CHARACTERISTICS AND

COMMON GENRES OF
ENGLISH - AMERICAN
LITERATURE

Instructor: Ms. Joan Magbanua

ENGLISH - AMERICAN LITERATURE

ENGLISH LITERATURE AMERICAN LITERATURE

These are the collection of These are literary works

literary works written in Great written and published in
Britain and British Colonies America
from 7th century to the present
day.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
ENGLISH LITERATURE

• Classic and Refined

• Reflects about their ideas, beliefs,
and tradition
• Relatively small-scale
COMMON THEMES IN ENGLISH
LITERATURE
• In English Literature, most featured are about the intelligence of the people,
manners, and the big difference of the rich and the poor.
• They also portray plots on the subjects and gives emphasis on
characterization.
• Moreover, they feature stories about
government, which is monarchy, about
knights, heroes, images of kings and
queens especially on the medieval periods
and Anglo Saxons period.
• Example of pieces are Beowulf, Story of
Lancelot, The Knight of the Cart by
Chretien de Troyes, and The Knights Tale
by Geoffrey Chaucer.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
AMERICAN LITERATURE
• Young Literature
• Most pieces disregard the traditional
writing styles and themes.
• Focus on individualism,
romanticism, realism, modernism and
naturalism.
• More realistic in portraying characters.
 COMMON GENRES OF ENGLISH-AMERICAN
LITERATURE
• Drama
A literary composition that is intended for performance. It is also a generic term
that refers to the different forms of presentation that are meant to inform, to educate
and to entertain the audience at the same time.

Examples:
English Literature - Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

American Literature - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This

drama has a touch of romance and talks about American history,
specifically significant happenings during the American civil war.
 COMMON GENRES OF ENGLISH-AMERICAN
LITERATURE
• Fiction
Fiction involves literary works that are created from the imagination and is not
presented as fact.

Examples:
English Literature - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It is a romance
type of fiction novel that shows how the two characters come to accept
the goodness of each other despite of their pride and prejudice.

American Literature - The Adventures of Huckleberry by Mark Twain.

This novel talks about slavery and racism which is very American in
nature.
 COMMON GENRES OF ENGLISH-AMERICAN
LITERATURE
• Poetry
a type of literature, or artistic writing, that attempts to stir a reader’s imagination or
emotions.

Examples:
English Literature - Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer.

American Literature - Poetry is very significant during the American

revolution because Americans used it as their weapon in stating their
arguments and in celebrating their heroes in verse and songs. Some of
the said poetries are Yankee Doodle, The epilogue and Nathan Hale
 COMMON GENRES OF ENGLISH-AMERICAN
LITERATURE
• Poetry
a type of literature, or artistic writing, that attempts to stir a reader’s imagination or
emotions.

Examples:
English Literature - Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer.

American Literature - Poetry is very significant during the American

revolution because Americans used it as their weapon in stating their
arguments and in celebrating their heroes in verse and songs. Some of
the said poetries are Yankee Doodle, The epilogue and Nathan Hale