Literary GenresFiction & Non-Fiction

Fiction (Narrative)• Prose writing that tells about imaginary

characters and events. Short stories and novels are works of fiction.

Non-fiction

NON-FICTION (EXPOSITORY)

• Is prose writing that presents and explains ideas or that tells about real people, places, objects, or events. Autobiographies, biographies, essays, reports, letters, memos, and newspaper articles are some the types of non-fiction.

fiction

Fiction (Narrative)• Drama• Fable• Fairy Tale• Fantasy• Folklore• Historical Fiction• Horror• Humor

• Legend• Mystery• Mythology• Poetry• Realistic Fiction• Science Fiction• Short Story• Tall Tale

Non-fiction

DRAMA• Like a novel or a short story, a drama tells

a story and includes such elements as character, setting, plot, and theme. It is written to be performed. The written form is called a script and the author is called a playwright.

FABLE• are stories that feature animals that speak

and act like humans. Fables teach morals, or lessons about how to live.

FAIRY TALE• A folktale that usually includes magical

elements.

FANTASY• Highly imaginative fiction that uses strange

or unusual characters, setting or plot. It contains elements not found in real life.

FOLKLORE• Also known as folk tales; these are stories

about ordinary people. Like myths, these stories reveal the traditions and values of a culture.

• These are passed down by word of mouth (there are an oral tradition)

HISTORICAL FICTION• a fictional story set in the past.

HORROR• Fiction in which events evoke a feeling of

dread in both the characters and the reader.

HUMOR• is writing that is meant to evoke laughter.

LEGEND• Are stories that are believed to be based

on real-life events and feature larger-than-life people.

MYSTERY• Fiction that includes secrets or crimes to

be solved.

MYTHOLOGY• Are anonymous stories involving gods and

goddesses. They stress cultural ideals or explain natural occurrences.

POETRY• Verse and rhythmic writing with imagery

that creates emotional responses.

REALISTIC FICTION• Story that can actually happen and is true

to real life. Set in present time.

SCIENCE FICTION• Story based on impact of actual, imagined,

or potential science or technology, usually set in the future or on other planets.

SHORT STORY• Brief work of fiction. Like a novel, it has a

sequence of events, or plot.

TALL TALE• A folktale that is usually humorous and

usually assumed to be untrue. It includes characters doing impossible things and includes exaggerations.

NON-FICTION (EXPOSITORY)

• Autobiography• Biography• Informational

fiction

AUTOBIOGRAPHY• Is a form of nonfiction in which a person

tells his or her own life story. It can tell about the whole life or part of the person’s life.

BIOGRAPHY• Is a form of nonfiction in which a writer

tells the life story of another person. Most are about famous historical and contemporary people.

INFORMATIONAL• Nonfiction writing about a topics, including

books and newspaper of magazine articles. What else might it include?