Literary genres and subgenres
Literary genres mean a type or kind of literature. There are three main types of literary genres; some categorize them as four, but here we will see three main kinds of literary genres and subgenres. The three main genres are as follows:
1:Drama
2:Poetry
3:Prose
Drama: drama is written work meant to be performed on stage.
Types of drama:
1: Tragedy
2: Comedy
3: Tragic comedy
4: Melodrama
5: History drama
A tragedy is a serious kind of drama with serious subject matter and a sad ending.
Comedy is a literary genre with a light tone, and it depicts amusing people or incidents to create laughter and entertain the audience.
Tragicomedy: Tragicomedy is a form that blends both comic and tragic elements; it could be a serious play with a happy ending or a humorous play with a sad ending.
Melodrama: Melodrama appeals to our senses; it evokes our emotions and includes highly emotional situations.
Historical play: Historical plays are also known as chronicle plays and are based on history.
Poetic drama: poetic drama is a form of drama written in verse form.
Poetry: Poetry is a composition of emotions and ideas in a creative way.
Types of poetry: There are three main types of poetry.
1:Lyric poetry
2:Narrative poetry
3:dramatic poetry
Lyric poetry: Lyric poetry is related to the feelings and emotions of poets.
Narrative poetry: A narrative is a poem in which a story or incident is explained.
Dramatic poetry: poetry in verse, which portrays a story and is meant to be acted out
Prose: Work written in ordinary, simple language without the use of poetic language is called prose.
Types of prose
1: Fiction
2: Nonfiction
Fiction: A literary work that is not based on reality is known as fiction.
Non-fiction: writing that is based on reality and happened in real life.
Sub Genres
Types of tragedy:
Revenge tragedy: The main theme of this tragedy is revenge, where someone is being wronged and the protagonist is after revenge.
Domestic tragedy: The domestic play portrays domestic problems that result in suffering.
Horror tragedy: Horror tragedy has scenes full of bloodshed and violence to create feelings of fear.
Heroic drama: Heroic drama is part of a tragedy that uses meter and rhyme and has themes like honor, courage, love, etc.
Types of comedy
Classical comedy: The comedy written by the Greeks and Romans is called classical comedy; it follows the three unities of time, place, and action, which are that it should not exceed the time of 24 hours; it should be dealing with a single setting or place and a single plot or story.
Romantic comedy: The theme of the play is love. It has funny events and problems as well, but the ending is happy.
Comedy of humor: In this type of comedy, the evils of society are satirized.
Comedy of manners: This kind of comedy satirizes the evil of the upper class of society.
Sentimental comedy: In this type of comedy, the emotions of the character are focused.
Farce: Farce uses excessively exaggerated situations to create laughter.
Types of lyric poetry
Ode: Ode is used to praise a person, object, place, etc. There are three kinds of odes: Pindaric, Horatian, and irregular.
Elegy:Elegy is a sad poem written about a dead or lost person.
Sonnet: This poem consists of 14 lines and shows the author’s strong emotions and expresses an idea or thought. It has two types.
Italian or Petrarchan sonnet
English or Shakespearean sonnet
Occasional poetry: As the name suggests, it is written for specific occasions like birthdays, victories, weddings, etc.
Corrido: It is a kind of poetry about historical events and what daily life is like for servants.
Types of narrative poetry
Epic: Epic is a longer poem written about the deeds of the hero.
Ballad: A ballad is a poem that tells a story with supernatural elements in simple language.
Metrical tale: It is a long story in verse form and contains plot characters, a team, and a setting.
Types of dramatic poetry
Dramatic monologue: Dramatic monologue is the speaker’s talk to a silent listener.
Soliloquy: Soliloquy is the talk of a speaker to none but himself.
Dialogue: Dialogue involves two or more characters who are talking among themselves.
Types of fiction
Fantasy: Fantasy is an unreal story.
Historical fiction: It is a story based on real history, but the characters are not real, nor are all the happenings, but the history on which it is based is a real event.
Science fiction: These stories take place in the future and contain fictional features regarding science and technology.
Mystery: Mystery fictions are crime-based stories where the crime is solved by the protagonist and mysteries are uncovered.
Realistic fiction: The story has never actually happened but seems real.
Folklore: folktales are cultural stories transmitted orally from generation to generation, like fairy tales, myths, etc.
Types of Nonfiction
Biography: Biography is writing about a person’s life.
Autobiography: An autobiography is written about a person or author by himself.
Narrative nonfiction: It is a literary work that happened in real life.
Periodicalsare another type of non fiction,which include magazines, journals, and newspapers at extra time that are written for a specific time regularly.
Reference materials include writing that is factual and in alphabetical order; examples are dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.
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