Genre Definitions
- ACTION / ADVENTURE. A suspenseful story in which a mission involving risk and danger forms the primary storyline. ...
- COMEDY. A story that typically maintains a light, satirical, or familiar tone and features amusing characters and situations.
- CRIME CAPER. ...
- DRAMA. ...
- FAIRY TALE. ...
- FANTASY. ...
- GHOST STORY. ...
- HISTORICAL FICTION. ...
- HORROR. ...
- MYSTERY. ...
- Literary Fiction. Literary fiction novels are considered works with artistic value and literary merit. ...
- Mystery. Mystery novels, also called detective fiction, follow a detective solving a case from start to finish. ...
- Thriller. ...
- Horror. ...
- Historical. ...
- Romance. ...
- Western. ...
- Bildungsroman.
What are the 5 main genres?
Examples include An American Werewolf in London (1981) and The Wolfman (1941).
- Giant monsters ( kaiju ): Films featuring giant monsters, typically those that are big enough to destroy buildings. Some such stories depict two giant monsters fighting each other. ...
- Vampire: Stories in which a vampire (s) is the main antagonist. ...
- Werewolf films: Stories in which a werewolf, or werewolves, is the main antagonist. ...
What are the names of all the genres?
What Are Fantasy Genre Conventions?
- A secondary world or unique setting. A crucial fantasy genre convention is escapism.
- Conflict between great or magical forces. A common theme in fantasy is the struggle between good vs evil.
- Complex characters
- Magic system. This is what sets the fantasy genre apart.
What are all the types of genres?
- First-person shooter (FPS): A variant of the shooting game. ...
- Hero
- Light gun
- Shoot 'em up Run-and-gun
- Tactical (aka soldier sim): have higher degrees of realism than other shooters, trying to simulate the feeling of being in combat. ...
- Third-person shooter: A shooting game where the camera angle is actually hovering behind the playable character as you play.
What is the hierarchy of genres?
The truth is that Hudson Hawk belongs to the most cursed of cinematic genres, albeit one you never saw getting its own aisle in Blockbusters and one you never see as a heading on Netflix. It's a genre I have come to call: high spirits. Hudson Hawk is a Bruce Willis action-comedy from the early 1990s.
What are 10 types of genre?
Examples of Different Genre TypesAction and Adventure Genre. ... Comedy Genre. ... Fantasy Genre. ... Horror Genre. ... Mystery Genre. ... Drama Genre. ... Science Fiction Genre. ... Different Genre Types.
What are the 7 main genres?
The main genres are crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction and horror—as well as perhaps Western, inspirational and historical fiction.
What are the 5 types of genres?
Today, Vista Higher Learning is breaking down the differences to give you a crash course on the five main genres of literature.#1 Fiction. One of the most popular genres of literature, fiction, features imaginary characters and events. ... #2 Nonfiction. ... #3 Drama. ... #4 Poetry. ... #5 Folktale.
What are the 6 types of genres?
There a six genres of writing: descriptive, expository, persuasive, narrative, technical and poetic. Compare and Contrast: you examine similarities and differences between two people, places, ideas, or things.
What are the 8 genre fiction?
It traditionally comprises genres such as romance, mystery, thriller, horror, fantasy, and children's books.
How many genre are there?
The 14 Main Literary GenresLiterary Fiction. Literary fiction novels are considered works with artistic value and literary merit. ... Mystery. Mystery novels, also called detective fiction, follow a detective solving a case from start to finish. ... Thriller. ... Horror. ... Historical. ... Romance. ... Western. ... Bildungsroman.More items...•
What are the 4 genres of literature?
In the landscape of literature, there are four major genres: poetry, drama, fiction, and creative nonfiction. While there are certain key recognizable features of each genre, these are not so much rules as they are tools, or conventions, the author uses.
What are the 3 genres of literature?
Three Genres: The Writing of Fiction/Literary Nonfiction, Poetry, and Drama.
What are the major genres of literature?
The three major genres are Prose, Drama, and Poetry.
How do you identify a genre?
An equation for remembering the genre is: Story (Action) + Plot + Character + Setting = Genre. This becomes an easy way to remember the elements of a genre. The above elements of story, plot, setting, and character equal a specific category of movie.
Is a novel a genre?
The novel is a genre of fiction, and fiction may be defined as the art or craft of contriving, through the written word, representations of human life that instruct or divert or both.
What genre is Billie Eilish?
Alternative/IndieBillie Eilish / Genre
What genre is BTS?
Electronic dance musicK-PopBTS/Genres
What are the basic movie genres?
The Basic Film GenresAction.Comedy.Drama.Fantasy.Horror.Mystery.Romance.Thriller.More items...•
What are the 4 genres of literature?
In the landscape of literature, there are four major genres: poetry, drama, fiction, and creative nonfiction. While there are certain key recognizable features of each genre, these are not so much rules as they are tools, or conventions, the author uses.
COMEDY
A story that typically maintains a light, satirical, or familiar tone and features amusing characters and situations. Humor is the fundamental driving force.
CRIME CAPER
A lighthearted crime story in which the main characters perpetrate one or more crimes--e.g. thefts, swindles, or kidnappings--in full view of the reader or filmgoer. The plot focuses on the criminals and their attempts at escape or atonement. Scenes often leverage offbeat humor and acts of unusual cleverness or audacity.
DRAMA
A story that relies on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters. Themes are often drawn from intense, real life issues such as addiction, infidelity, race and class tension, disease, and corruption to name a few.
FAIRY TALE
A narrative that often features folkloric characters such as fairies, elves, trolls, or witches engaged in fantastic or magical events that illuminate universal truths. Fairy tales usually exist in a time-suspended context, with minimal references to actual events, people, and places.
FANTASY
An imaginative story that typically weaves magic or other supernatural phenomena into a self-coherent plot or setting (e.g. magic spells, mythical creatures, fabled kingdoms, witchcraft, wizardry, medieval universes). Unlike science fiction and horror stories, fantasy stories usually avoid deeply scientific themes or macabre plots.
GHOST STORY
A frightening story premised on the possibility of ghosts, which may appear by their own volition or through summoning by magic. Ghost stories are usually scary, leveraging suspense, a sense of the uncanny, and supernatural occurrences to elicit feelings of fear and foreboding.
HISTORICAL FICTION
A story that takes place in a setting drawn from history. Historical fiction is usually presented from the perspective of the historical characters, whose behavior is consistent with the manners and social norms of the time. Scenes and dialogue are well researched and imaginatively reconstructed to be as authentic as possible.
Why do authors need to have a firm grasp on all the different genres of books?
Authors need to have a firm grasp on all the different genres of books in order to find the perfect home for their own. The tropes and expectations of a book’s genre will inform its content and style during the writing process, as well as fundamentals such as word count. But it’s also central to the marketing of a book, ...
What is a graphic novel?
Graphic novels are presented to the reader through narrative art (illustrations and typography) either in the traditional panel layout you’ll be familiar with from comic books, or in the artist’s own style.
What is women's fiction?
Women’s fiction is an umbrella term for books written to target a female audience, generally reflecting on the shared experience of being a woman or the growth of a female protagonist. Because of this rather broad definition, authors will quite often write a romance novel or mystery, for example, that could also be labeled women’s fiction. Despite the connotations of one alternative name for this genre (“chick-lit”), many critically acclaimed bestsellers, including Jaqueline Woodson’s Red at The Bone, fall under its purview.
What is a horror story called?
A horror story can also be called a thriller , if it employs psychological fear to build suspense. But not all thrillers are horror stories. So what are they? While this book genre encompasses many of the same elements as mystery, in a thriller the protagonist is usually acting to save their own life, rather than to solve the crime. Thrillers typically include cliffhangers, deception, high emotional stakes, and plenty of action — keeping the reader on the edge of their seat until the book’s climax. Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is a masterclass in the dark, mysterious thriller.
Why are short stories grouped together?
Though they can belong to any of the other book genres on this list, short stories are frequently grouped together in their own genre because they’re, well, so much shorter than novels. Often the author will compile a collection linked together by a narrative thread or, more commonly, a shared theme.
What is a fantasy book?
Fantasy. This book genre is characterized by elements of magic or the supernatural and is often inspired by mythology or folklore. In high fantasy — one that’s set in an entirely fictional world — these magical elements are at the forefront of the plot, as in Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician trilogy.
What is YA fiction?
Most works of YA fiction can be labeled “ coming-of-age novels ”, in which the characters exit childhood and enter adulthood — a transition that results in a loss of innocence and a shifting sense of identity. Some of the biggest bestsellers in recent years have belonged to this genre, including The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and anything by John Green.
What is a genre in writing?
Writing genres (more commonly known as literary genres) are categories that distinguish literature (including works of prose, poetry, drama, hybrid forms, etc.) based on some set of stylistic criteria. Sharing literary conventions, they typically consist of similarities in theme/topic, style, tropes, and storytelling devices;
How are genres formed?
Genres are formed by shared literary conventions that change over time as new genres emerge while others fade. As such, genres are not wholly fixed categories of writing; rather, their content evolves according to social and cultural contexts and contemporary questions of morals and norms.
What is a social sci-fi thriller?
Social sci-fi. Political thriller . Thriller (or suspense ): typically dark and suspenseful plot-driven fiction involving a person or group facing imminent harm, and the attempts made to evade that harm. Thrillers regularly use plot twists, red herrings, and cliffhangers, and seldom include comedic elements.
What is a ghost story?
Ghost story. Legend: story, sometimes of a national or folk hero, that has a basis in fact but also includes imaginative material. Myth: traditional narrative, often based in part on historical events, that reveals human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of the gods.
What is a coming-of-age literary work?
Coming-of-age. Bildungsroman: works that focus on the psychological and moral growth of a character from youth into adulthood.
What were the genres of Greek literature?
The prevailing genres of literary composition in Ancient Greece were all written and constructed to explore cultural, moral, or ethical questions; they were ultimately defined as the genres of epic, tragedy, and comedy. Aristotle's proscriptive analysis of tragedy, for example, as expressed in his Rhetoric and Poetics, ...
What are the most enduring genres?
The most enduring genres are those literary forms that were defined and performed by the Ancient Greeks; definitions sharpened by the proscriptions of modern civilization's earliest literary critics and rhetorical scholars, such as Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Aeschylus, Aspasia, Euripides, and others.
What are the two types of books?
Here are some of the different genres and types of books available today. Fiction. Nonfiction. Action and adventure. Art/architecture. Alternate history. Autobiography.
What is literary fiction?
Literary Fiction. If a work of fiction doesn’t fit into any of the other available genres, it can be labeled as literary fiction. These books are usually character-driven and introspective. They are sometimes called serious fiction because of their tone.
What are some examples of nonfiction books?
Examples of nonfiction books include: 1 Most biographies are nonfiction. We say "most" biographies, because a biography of a fictional character is really a fictional book. 2 The Diary of Anne Frank is nonfiction and a journal, making it a nonfiction journal. 3 Most Dictionaries and encyclopedias are nonfiction because they contain facts about words. 4 Travel books such as an atlas are nonfiction. 5 “How to” books that teach real skills, like the classic Betty Crocker Cookbook are considered factual.
What is a nonfiction history book?
History. Nonfiction history books include any books that lay out the known facts about a particular, time, culture, or event in history. Killing England by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard is an example of a popular history book.
What is a fiction book?
Fiction Books. Fiction books contain a story that the author made up, such as romance or children's books. The most commonly read works are works of fiction. Perhaps some of their elements are based on hints of truth, but they have been elaborated, fabricated, and used to embellish into a new story.
Why are encyclopedias considered nonfiction?
Most Dictionaries and encyclopedias are nonfiction because they contain facts about words. Travel books such as an atlas are nonfiction. “How to” books that teach real skills, like the classic Betty Crocker Cookbook are considered factual.
What age group is young adult fiction?
Young adult fiction is written for readers ages 12 to 18. They incorporate the typical reading level and worldview of tweens and teens in this age group. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is an example of popular young adult fiction.
What is sub genre?
A sub-genre is a smaller category that fits inside a particular genre. Often this is a mixture of two separate genres. Genres and sub-genres change over time and are informed by one another.
What is a sub genre in movies?
A film's main genre category will be based on where the majority of the content lands. A sub-genre is a smaller category that fits inside a particular genre. Often this is a mixture of two separate genres.
What is action genre?
Movies in the action genre are defined by risk and stakes. While many movies may feature an action sequence, to be appropriately categorized inside the action genre, the bulk of the content must be action-oriented, including fight scenes, stunts, car chases, and general danger.
What is the genre of heroic bloodshed?
Heroic Bloodshed. This action sub-genre is defined by values like duty, brotherhood, honor, redemption, and the protection of the vulnerable. It was initially created in Hong Kong cinema but has since made its way around the world. Ex. The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992).
What is the military action genre?
Military Action. While some movies may incorporate various military characters, settings, themes, and events, this particular sub-genre focuses on their exploits and suggests these events are entertaining rather than tragic. Some of the best Michael Bay movies come to mind.
Where does the Western take place?
The story needs to take place in the American West, which begins as far east as Missouri and extends to the Pacific ocean. They’re set during the 19th century, and will often feature horse riding, military expansion, violent and non-violent interaction with Native American tribes, the creation of railways, gunfights, and technology created during the industrial revolution.
Is film noir a genre?
Film Noir. Some consider the definition of film noir to more of a style than a genre, because there is no requirement to be connected to a crime. There is, however, a natural overlap between style and genre in the best Film Noir movies.
What is a literary genre?
A Guide to 14 Literary Genres. Fiction refers to a story that comes from a writer’s imagination, as opposed to one based strictly on fact or a true story. In the literary world, a work of fiction can refer to a short story, novella, and novel, which is the longest form of literary prose. Every work of fiction falls into a sub-genre, ...
What is the genre of literature that is set in a time and place that could actually happen in the real world?
The genre was born out of the realist art movement and is closely associated with Latin American authors. Realist Literature. Realist fiction novels are set in a time and place that could actually happen in the real world. They depict real people, places, and stories in order to be as truthful as possible.
What is a work of fiction?
In the literary world, a work of fiction can refer to a short story, novella, and novel, which is the longest form of literary prose. Every work of fiction falls into a sub-genre, each with its own style, tone, elements, and storytelling devices.
What is literary fiction?
Literary fiction novels are considered works with artistic value and literary merit. They often include political criticism, social commentary, and reflections on humanity. Literary fiction novels are typically character-driven, as opposed to being plot-driven, and follow a character’s inner story. Learn more about writing fiction in James ...
What is a magical realism novel?
Magical realism novels depict the world truthfully, plus add magical elements. The fantastical elements aren’t viewed as odd or unique; they’re considered normal in the world in which the story takes place. The genre was born out of the realist art movement and is closely associated with Latin American authors.
What is a sci-fi novel?
Sci-fi novels are speculative stories with imagined elements that don’t exist in the real world. Some are inspired by “hard” natural sciences like physics, chemistry, and astronomy; others are inspired by “soft” social sciences like psychology, anthropology, and sociology.
What is a horror novel?
Horror. Horror novels are meant to scare, startle, shock, and even repulse readers. Generally focusing on themes of death, demons, evil spirits, and the afterlife, they prey on fears with scary beings like ghosts, vampires, werewolves, witches, and monsters. In horror fiction, plot and characters are tools used to elicit a terrifying sense of dread.
What is fantasy genre?
Fantasy — The fantasy genre involves world-building and characters who are supernatural, mythological, magical, or a combination of these. Examples: Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and Circe by Madeline Miller
What are some examples of dystopian genres?
Examples: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle. Dystopian — Sometimes considered a subgenre of fantasy or of science fiction, this genre is usually set in a bleak future (near or distant) to explore cultural or social issues.
What are some examples of mystery novels?
Examples include The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms. Detective & Mystery — One of the toughest genres to write, this one centers on a mystery and involves either a professional or amateur sleuth. Examples: Murder on the the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.
What is tropes in fiction?
Tropes (in fiction genres) Rules/norms regarding adult content. For example, if you’re writing YA fantasy, you’ll run afoul of your readers (and their parents) if your story includes a sex scene or graphic violence. If you’re writing a cozy mystery, you don’t want your book’s cover to look like it belongs on a horror novel.
What is a memoir and autobiography?
Memoir & Autobiography — Each of the books in this genre is a true account of the author’s own life. Memoirs are typically related to a specific time in the author’s life or to a specific theme of the author’s choosing. Example: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Overview
History
Genres are formed by shared literary conventions that change over time as new genres emerge while others fade. As such, genres are not wholly fixed categories of writing; rather, their content evolves according to social and cultural contexts and contemporary questions of morals and norms.
The most enduring genres are those literary forms that were defined and performed by the Ancie…
Fiction genres
• Children's
• Classic (or literary fiction): works with artistic/literary merit that are typically character-driven rather than plot-driven, following a character's inner story. They often include political criticism, social commentary, and reflections on humanity. These works are part of an accepted literary canon and widely taught in schools.
Non-fiction genres
• Academic
• Bibliography: an organized listing of books or writings
• Biography: a written narrative of a person's life; an autobiography is a self-written biography.
• Creative nonfiction: factual narrative presented in the form of a story so as to entertain the reader.
Literary fiction vs. genre fiction
Literary fiction is a term used to distinguish certain fictional works that possess commonly held qualities to readers outside genre fiction. Literary fiction has been defined as any fiction that attempts to engage with one or more truths or questions, hence relevant to a broad scope of humanity as a form of expression. Genre fiction is a term used to distinguish fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fa…
Other nonfiction genres
These are genres belonging to the realm of nonfiction. Some genres listed may reappear throughout the list, indicating cross-genre status.
• Biography
• Commentary
• Creative nonfiction