Genres

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Genres
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4 Main Genre Groups

• Stories
• Poetry
• Drama
• Nonfiction

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Stories (fiction)

• Stories (fiction) are narratives about made-up
  events and characters.
• Usually written to entertain the reader
• Characterized by a plot, setting, and
  characters.

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4 Main Forms of Fiction

• Short Stories often focus on a single event or
  incident. Most are short enough to read without
  taking a break.
• Novels longer works of fiction that weave
  together many different events, storylines, and
  characters.
• Novellas longer than a short story but shorter
  than a novel. They usually feature a limited
  number of characters.
• Graphic novels a novel in comic-strip format

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Common Fiction Subgroups

• Traditional Literature
• Fantasy
• Science Fiction
• Realistic Fiction
• Historical Fiction
• Mystery
• Horror

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Traditional Literature

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

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Fantasy

• Includes elements that are impossible such as
  talking animals, magical powers, and imaginary
  worlds.
• Make-believe is what this genre is all about.

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Science Fiction

• The stories often tell about science and
  technology of the future. It is important to note
  that science fiction has a relationship with the
  principles of sciencethese stories involve
  partially true-partially fictitious laws or
  theories of science. It should not be completely
  unbelievable, because it then ventures into the
  fantasy genre.

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Realistic Fiction

• A made-up story using realistic characters and
  events that could happen in real life.

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Historical Fiction

• Fictional story based on or around important
  people or events from the past. The setting is
  usually real and often contains actual historical
  persons, but the principal characters are usually
  fictional.

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Thriller/Mystery

• Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film,
  and television programming that uses suspense,
  tension, and excitement as the main elements. The
  protagonist in these films is set against a
  problem an escape, a mission, or a mystery.
• A mystery is a genre of fiction in
  which a detective, either an
  amateur or a professional, solves a crime
  or a series of crimes.

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Horror

• Horror fiction is a genre of literature, which is
  intended to frighten its readers by creating
  feelings of horror/terror. This type of writing
  creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere.

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Poetry

• Poetry is a type of literature in which words are
  chosen and arranged in a precise way to create
  certain sounds and meanings. Poems are made up of
  lines, which are often arranged into groups
  called stanzas.
• Types of Poetry
• Odes
• Sonnets
• Narrative Poems
• Lyric Poems

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Drama

• Any work written to be performed on a stage
• Divided into scenes and primarily written as
  dialogue between characters
• The setting, characters movements, and props are
  described through stage directions
• Subgenres include
  comedies and tragedies

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Nonfiction

• Written work based on facts
• Although some are entertaining (ex biographies
  and true-life adventures), most are written to
  inform the reader

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Nonfiction Subgroups

• Autobiography/Biography
• Essay
• Speech
• News/Feature Articles
• Functional Texts

See pages 8-9 in Literature book
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Use what we have reviewed to help you identify
the genre of each of the following.
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What genre is this book?

• The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, the Witch,
  and the Wardrobe
• Four kids travel through a wardrobe to the land
• of Narnia and learn of their destiny to free it
• with the guidance of a mystical lion.

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What genre is this book?

• Fantasy
• because it mentioned
• make-believe details
• like the land of Narnia
• and a mystical lion.

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What genre is this book?

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• In his first year of middle school, the main
  character Greg Heffley deals with cooties,
  learning to wrestle, Halloween, acting in the
  school play, and other problems that many
  middle school students face.

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What genre is this book?

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Realistic fiction because the setting,
  characters, and events are realistic. The plot
  could really happen, and the main character goes
  through real experiences that many middle school
  students face.

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What genre is this book?

• The Watsons Go to Birmingham
  by Christopher Paul Curtis
• It is the fictional story of an African
  American family living in Flint, Michigan who go
  to their grandmother's home in Birmingham,
  Alabama in the year 1963. The story is told
  around the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church
  bombing in Birmingham, an actual
  event in history.

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What genre is this book?

• The Watsons Go to Birmingham
  by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Historical fiction - The story is told around
  the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in
  Birmingham, an actual event in history.

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What genre is this book?

• What are My Rights? 95 Questions and Answers
  About Teens and the Law by Thomas A. Jacobs
• Teenagers have many questions about the law, but
  often they don't know where to turn for answers.
  This book makes it easy to explore 95 legal
  questions that pertain specifically to them.

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What genre is this book?

• What are My Rights? 95 Questions and Answers
  About Teens and the Law by Thomas A. Jacobs
• Nonfiction because it contains facts about the
  law that apply to teenagers.

26
What genre is this?

• Wicked by Stephen Schwartz
• The untold musical story of The Wizard of Ozs
  Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good...
  before Dorothy dropped in. Based on the
  imaginative Gregory Maguire novel, Wicked takes a
  fantasy journey through the unseen side of Oz,
  sharing a tale of unexpected
  friendship and love.

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What genre is this?

• Wicked by Stephen Schwartz
• Drama because it is a musical which would be
  written with scenes and dialogue to be performed
  on stage.