Scribd
Upload
62 views2 pages

Literary Genre Handouts

The document discusses different genres and forms of literature. It defines genre as a category of artistic composition characterized by similarities in form, style or subject matter. The main genres are fiction, which includes imaginary stories, drama which is written to be performed, and nonfiction which relates factual experiences. Poetry uses rhyme and meter. Modern literature reflects current technology and may break traditional rules. Graphic fiction combines words and images to allow readers to visualize the story, while flash fiction is extremely brief, ranging from a word to 1,000 words yet still conveying a complete plot. Examples of each genre are provided.

Uploaded by

Sayra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
62 views2 pages

Literary Genre Handouts

The document discusses different genres and forms of literature. It defines genre as a category of artistic composition characterized by similarities in form, style or subject matter. The main genres are fiction, which includes imaginary stories, drama which is written to be performed, and nonfiction which relates factual experiences. Poetry uses rhyme and meter. Modern literature reflects current technology and may break traditional rules. Graphic fiction combines words and images to allow readers to visualize the story, while flash fiction is extremely brief, ranging from a word to 1,000 words yet still conveying a complete plot. Examples of each genre are provided.

Uploaded by

Sayra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Genre - A category of artistic composition as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form,

style or subject matter.


In literary genre we have:
Fiction - ex: drama, horror, comedy…
Nonfiction - ex: biography/autobiography, essay, speech…
Form – the structure of sentences or how a text is constructed, organized.
Meaning – a meaning that we get from a piece of writing. Generally, the writer message to the readers.

Major forms of literature


Fiction – imaginary characters and story come to life.
Drama – everything that is written is being perform of stage
Nonfiction – factual experiences
Poetry – rhyming, metrical verses, stanzas, lines and poems

21st century Literature Application


- The new literary work created within the last decade written by contemporary authors.
- Deals with current themes/issues and reflects a technological culture that often breaks tradition
writing rules.

Modern literary genres gain popularity due to the advent of technologies such as internet and other
virtual media which become the major platforms of most of modern literary texts like graphic and flash
fictions. Graphic fiction and flash fiction are two different genres of modern literature.

Graphic fiction or a graphic novel


is a comic book narrative that is equivalent in form and dimension to the prose novel (Campbell 200,
81). The pictures are arranged in sequenced in image panels and dialogues are written in speech
bubbles. The illustrations allow the readers to imagine and experience the characters and events in
the story.

Here are some of the features of graphic fiction or graphic novel according to Singh (2012).
1. Autographic forms provide a sense of intimacy.
2. Interactivity through the image panels.
3. Filling in the blanks between image panels makes the reader imagine the actions portrayed in the
story.
4. The language, syntax and meaning of a graphic novel spring primarily through the relationship
between images than words.
5. Graphic fiction combines book and screen.

Elements of Graphic Fiction


1. Image panels - frame
2. Gutters - the space in between the image panels.
3. Word/Speech balloons (thought and speech) – allow words to be understood as
representing the speech or thoughts. Speech balloons indicate words spoken aloud. Thought
balloons is often referred to as thought bubble.
4. Narration
5. Sound effects
6. Motion line
7. Background color

Some of the examples of graphic novels are the following:


1. “In the Shadow of No Tower: 9/11” by Art Spiegelmen in 2004 which tells the story about
the terrorist attack on September 11 in America. This also depicts the traumatic and tragic
experiences of American people during the 9/11 terrorist attack.
2. “The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers” by Sarnath Banerjee in 2009 portrays 18th century
Calcutta exploiting the myth of the “Wandering Jew”.
3. “Louis Riel” by Chester Brown in 2003 is a fictionalized violent rebellion in the 19th
Century on the Canadian praire who led by Riel.

Example of famous literary text “For sale baby shoes, never worn” by: Ernest Hemingway

Flash fiction
is imaginative literature of extreme brevity. It could range from a word to a thousand (Gacusan
2018). It is known as micro stories, postcard fiction, nanotales and short shorts.

According to Sustana (2020), most of the flash fictions have these common characteristics.
1. Brevity. Flash fiction presents the story with fewest words as possible.
2. Complete plot. Flash fiction emphasizes the development of plot. It has a beginning, middle
and ending of the story.
3. Surprising ending. The successful hallmark of a flash fiction is its twist at the end of the
story.

Here some of the flash fictions.


 “Angels and Blueberries” by Tara Campbell is a story of various explanations for the color
of the sky that involves angels and blueberries.
First lines: “Why is the sky blue?” you ask. Well, it all depends on who’s
answering.
 “Taylor Swift” by Hugh Behm-Steinberg tells a weird story of how anyone can order a
perfectly clone of Taylor Swift at his doorstep.
First line: You’re in love; it’s great, you swipe on your phone and order: the
next day a Taylor Swift clone shows up at your house.
 “Unnecessary Things” by Tatyana Tolstaya is a story of finding an old and torn teddy bear,
“unnecessary things” (items that do not serve any useful purpose), that she adored as a child.
First lines: This Teddy bear once had amber eyes made from special glass —
each one had a pupil and an iris. The bear itself was gray and stiff, with wiry
fur. I adored him.

You might also like