insecurity.
Structure of Sonnets
The traditional Elizabethan or Shakespearean
sonnet consists of fourteen lines, made up of
three quatrains (stanzas of 4 lines each) and a
final couplet (two line stanza). Sonnets are
usually written in iambic pentameter. The
quatrains traditionally follow an abab rhyme
scheme, followed by a rhyming couplet.
Example

Sonnet 18
William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Bibliography
Dinneen, K. Elements of the Short Story. Retrieved Jun.
19, 2003, from Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute:
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1983/3/83.03.09.x.html

Five Elements of a Story. Retrieved Jun. 19, 2003,

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-2277.html

Guevin, D. Short Story Elements. Retrieved Jun. 19, 2003,

http://www.uvm.edu/~dguevin/Elements.html