Types of Genre in Literature;

Characteristics and Forms

MS. CRESILDA ALMUALLAS

 The 5 Types of Literary Genre

I. Poetry
it is the main literary genre.
It is a branch of the humanities that renders artistically, imaginatively the best
of man’s thoughts and feelings.

the highest form of talk.

1. Sonnet
Is the most popular form of poetry.
14 lines
Italian or Petrarchan sonnet
-abba, abba, cdecde
The English or Shakespearean sonnet
-rhyme scheme; abad, cdcd, efef, gg
2. Shi
It is the main type of classical poetry. Within this form
of poetry the most important variations are “folk
song”, styled verse (yuefu), “old style” verse (gushi),
“modern style” verse (jintishi).

In all cases, rhyming is obligatory.

3. Villanelle
Is a nineteen-line poem made up of five triplets with a closing
quatrain; the poem is characterized by having two refrains,
initially used in the first and third lines of the first stanza, and
then alternately used at the close of each subsequent stanza
until the final quatrain, which is concluded by the two
refrains.
4. Limerick
A limerick is a poem that consist of five lines and is
often humorous.
Rhythm is very important in limericks for the first,
second and fifth lines must have seven to ten syllables.
5. Tanka
It is a form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, with
sections totalling 31 onji (phonological units
identically to morae), structured in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern.
6. Haiku
Is a popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, which evolved
in the 17th century from the hokku, or opening verse of a renku.
It has 5-7-5 pattern.
7. Ode
Were the first developed by poets writing in ancient
Greek, such as Pindar, and Latin, such as Horace.
8. Ghazal
Is a form of poetry common in Arabic, Persian, Turkish,
Urdu and Bengali poetry.
In classic form, the ghazal has from five to fifteen rhyming
couplets that share a refrain from the end of the second
line. This refrain may be one or several syllables, and
preceded by a rhyme. Each line has identical meter. The
ghazal often reflects on a theme of unattainable love or
divinity.
 Specific Genre of Poetry

1. Narrative Poetry
- Is a genre of poetry that tells a story.
- Broadly it subsumes epic poetry, but the term
“narrative poetry” is often reserved for smaller
works, generally with more appeal to human
interest.
- It is may be the oldest type of poetry.
- Iliad and odyssey
2. Epic Poetry
- It is a genre of poetry, and a major form of narrative
literature. This genre is often defined as lengthy
poems concerning events of a heroic or important
nature to the culture of the time.
- Ex: The Epic of Gilgamesh
- The Mahabharata
3. Dramatic Poetry
- Is drama written in verse to be spoken or sung, and
appears in varying, sometimes related forms in many
cultures.
4. Satirical Poetry
- Can be a powerful vehicle for satire. The Romans had
a strong tradition of satirical poetry, often written
for political purposes.
- Ex: Roman’s poet Juvenal’s satires
5. Light Poetry
- Is a poetry that attempts to be humorous. Poems
considered “light” are usually brief, and can be on a
frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word
play, including puns, adventurous rhyme and heavy
alliteration.
6. Lyric Poetry
- Is a genre that, unlike epic and dramatic poetry, does
not attempt to tell a story but instead is of a more
personal nature.
- Poems in this genre tend to be shorter, melodic, and
contemplative, rather than depicting characters
and actions, it portrays the poet’s own feelings,
state of mind , and perceptions.
7. Elegy
- Is a mournful, melancholy or plaintive poem,
especially a lament for the dead or a funeral song. The
term “elegy”, which originally denoted a type of poetic
meter, commonly describes a poem of morning.
8. Verse Fable
- Is an ancient literary genre, often set in verse. It is a
succinct story that features anthropomorphized
animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature
that illustrate a moral lesson.
9. Prose Poetry
- Is a hybrid genre that shows attributes of both prose
and poetry. It may be indistinguishable from the
micro-story.

10. Speculative Poetry

- Also known as fantastic poetry, is a poetic genre
which deals thematically with subjects which are
“beyond reality”.
 Elements of Poetry

1. Prosody
- Is the study of the meter, rhythm, and intonation of a
poem. Rhythm and meter are different, although
closely related. Meter is the definitive pattern
established for a verse (such as iambic pentameter),
while rhythm is the actual sound that results from a
line poetry.
2. Rhythm
- The methods for creating rhythm vary across
languages and between poetic traditions. Languages
are often describes as having timing set primarily by
accents, syllables, or moras, depending on how rhythm
is established, though a language can be influenced by
multiple approaches.
3. Meter
- Meters are customarily grouped according to a
characteristics metrical foot and the number of feet
per line. The number of metrical feet in a line is
described using Greek terminology: tetrameter for
four feet and hexameter for six feet, for example.
 Common metrical feet in English:

Iamb- one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed

syllable (describe, include, retract)
Trochee- one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed
syllable (picture, flower)
Dactyl- one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed
syllables (annotate an-no-tate)
Anapest- two unstressed syllables followed by one
stressed syllable (comprehend com-pre-hend)
Spondee- two stressed syllables together (e-nough)
Pyrrhic – two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually
used to end dactylic hexameter)
amuse amuse aimb
poet poet trochee
poetry poetry dactyl

downtown downtown spondee

unaware unaware anapest

4. Metrical Patterns
- Different traditions and genres of poetry tend to use
different meters, ranging from the Shakespearean
iambic pentameter and the Homeric dactylic haxameter
to the anapaestic tetrameter used in many nursery
rhymes.
Iambic Pentameter (John Milton, Paradise Lost)
Dactylic Hexameter (Homer, Iliad)
Iambic Tetrameter (Robert Frost, Stopping by the
Woods on a Snowy Evening)
Troachaic Octameter (EAP, The Raven)
5. Rhyme, alliteration, assonance
- These are ways of creating repetitive patterns of sound.
- Rhyme consists of identical (hard-rhyme) or similar
(soft-rhyme) sounds placed at the ends of lines or at
predictable locations within lines (internal line).
- Alliteration is the repetition of letters or letter-sound
at the beginning of two or more words immediately
succeeding each other, or at short intervals, or the
recurrence of the same letter in accented parts of
words.
6. Rhyming Scheme
 Major Structures Elements Used in Poetry

1. Lines and stanzas

II. DRAMA
- The term drama comes form a Greek word meaning “action” or “I
do” in Classical Greek. In English, the word play or game
translating the Anglo-Saxon plega was the standard term used
to describer drama until William Shakespeare’s time—just as the
creator was a “play-maker” rather than or “dramatist” and the
building was a “play-house” poetry.
- Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance.
The drama is a presentation made up of words, sights, sounds,
motions, noise, stillness, relationships, and responses.
- The script is the dialogue and stage directions for actors and stage
technicians.
- The play is the script coming to life and is a director’s
interpretation of the script.
a. Visual Presentation
- Even before the advent of printing, the visual
appearance of poetry often added meaning or depth.
Acrostic poems conveyed meaning in the initial
letters of lines or in letters at other specific places in a
poems.
b. Diction
- Poetic diction treats the manner in which language is
used, and refers not only to the sound but also to
the underlying meaning and its interaction with
sound and form.
- Poetic diction can include rhetorical devices such as
simile and metaphor, as well as tones of voice, such
as irony.
 FORMS OF DRAMA

1. Opera
- Western opera is dramatic art form that arose during
Renaissance in an attempt to revive the classical
Greek drama in which dialogue, dance, and song
were combined.
- Chinese Opera has seen a more conservative
development over a somewhat longer period of
time.
2. Pantomime
- Is a type of musical comedy stage production,
designed for family entertainment. It was developed in
England and is still performed throughout the United
Kingdom, generally during the speaking countries.
3. Mime
- Mime is a theatrical medium where the action of a
story is told through the movement of the body,
without the use of speech. Performance of mime
occurred in Ancient Greece, and the word is taken
from a single masked dancer called Pantominus,
although their performances were not necessarily
silent.
4. Creative Drama
- Includes dramatic activities and games used
primarily in educational settings with children.
 Elements of Drama

1. Plot (soul of drama)

- Exposition
- Inciting action
- Rising action
- Crisis or turning point
- Falling action
- Denouement or resolution
2. Action consists on the events that the characters
take part in as they act the play.
3. Content lies in the themes it deals with, (bullying,
etc.)
4. Dramatic Form the way that the story is told, the
way the characters play their parts.
5. Climax/anti-climax it creates a sense of
expectation in the audience.
6. Contrast useful way to focus the audience’s
attention.
7. Character and Characterization
8. Dramatic Convention (techniques) eg. Slow
motion, audience, location
9. Symbols (props, gestures, expressions, costume,
lighting, setting)
10. Dialogue
11. Audience “The Listeners”
12. Stagecraft
13. Theme
14. Irony is an important element of the dramas in all
literature. Ironic perception of the dramatic situation
heightens tension and suspense and is essentially
drama is all about.
15. Language and Ideas
16.Conflict
17. Spectacle
III. PROSE