Literary Genres

Genre

Description

Examples

1. Fiction

Made-up Stories

a) Fantasy

A story including elements that are impossible such as talking animals or magical powers

Narnia, The Phantom Tollbooth, Harry Potter Series, Twilight Series

b) Historical Fiction

A fictional story that takes place in a particular historical period. The setting is often real but the characters are imaginary

The Watsons go to Birmingham, Gone with the Wind, The Sign of the Beaver, My Brother Sam Is Dead, Roll of Thunder

c) Mystery

A suspenseful story about a puzzling event that is not solved until the end of the story

Cam Jensen, Hardy Boys, Bunnicula

d) Realistic Fiction

A story using made-up characters but could happen in real life

Hatchet, Because of Winn Dixie, Stone Fox

e) Science Fiction

A type of fantasy that uses science and technology (robots, time machines etc.)

My Teacher is an Alien, a wrinkle in Time, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, The Giver

f) Traditional Literature

Stories that are passed down from one group to another in history. Includes folktales, legends, fables, fairy tales, tall tales, and myths from different cultures

Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed

2. Poetry

Ideas are expressed in compact, imaginative rhythmic form

a) Limericks

Silly and humorous poem with rhyming pattern A-A-B-B-A

There was an old man with a beard

Who said, It was just as I feared!

Two owls and a hen

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nest in my beard!

b) Cinquain

5 lines

Line 1 1 word

Line 2 2 words

Line 3 - 3 words

Line 4 4 words

Line 5 - 1 word

Watermelon

Juicy, sweet

Dripping, slurping, smacking

So messy to eat

Yummy

c) Haiku

17 syllables: first line has 5, the second has 7, the third has 5

Above the meadow

A skylark, singing, flies high

High into silence

d) Free Verse

Poet expresses his or her feelings without adhering to any strict poetic pattern

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

e) Narrative Poetry

Poetry that tells a story

The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Paul Reveres Ride, Captain Kid, The Village Blacksmith

f) Lyric Poetry

Poetry that appeals to the senses. Can be rhyme or free verse

Who Has Seen the Wind, The Swing

g) Tanka

Tanka is a Japanese poetry type of five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the rest of seven. It is the oldest type of poetry in Japan.

To live is to break One's heart for the sake of love; A couple of doves, Beaks touching on their way, Are stepping out in the sun.

h) Acrostic Poetry

In Acrostic poems, the first letters of each line are aligned vertically to form a word. The word often is the subject of the poem.

L oves to play on the computer

A lways humorous

U nique in every way

R unning, jumping, tumbling at gym

E xceptionally bright

L earner

i) ABC Poem

An ABC poem has a series of lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines are made up of words and phrases. The first word of line 1 begins with an A, the first word of line 2 begins with a B etc.

A lthough things are not perfectB ecause of trial or painC ontinue in thanksgivingD o not begin to blameE ven when the times are hardF ierce winds are bound to blow

j) Ballad

Ballad Poems tell a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. A ballad is often about love and often sung. A ballad is a story in poetic form.

The Mermaid by Unknown Author

Oh the ocean waves may roll, And the stormy winds may blow, While we poor sailors go skipping aloft And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below And the land lubbers lay down below.

k) Epic Poetry

Epic Poems are long, serious poems that tell the story of a heroic figure.

The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer and The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

l) Ode

The ode gives praise to a person or object. They do not have to rhyme and can be any length.

Ode to Enchanted Light, Ode to Socks, Ode to an Artichoke, An Ode to Christmas

m) Sonnet

About love, or written to praise a loved one. 14 lines and ABBAABBACDCDCD pattern

Sonnet 18, Harriet Beecher Stowe by Dunbar

n) Elegy

To remember or praise someone, serious, formal tone

Elegy for Jane, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

3. Drama

Story is told in the form of a play with stage directions and prop suggestions

The Phantom Tollbooth, Nothing but the Truth, My Native Tongue

4. Nonfiction

Factual

Informational Text

Texts that provide facts about a variety of topics (sports, animals, science, history, careers, travel)

Social Studies text, encyclopedia, science text, maps etc.

a) Biography

A story of a real persons life written by another person

Abe Lincoln, The Story of Ruby Bridges, NBA Super Star Shaquille ONeal

b) Autobiography

The life story of a real person written by that person

Michelle Kwan, Diary of a Young Girl (Anne Frank), Dreams from my Father