Forms of Literature

FORMS OF LITERATURE

Poetry – expresses a strong emotion or lofty thought in a compressed and intense utterance. It provides pleasure and delight

· Narrative Poetry – tells a story following a chronology of events

o Epic – a long narrative poem about heroic characters

o Ballad – a narrative poem that makes use of repetition

· Lyric Poetry – has the form & quality of a song and is usually short poem that expresses personal feelings

o Elegy – poem usually about death

o Song – intended to be sung

o Sonnet – poem of 14 iambic pentameter line

o Idyll – descriptive poem of rural and pastoral characters

· Dramatic Poetry – has elements that closely relate to drama

o Comedy – a humorous drama with a happy ending

o Tragedy – a play dealing with misfortunes and has sorrowful endings

Prose – concerned with the presentation of idea, concept or point of view in a more ordinary and leisurely manner. It furnishes information, instruction, or enlightenment.

· Fiction – a series of imagined facts which illustrates truths about human life

o Short Story – concerns smaller number of characters acting in a story with a single action and one thematic focus

o Novel – a long fictional prose having more characters in different actions and may have several thematic ideas presented

o Novelette – shorter than a novel but longer a than short story

o Legend – a story handed down from generation to generation through the word of mouth usually about the origin of something

o Folktale – a story carrying the idea that good are rewarded and evil are punished

o Fable – the characters of this story are animals that could speak and act like people and has moral

o Myth – a traditional story about heroes and supernatural beings

o Play – a story that is meant to be acted on stage

· Non-Fiction – based on reality and actual facts

o Biography – an account of someone’s life written by other person

o Autobiography – an account of someone’s life written by the person himself

o Diary – daily record of personal experiences that are meant to be confidential

o Speech – a public address of usually important concept, ideas, philosophies or issues

o Journal – a daily record that may be read by others like a newspaper or a periodical

o News – a report about current events and issues that is greatly significant to people

o Anecdote – an account of an interesting or humorous event in the life of a known person

o Essay – a short literary composition on a single subject