| A | B |
|---|
| lyric poetry | usually a fairly shory poem focuusng on thoughts and feelings |
| epic poetry | long narrative poems that tell of great heroes or histories of nations |
| narrative poetry | poems that tell a story |
| dramatic poetry | poetry that takes the form of a play |
| ballad | a traditional form of narrative poetry with short stanzas & a simle rhyme scheme |
| elegy | a form of lyric poetry that usually expresses sadness over a death |
| ode | a form of lyric poem that addresses a person or thing or celebrates an event |
| sonnet | a 14l-line form of lyric poem with a fixed pattern of rhyme |
| blank verse | poetry written in iabic pentameter that does not rhyme |
| free verse | poetry without a regular meter or rhyme scheme |
| autobiography | a writer's story of his or her own life |
| biography | a writer's account of some other person's life |
| essay | a short piece of non-fiction that expresses the writer's opinion |
| novel | long prose narrative that describes fictional characters & events |
| poem | a literary work using the aesthetic & rhythmic qualities of language to evoke (extended) meanings & emotions |
| drama | fictional narrative composition in verse or prose intended for performed |
| short story | a brief prose tale (Poe) , usually not supporting a subplot |
| novella | a written fiction in prose, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel |
| satire | literature using mockery & derision to show to the negative aspects of human folly |
| tragedy | a dramatic composition with an unhappy ending |
| comedy | a dramatic composition with a happy ending or positive outcome |
| tragicomedy | a composition having features of both the tragic and comic forms |
| fable | narration demonstrating a useful truth, especially in which animals speak as humans |
| fairy tale | a short narrative featuring folkloric fantasy creatures, magic, enchantment, etc. |
| fantasy | fiction with strange or other-worldly settings or characters |
| folklore | songs, stories, myths, & proverbs of a people as handed down by word of mouth |
| historical fiction | story with fictional characters and events in a historical setting |
| horror | fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both characters & reader |
| humour | fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement, meant to entertain |
| legend | story, sometimes of a national or folk hero, that has a basis in fact but also includes imaginative material |
| mystery | fiction dealing with the solution of a crime or the unraveling of secrets |
| mythology | traditional narratives explaining human behavior & natural phenomena through symbolism |
| science fiction | narratives based on the impact of actual, imagined, or potential science, usually set in the future or on other planets |
| tall tale | humorous story with blatant exaggerations, swaggering heroes who do the impossible |
| speech | a public address or discourse |
