21st Century LPW

TYPES OF LITERATURE

I. Prose – closer to the speech of ordinary people

A. Fiction – not based on facts. It is make-believe and imaginary.
1. Novel – long narrative divided into chapters and involves many characters
2. Short Story – narrative of limited length involving one or more characters and one plot
3. Fable – a story that teaches a moral or a lesson. The characters are often animals or inanimate
things which speak and act like people.
4. Novelette – prose narratives that are intermediate between the short story and the novel.
5. Mythology – story dealing with the gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular
people
6. Anecdote – a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident
7. Fairy Tale – simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings or
obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages and often having a whimsical, satirical, or
moralistic character
8. Satires – stories in which human vices and follies are held up to ridicule
9. Legend – usually about origins
10. Folktale – a story that has been passed down, usually orally, within a culture. It may be based
on superstition and feature supernatural characters. Folktales include fairy tales, tall tales,
trickster tales and other stories passed down over generations.
11. Drama – the theatrical dialogue performed on stage, which consists of 5 acts and scenes
within an act
a. Tragedy – a story of the major character who faces bad luck. Tragedy, elements of
horrors and struggle usually concludes with the death of a person.
b. Comedy – is where the lead character overcomes the conflicts and the overall look is
full of laughter and the issues are handled very lightly
c. Farce – exaggerated comedy where situations are too ridiculous to be true and the
characters seem to be caricatures and the motives undignified and absurd
d. Melodrama – is a blend of two nouns - ‘melody’ and ‘drama’. It is a musical play
most popular by 1840 and is usually sad but has a happy ending like comedy.
e. Tragicomedy – the play that begins with serious mode but has a happy ending
f. Historical Play – taken from the lives of outstanding figures in history
B. Non-Fiction – can be a true story about a person, place, or thing. It is based solely on facts. A
non-fiction book can also be a reference book such as a dictionary, atlas, etc.
1. Essay – the authors’ detailed point of view or opinion about any particular topic or problem
2. Biography – is the story of a person's life written or told by another person
3. Autobiography – is the story of a person's life written or told by that person
4. Letters – direct or personal written messages addressed to a person or group, for private or
public communication
5. Diaries – are the incidents recorded by the author without any means of publishing them. It is
the rough work of one's daily routine, happenings, memorable days or events in his life
6. News – is a report of daily or weekly events related to politics, sports, leisure, fashion,
movies and business
7. Oration – formal treatment of a subject intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to the
intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience.

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21st Century LPW

II. Poetry – literary work in metrical form; verse

A. Narrative Poetry – tells a story in rich imaginative and rhythmical language
1. Epic – about heroic exploits often under supernatural control
2. Metrical Tale – equivalent of the short story in poetry and deals with any emotion or phase of
life and told in a simple, straightforward, and realistic manner
3. Ballad – the shortest and simplest narrative poem which tells of a single incident, usually
about love, and intended to be sung
4. Metrical Romance – long, rambling love story in verse
B. Lyric Poetry – originally meant to be sung, occurred in varied rhythms and often expressed personal
emotions and experience
1. Sonnet – short poem of 14 iambic pentameter lines grouped into Shakespearean and Italian
sonnets
2. Ode – poem of noble feeling towards some person or thing worthy of praise and adulation
3. Psalms – song praising God
4. Elegy – the type of poem lamenting the death of a person and which expresses feelings of
grief and melancholy
5. Simple Lyric – any short poem where the verse is especially musical or where there is
marked subjective or emotional tone
6. Song – short lyric poem intended to be sung
a. Secular Songs – nonreligious
b. Sacred songs – religious
C. Poetic Play / Dramatic Poetry – a play, composed in poetic form
1. Tragedy
2. Comedy
3. Farce
4. Melodrama
5. Tragicomedy
6. Historical Play
7. Social Poems – may be comic or tragic and aim to bring about changes in social conditions

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