Quote: "A literary genre is a category of literature."
Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Drama, and Literary Essay.
Fiction and Nonfiction: Understanding the difference between these two genres and how they operate in literature.
Genre conventions: Recognizing the typical characteristics, narrative structures, themes, and motifs that define each genre.
Literary devices: Learning how to identify and analyze a variety of literary devices such as symbolism, imagery, metaphor, irony, and foreshadowing.
Theme: Understanding how to identify and analyze the overarching message or central idea of a literary text.
Plot: Understanding the structure of a narrative, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Characterization: Identifying the ways in which authors develop their characters and how this development contributes to the overall meaning of a literary text.
Point of view: Analyzing how the narrator's perspective shapes the story and impacts the reader's understanding of the text.
Tone: Understanding how the author's attitude towards the subject matter affects the reader's experience of the text.
Style: Analyzing the author's use of language, syntax, and other stylistic techniques, and how they contribute to the overall meaning of the text.
Historical and cultural context: Identifying how the time period, societal values, and cultural influences shape the literary text and how it is received by readers.
Intertextuality: Recognizing how literary works relate to and influence each other, and how authors use intertextuality to create meaning.
Literary theory: Understanding the different critical approaches that scholars use to analyze literature, such as feminist, Marxist, structuralist, and postcolonial criticism.
Poetry: A type of literary work in which language is used for its aesthetic and emotional qualities, with emphasis on the rhythm and sound of words.
Prose: A type of literary work that is written in continuous paragraphs and does not have a specific metrical structure.
Drama: A type of literary work that is written to be performed on stage, often involving conflict and emotion.
Novel: A long, fictional narrative that typically deals with human experience through character and plot.
Short story: A brief fictional narrative that typically focuses on a single incident or character.
Essay: A short piece of nonfiction writing that explores a specific topic or idea.
Memoir: A type of autobiographical writing that focuses on a particular period or theme in the author's life.
Biography: A written account of someone's life, usually written by another person.
Autobiography: A written account of one's own life, usually by the person themselves.
Epic poem: A long, narrative poem that tells the story of a hero's journey or quest.
Satire: A literary work that uses humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize and expose societal or individual flaws or issues.
Historical fiction: A type of fiction that is set in a historical time period and often features real historical figures or events.
Science fiction: A genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts and themes, often involving space exploration or time travel.
Fantasy: A genre of fiction that involves imaginary or supernatural elements, often set in a medieval or mystical world.
Horror: A genre of fiction that creates an atmosphere of fear, shock, and disgust through the use of supernatural or suspenseful elements.
Mystery: A genre of fiction that involves a puzzle or enigma to be solved by the protagonist, often involving crime or detective work.
Thriller: A genre of fiction that involves suspense, tension, and excitement, often featuring danger or threats to the protagonist.
Quote: "Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or length (especially for fiction)."
Quote: "They generally move from more abstract, encompassing classes, which are then further sub-divided into more concrete distinctions."
Quote: "The distinctions between genres and categories are flexible and loosely defined."
Quote: "Even the rules designating genres change over time and are fairly unstable."
Quote: "Genres can all be in the form of prose or poetry."
Quote: "Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above."
Quote: "...as a mixture of genres."
Quote: "Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical period in which they were composed."
Quote: "Genres may be determined by literary technique..."
Quote: "Genres may be determined by... tone."
Quote: "Genres may be determined by... content."
Quote: "Genres may be determined by... length (especially for fiction)."
Quote: "They generally move from more abstract, encompassing classes, which are then further sub-divided into more concrete distinctions."
Quote: "The distinctions between genres and categories are flexible and loosely defined."
Quote: "Even the rules designating genres change over time and are fairly unstable."
Quote: "Genres can all be in the form of prose or poetry."
Quote: "Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above."
Quote: "...as a mixture of genres."
Quote: "Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical period in which they were composed."