| A | B |
|---|
| fiction | literature that tells about author-created (made up) people, places or events. |
| nonfiction | writing tells about real and true people, places and events. |
| biography | a true accounting of someone's life |
| autobiography | a true account of someone's life written by that person |
| poetry | literature that often uses fewer, more powerful words to express ideas, images, or feelings. The language is often figurative, imaginative, rhythmic |
| drama | literature that is performed with an audience, through dialogue and actions of the characters. |
| realistic fiction | takes place in the time it was written, in recognizable places, with fictional characters who behave in realistic ways. Although made up, it could happen. |
| historical fiction | has fictional characters who behave in realistic ways. The story is affected by a definite setting of time and place |
| science fiction | based on real or predicted scientific developments. The setting is often in the future or on another planet. |
| mystery | stories have a problem or crime to solve. There may be police or detective characters. |
| fantasy | stories contain fantastic elements, such as talking objects, imagined creatures and magic |
| myth | a traditional story of how something came to be. Myths usually contain gods or supernatural humans and were specifically part of ancient Greek and Roman culture. |
| folktales | simple stories that have been handed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. Often these stories are told through animals. |
| tall tales | very exaggerated stories. The characters are larger than life and often, geographical features are explained through the actions of the characters. |
| fairy tales | usually contain imaginary characters. Often, a character of lower standing finds a way to become a wealthy person or a member of royalty |
| fables | have animal characters, they are stories told to teach a lesson or give a moral |
