Chapter Three. Genres and Formats
The division of “genres” is often misleading due to the fact
that it is done incorrectly. There are only TWO genres and those are Fiction
and Nonfiction. Whatever comes after this are subcategories.
FICTION branches off into two main subgenres: Realism and Fantasy.
REALISM
·
Modern contemporary and historical
and
FANTASY
·
Modern (Hard Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Soft Science
Fiction, and Low Fantasy)
o
Hard Science Fiction is the main part of the story.
o
Soft Science Fiction is where science plays an important role,
yet the character is even a bigger part of the story.
o
High Fantasy is where alternate worlds are created, as are
languages. For example, The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.
o
Low Fantasy are more down to earth and worlds that are more
recognizable but still contains elements that are not possible such as talking
animals and fairies. In this case fairies living in New York City would be an
example of Low Fantasy.
Traditional (Folktale, Ballad, Fable, Legend, Myth, Fairy
Tale)
o
Folktales are stories originating in popular culture, typically passed on by word
of mouth.
o
Ballad is a
poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. The authors of traditional
ballads are usually unknown and have been passed on orally from one generation
to the next as part of the folk culture.
o
Fable is a short story that
usually has animals as characters and it conveys a moral.
o
Legend is a traditional story
sometimes believed to be historical but with no proven authentication.
o
Myth a traditional story
that concerns the early history of a people or one that explains natural or
social phenomenon and involves supernatural beings or events.
o
Fairy tale is a
children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands.
NONFICTION is INFORMATIONAL and it branches off into three categories.
1.
Biography, Autobiographical, and Memoirs
o
A biography is an
account of someone's life written by someone else
o
An autobiography is an account of a person's life written by that person
o
A Memoir is a
historical account or biography written from personal knowledge or special
sources
2.
Narrative Nonfiction which is written in a way that is
informational, yet story-like.
3.
Expository Nonfiction is strictly facts, in other words, gives
information.
In categorizing we must be careful to not mislead the readers.
Anything else that is different than these are categories, subjects, and
formats. NOT GENRES!
The following are COMMON CATEGORIES:
Chick Lit
Mystery
Guy Reads
Horror
Sports Fiction
Action/Adventure
Paranormal
War
Classics
Humor
Dystopia
The following are FORMATS:
Poetry
Drama
Novels
Chapter Books
Short Stories
Picture Books
Graphic Novels
In evaluating YA Literature, one must be careful again with not
confusing categories and formats with genres. Society is about labeling things.
There is some sort of obsession with that. In labeling reading titles by topics
one can indivertibly “offend” or make a reader feel inaccurate. For instance,
like Dr. Perry stated on this chapter, if we have a boy reading Twilight and it
is categorized under Chick Books, how awkward will he feel looking this book up
in the Chic Literature section in our school library? It is important to be
sensitive in labeling these categories as well so that all readers feel
comfortable walking into any given section of the library to find a good read.
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