Genres in Literature

Literature

Genres of Literature

Drama Prose Poetry

Comedy Tragedy Non-Fiction Fiction Lyric Narrative Descriptive

and
Musical Melodrama Biography Realistic Elegy Didactic
Fiction
Autobiography Ode
Fantastic
Sonnet
Essay Fiction
Dramatic
Narrative Monologue
Non-fiction

Diary and
Journal
DRAMA
A piece of writing
that tells a story
and is performed on
stage.
World Literature
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
Oedipus Rex (by Sophocles)

Philippine Literature
The house on Zapote Street by
Quijano De Manila “Nick Joaquin”
 What greater
punishment is there
than life when you’ve
lost everything that
made it worth living?
William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)
World Literature
Le Miserables by Victor Hugo
World Literature
A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream by
William Shakespeare.
Much Ado About Nothing (By William
Shakespeare)

Philippine Literature
Sa Pula sa puti ni Francisco Rodrigo
World Literature
"Hills Like White Elephants" is a
short story by Ernest Hemingway.
Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Heiress (By Henry James)

Philippine Literature
Dead Stars” by Paz Marquez
Benitez
Scent of Apples by Bienvenido
Santos
World Literature
The King’s Speech by David
Seidler

Philippine Literature
Dekada 70 by Lualhati Bautista
Viajero by F. Sionil Jose
 PROSE
NON-FICTION
Prose writing that is
based on facts, real
events, and real
people, such as
biography or history
World Literature
The Story of My Life (by Helen
Keller)
The Autobiography of Benjamin
Franklin (by Benjamin Franklin)

Philippine Literature
Memoirs written by Juan Ponce
Enrile was a lengthy narrative about
his own life.
 Genre Definition Frequently Found
Elements

Autobiographies A story of a person’s • First-person account.

life written by that • Often highly
person. personalized.
• May be supported by
authentic pictures
and newspaper
articles.
World Literature
The World Is What It Is by Patrick
French (2009)
Will in the World: How Shakespeare
Became Shakespeare by Stephen
Greenblatt (2004).
Shakespeare: A Life (By Park
Honan)

Philippine Literature
The Great Malayan about the Life of
Jose Rizal written by Carlos Quirino.
Cayetano Arellano – Socoro O.
Albert
 Genre Definition Frequently Found
Elements
Biographies A story of a person’s life • Accurate history of a person’s life.
written by an individual • Reflection of the time and place in
with exceptional which a person lived.
knowledge of the subject. • Usually chronological.
• Carefully researched and
authentic.
• Fictionalized biographies may
include inven- tion, supposition, or
inference. Many historical fiction
books are biographical fiction.
• Subject may be an historical or
contemporary figure.
Philippine Literature
The History of Filipino
People written by Gregorio Zaide.
World Literature
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young
Girl
 Genre Definition Frequently Found
Elements

Journals and A log written by an • Entries are usually dated.

Diaries author at regular • Diaries and journals in
intervals. series have been
published as a way of
sharing historical fiction.
• Fictional diaries can be
animal fantasies when
animals write them.
World Literature
Of Love (By Francis Bacon)
The Sacred Grove of Oshogbo (By
Jeffrey Tayler)

Philippine Literature
The Philippine Century Hence by
Jose Rizal
The Filipino Writer and Martial Law
By Ed Maranan
On the Indolence of the
Filipinos written by Jose Rizal.
Genre Definition Frequently Found
Elements

Essays A short literary • Often of a persuasive

composition that nature.
reflects the author’s • May be found in
outlook or point of collections.
view. • Frequently found in
magazines and periodicals.