Literary Genres

Genre means a category, or type of literature.

All books can be divided into two categories:fiction nonfiction

• a made up story • can tell about things that could happen• is read for fun • characters may be like real people or imaginary

• facts that can be checked and proven

• the author is an expert on this information

• it IS TRUE!

Categories of Genre

There are many genres of books. Here are some of the

common ones:•Realistic fiction

•Historical fiction

•Science fiction

•Adventure

•Mystery

•Fantasy

•Myths

•Folktales

•Fables

•Fairy tales

•Tall tales

•Informational

•Poetry

•Biography

Realistic Fiction• Stories are set in the

real world.• Contains characters

who seem believable.

• The reader believes that the story could “really happen.”

Examples of Realistic Fiction

•Because of Winn Dixie•Crash•Owl Moon•Shiloh•Summer of the Swans•Babysitter Club series

Historical Fiction• Stories set in times

past.• Blends history with

fiction.• Historical fiction helps

us understand what life might have been like during a particular time period.

Examples of Historical Fiction•A Boy at War•Across Five Aprils•Ben and Me•The Butterfly•Charlie Skedaddle•Sign of the Beaver•Titanic Crossing•Dear America Series

Science fiction• Stories that blend

fact and fiction with futuristic technology

• May involve magic or time travel.

Examples of Science Fiction•Aliens for Breakfast

•A Wrinkle in Time

•My Best Friend is Invisible

•Star Wars

•The Time Machine

Adventure• Setting many times

in the wild.• Main character must

make decisions that will determine if he or she will survive.

• Main character usually grows and finds strength of character in the situation.

• Exciting plots.

Examples of Adventure

Mystery• Deals with a problem

that must be solved.• Something or

someone is missing.• Strange events keep

happening.• A detective or main

character looks for clues in order to solve the mystery.

Examples of Mystery

The House of Dies Drear

Never Say Die

The Treehouse Mystery

Mystery of the Midnight Message

The Hardy Boys Series

Boxcar Children Mysteries

Fantasy• The reader must

suspend belief.• Many times the story

takes place in another world.

• May involve magic or time travel.

• Sometimes animals can talk or have human characteristics.

Examples of Fantasy

Myths,Folk Tales,

Fables, Fairy Tales, and Tall tales

Myth

A story that usually explains something about the world and involves gods and other superhuman beings.

Examples of Myths

• Baucis and Philemon

• Medusa’s Head

• Quetzalcoatl

• Daedalus and Icarus

Folk Tale• A folk tale is a

story with no known author. Folk tales are passed down from one generation to another by word of mouth.

Examples of Folk Tales

• Johnny Appleseed

• Yellowhammer• Seventh Sister• How the Snake

Got Poison• John Henry

Fable• A fable is a very

brief story in prose or in verse that teaches a moral or a practical lesson about how to succeed in life.

Examples of Fables

• The Crow and the Jar

• The Wolf and the House Dog

• The Fox and the Crow

• The Country Mouse and the City Mouse

• The Maid and the Milk Pail

Fairy tale• A fairy tale is a type

of imaginative writing that carries the reader into an invented world where the laws of nature, as we know them, do not operate.

Examples of Fairy Tales

• Cinderella• Snow White and

the Seven Dwarfs

• Ella Enchanted• Cinder Edna

Photo from:http://www.jlmatrix.co.uk/joanna/images/enchanted1.jpg

Tall Tale•A fictional story that stretches the truth.

• The heroes or sheroes are "larger than life.“

•Characters are given exaggerated characteristics 

Some classic tall tale heroes and sheroes are Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett, Pecos Bill, and Slue-Foot Sue.

Informational• Tells facts that can be looked-up or

proven• tells about real events• characters have really lived• may have maps, diagrams and

illustrations to explain the facts• author is an expert on the subject

Examples of Informational

Writing•Dirt Bikes

•Flying Animals

•Danger! Earthquakes

•Newspapers

•Encyclopedias

Poetry• Poetry is verse

written to inspire thoughts and feelings in the reader.

• It often uses rhyme and rhythm, or it can be written in free verse.

Examples of Poetry•Where the Sidewalk Ends

•New Kid on the Block

•Chocolate Dreams: Poems

•Mammalabilia

•A Pizza the Size of the Sun

•Love That Dog

Biography• The true story of a

real person’s life from the past or present.

Examples of Biography

•Tiger Woods: An American Master

•The HomerunKings: BabeRuth and

Henry Aaron

•Clara Barton, a Red Cross Pioneer

•Sacagawea