Types of Literature

Ms. Brooks

Feb. 2006

What’s your favorite genre?When you speak of genre and literature, genre means a category or kind of story.

• Fiction• Nonfiction• Drama• Poetry

FICTION

• Realistic Fiction

• Historical Fiction

• Science Fiction

• Folktale/Legends

• Fantasy/Fairytales

• Mystery

Realistic Fiction

• A story with characters who take part in events that could really happen.– Miracle’s Boys – Although the story

is fictional, it could be real in its characters, setting, plot, etc.

Historical Fiction

• A story from the past that depicts historical people, places, and events.– Bud, Not Buddy – The story is set around a

historical time period of the Great Depression in the 1930’s.

• Not only do we learn about Bud’s story, but we also learn a bit about history as well.

Science Fiction• Imaginative stories involving scientific

phenomena, such as time travel, outer space, future technologies, etc.– H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds– Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein– The Matrix– “Star Trek”– “Charmed”– “The X-Files"

Folktale/Legends

• An anonymous story that was originally told to others instead of being written down.– Native American folklore– Aesop's Fables

Fantasy/Fairytales

• A story that is set in a make-believe world, often with non-human characters and has elements of good vs. evil.– The Wizard of Oz– The Chronicles of Narnia– Charlotte’s Web– The Cat and the Hat

Mystery

• A story with characters who try to solve a crime or unexplained event.– Encyclopedia Brown– The Hardy Boys– Nancy Drew

NONFICTION

• Biography

• Autobiography

• Information

• Newspaper

• Reference

Biography

• A person’s life story written by another person.

Autobiography

• A person’s life story written by that person.

Information

• A book, magazine, or article used to learn material.

• Can consist of “how to” books and journal or online articles.

Newspaper

• A daily or weekly publication of current events.

Reference

• A collection of resources for obtaining information.– Dictionaries– Encyclopedias– Atlases– Yearbooks

DRAMA

• Scripted fiction or nonfiction in the form of a play

• Comes in various forms:– Tragedy

• a serious drama that involves a struggle against evil

– Comedy• a humorous play

– Musical• a play with musical elements

and dialogue

POETRY

• Words arranged in a metrical or rhythmic pattern.

• Tells a story through verse.

• Often imaginative and creative.

Acrostic

Imagery Poem

Haiku

Pictogram

Parallel Poem

Cinquain

Free Verse

Song

Prepositional Poem

Rhyming Poem

Your Turn…• Recreate the chart by

dividing your paper into four blocks.

• Include the heading.• In each block, write a genre

title.• List 2 examples of each.• List at least 3

characteristics.• Once all components are

included, you may illustrate your poster.

FictionExample 1

Example 2

Characteristic 1

Characteristic 2

Characteristic 3

Nonfiction

Drama Poetry