2. A Close Look at the Literary Genres
Learning Competencies:
1. Identify dominant literary conventions of a particular genre;
2. Compare and contrast how the elements are used in the different
genres.
Learning Targets:
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
1. Distinguish the major literary genres;
2. Compare and contrast the use of literary elements in different sample
genres.
4. Literature
Drama
refers to a life story of
actors and actresses,
usually is performed on a
stage.
01 is an art form, usually
written. It includes prose
and poetry.
Fiction
refers to literature created from
the imagination. Mysteries,
science fiction, romance, fantasy,
chick lit, crime thrillers are all
fiction genres.
Poetry
02
03 is literature that is written
in verse and emphasizes
the rhythmic use of words
to create imagery.
04
What are the meaning of these words.
5. Fiction
01
refers to literature created from the imagination.
Mysteries, science fiction, romance, fantasy, chick
lit, crime thrillers are all fiction genres.
6. Types of Literary Genres
1. Literary Fiction. 2. Mystery.
Also known as detective fiction,
mystery often follows a plot with a
detective as character or someone
playing detective and tries to solve a
case.
It refers to literary works with
artistic value and literary merit.
Political criticism, social
commentary, and reflections on
humanity are most
often the content of literary fiction.
7. Types of Literary Genres
3. Thriller. 4. Horror.
Written to shock, startle, scare, and even
repulse the readers, horror
fiction creates a horrifying sense of dread
and may include characters like
ghosts, vampires, werewolves, witches, and
monsters.
This fiction type is
characterized by dark,
mysterious and
suspenseful plots.
8. Types of Literary Genres
5. Historical. 6. Romance.
Created with a light-hearted, oftentimes
optimistic tone, and most
often a satisfying conclusion, romantic fiction
highlights love stories between
people.
This type of fiction involves the
creative use of research to be able
to transport readers to another time
and place.
9. Types of Literary Genres
7. Bildungsroman. 8.Fantasy.
Another type of speculative fiction, fantasy
has imaginary characters
and worlds and may have influences of
mythology and folklore which can be
appealing to both children and adults alike.
Literally translated as “a novel of
education” or “a novel of
formation,” this form highlights the
transition or metamorphosis of a character
from youth into adulthood.
10. Sub-genres of Literary Genres
1. Short Story- Shorter in length than a novel, a short story is a fictional prose
work which usually focuses on one plot, one main character (with a few
additional minor characters), and one central theme.
2. Novel. A novel is a narrative prose work of considerable length that talks
about significant human experience.
3. Myth. Derived from the Greek mythos, which has a range of meanings from
“word,” through “saying” and “story,” to “fiction,” a myth is a symbolic narrative
of unknown origin and tells events which are partly traditional and associated with religious
beliefs.
4. Legend. A legend is traditional tale which is thought to have historical bases.
5. Fable. A fable is an instructive story about human social behavior with personified animals
or natural objects as characters and always ends with an explicit moral message. The concept
of time and space is also not specific in a fable.
11. Poetry
02
is a means of sharing experiences, telling a story, or expressing
feelings or ideas through the use of language in a particular way.
12. Poems
A) Narrative poem – It tells a story with an orientation, complication, crisis, and
resolution, or
B) Lyrical poem – It conveys an experience, or ideas, thoughts or feelings about a
subject without necessarily having ‘something happen.’
Poems also come in many forms. These forms are distinguished from the
other by the choice of structural units (couplets, quatrains, and their arrangement
with the overall poem), the layout of a poem on the page, and the organization of the
lines of the poem. Here are some of them:
13. 1) Acrostic. It is a poem which consists of vertical first letters name of the
topic while the horizontal words describe the topic.
2) Ballad. It is a narrative poem which tells a dramatic story in four-line
stanza with a regular beat.
3) Chant. Dating to prehistoric time, hence one of the earliest forms of
poetry, chant is a poem of no fixed form, but in which one or more lines are repeated
over and over. It is usually meant to be spoken aloud.
4) Cinquain. It is a five line poem that follows a pattern and does not rhyme.
The cinquain consists of five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 2 syllables respectively.
5) Comic Verse. It is a poem that involves humor and makes sense.
6) Diamante. It is a seven line poem in which the first and last lines are
opposites or contrasts. It is written in the shape of a diamond.
7) Elegy. It is a poem of mourning to someone’s death.
14. 8) Epic. It is a long narrative poem on a subject which is thought to be great
and serious.
9) Free verse. It is a poetry that does not conform to particular schemes or
patterns of rhyme, meter or form because it doesn’t follow strict rules it has flexibility.
10) Haiku. Originated in Japan and often tells about nature, it consists of three
unrhymed lines containing 17 syllables (5, 7, 5) and portrays a single idea or feeling
while having a strong visual imagery.
11) Lyric. Concerned with feelings and thoughts rather than action or
narrative, it usually represents and reflects on a single experience, is intensely
personal, and its rhythms often have a musical flexibility. It does not have to tell a
story, and is often short (eg haiku, cinquain, shape, tongue twisters, rhyming
couplets, acrostic poems).
12) Narrative. It tells a story with an orientation, complication and resolution
eg nursery rhymes.
13) Nursery rhyme. Usually having regular rhymes, strong rhythms and
repetition, it could be described as jingles for children, forming part of the oral
tradition of many countries.
14) Ode. Usually celebrating a person, animal or object, an ode is often written
without the constraints of formal structure or rhyme.
15) Sonnet. It is a lyric poem that has fourteen lines of five beats each. Rather
than tell a story. It usually explores a feeling or state of mind or expresses a fixed
16. Drama
A drama is a composition in either verse or prose presenting a story through
pantomime or dialogue. It contains conflict of characters, particularly the ones who
perform in front of the audience on the stage. The person who writes drama for stage
directions is known as a “dramatist” or “playwright.” The term “drama” is also used
for the type of play written for theater, television, radio, and film.
17. There are four distinct types of drama:
DRAMA
COMEDY TRAGEDY
One of the oldest
forms of drama,
tragedy exposes the
plight and
suffering of humans
to the audience.
is a type of dramatic
presentation which
intends to make the
audience laugh
through well-
composed humorous
elements.
MELODRAMA
This type of drama
uses a technique
marked by surge of
feelings
since melodrama
highlights
exaggeration of
emotions.
MUSICAL
DRAMA
In a musical drama,
the story is told
through acting and
dialogue, as well as
through dance and
music, as well.
18. Other Forms of Literary Genres
1. Diaries/Journals
Diaries and journals both contain records of experiences by its writer. A diary
records events, transactions, or observations daily or at frequent intervals.
2. Memoirs
A memoir is an author’s narrative of his or her experiences, which makes it
similar to an autobiography, but with certain distinguishable characteristics.
3. Speeches
Merriam-Webster defines speech as “the communication or expression of
thoughts in spoken words.” Although speeches are not primary genres of
literature, its significance lies in the fact that these are important historical
documents or moments and literature.
19. Short Recall
1. How many syllables are there in Haiku?
1. It is a poem which consists of vertical first letters name of the topic while the horizontal
words describe the topic.
1. It is a poem of mourning to someone’s death.
1. Derived from the Greek word “mythos”.
1. Literally translated as “a novel of education” or “a novel of formation,”