Genres and Subgenres

Classifying Stories
 Genres and Subgenres
Texts can be separated into groups
called genres and subgenres.

Text Genre Subgenre

is a is a
Banana
Food Fruit

Harry Potter is is
Book Fiction Fantasy
 Genres
Fiction: creative or imaginative writing.
Nonfiction: writing that is true or factual.
Folklore: stories once passed down orally.
*Usually will say “retold by” or “adapted by”
Dramas: plays or scripts.
Poetry: writing concerned with the beauty of
language.
We will focus on the first three.
 Fiction Subgenres

Fiction

Realistic Fantasy
Fiction

Science Historical
Fiction Fiction
Realistic Fiction: stories that could be true,
but aren’t.

Science Fiction: has aliens, advanced

technology, or is set in the future.

Historical Fiction: a made up story set

around a real event or person from history.

Fantasy: has monsters, magic, or super

powers.
 Nonfiction Subgenres

Nonfiction

Informational Persuasive
Writing Writing

Biography Autobiography
Informational Writing: provides facts or
information.

Autobiography: one’s life story written by

oneself.
Auto = Self Bio = Life Graphy= Writing

Biography: one’s life story written by

someone else.

Persuasive Writing: meant to influence the

reader.
 Folklore Subgenres

Folklore

Fable Fairy Tale

Tall Tale Legend Myth

Fable: short story with talking animals & a moral.
Moral: lesson of the story (clearly stated).

Myth: has gods & goddesses; may account for

the creation of something.
Tall Tale: Funny story set in the Wild West;
main character’s size or skill exaggerated.
Fairy Tale: has magic and/or talking animals.
Legend: a story that might be true, but is
exaggerated.
Usually says “Retold by” or “Adapted by”
 Fairytales & Fantasies
Both have monsters, magic, or talking animals.

What’s the difference?

• Fairytales are part of the oral tradition.

• Usually it will say “retold by” or “adapted by.”
• Fairytales often start “Once Upon a Time.”
 Tips for Identifying
1. Find the main genre first

2. Look for details that reveal subgenre

 1
The Lion and the Mouse
Retold by Jerry Pinkney
A Lion was sleeping when a Mouse woke
him up. The Lion was about to eat him when
the Mouse said, “Free me and I shall never
forget it: who knows? I may help you some
day." The Lion laughed so much at the idea of
the Mouse being able to help him, that he let
him go. Some time later the Lion was caught
in a hunter’s trap. The little Mouse happened
to pass by and, seeing the trapped Lion, he
gnawed through the ropes and freed him.
Little friends can be a big help.
 2
War Brides
By Helen Bryan

1939: as Britain prepares for war with

Germany in World War II, the lives of five
young women are about to collide in the
sleepy Sussex village. Together they will
face hardship, passion and danger,
forming bonds of friendship that will inspire
a desperate plan, And, fifty years later, an
act of revenge ...
 3
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Adapted by Howard Pyle

In this work, Pyle sorts through the many

folktales concerning the mythical Robin
Hood, who may have been a real person,
and made them suitable for children. Robin
Hood's dashing acts of wealth redistribution
(from the rich to the poor) have captured
the imagination and fascination of millions
of delighted readers through the ages.
 4
The Best Book of Sharks
by Claire Llewellyn

This beautiful book offers insight into

the deep-sea lives of one of nature’s
deadliest killing machines. Learn where
sharks live, what they feed on, how they
bear their young.
 5
Escape From Earth (OASIS)
by Ivis Bo Davis
LEAVE EARTH OR DIE– the
electromagnetic field around the Earth is
fading away. Soon the planet will burn, and
everything and everyone on the planet will
die. Deep Space Vessel Trisznov is the first
human interstellar colony ship, and she is
nearly ready to launch in search of a new
habitable planet to colonize among the
stars...
 6
In My Time: A Personal & Political Memoir
by Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney
 7
Pecos Bill
by Steven Kellogg and Laura Robb

After falling off his parents wagon as a

baby, Pecos Bill is raised by coyotes. He
then becomes the toughest cowboy in the
Wild West by wrestling giant bulls and
outrunning a daemon horse.
 8
Eclipse
by Stephenie Meyer
The story of Bella Swan and her
vampire love, Edward Cullen. The novel
explores Bella's choice between her love
for Edward and her friendship with
werewolf Jacob Black, along with her
dilemma of leaving mortality behind in a
terrorized atmosphere, a result of
mysterious vampire attacks in Seattle.
 9
Perseus: The Hunt for Medusa's Head
Adapted by Paul D. Storrie
Could a monster whose very look turns
men to stone be too perilous even for the
son of Zeus? King Polydectes wants to get
rid of young Perseus. So he tricks the young
hero into performing an impossible task:
slaying the snake-haired monster Medusa.
But as the son of Zeus, king of the gods,
Perseus has many powerful allies. Will
Perseus' strength and courage allow him to
do the impossible?
 10
A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn

Zinn tells the untold history of the

United States by focusing on the
unrepresented minority groups: women,
Native Americans, and African Americans.
He covers the Bill of Rights to Clinton’s
presidency and everything in between.