COMEDY

Comedy, type of drama; It is contrasted on the one hand with tragedy and on the other
with farce, burlesque, and other forms of humorous amusement.

The classic conception of comedy, which began with Aristotle in ancient Greece of the 4th
century BCE and persists through the present, holds that it is primarily concerned with humans as
social beings, rather than as private persons, and that its function is frankly corrective. The comic
artists purpose is to hold a mirror up to society to reflect its follies and vices, in the hope that they will,
as a result, be mended. The 20th-century French philosopher Henri Bergson shared this view of the
corrective purpose of laughter; specifically, he felt, laughter is intended to bring the comic character
back into conformity with his society, whose logic and conventions he abandons when he slackens in
the attention that is due to life.

DRAMA

The term dramatic literature implies a contradiction in that literature originally meant something
written and drama meant something performed. Most of the problems, and much of the interest, in the
study of dramatic literature stem from this contradiction. Even though a play may be appreciated
solely for its qualities as writing, greater rewards probably accrue to those who remain alert to the
volatility of the play as a whole.

EPIC

An epic is traditionally a genre of poetry, known as epic poetry. However in modern terms, epic is
often extended to other art forms, such as epic theatre, films, music, novels, plays, television shows,
and video games, where in the story has a theme of grandeur and heroism, just as in epic poetry.

Epic, long narrative poem recounting heroic deeds; although the term has also been loosely used to
describe novels, such as Leo Tolstoys War and Peace, and motion pictures, such as Sergey
Eisensteins Ivan the Terrible. In literary usage, the term encompasses both oral and written
compositions. The prime examples of the oral epic are Homers Iliad and Odyssey.

EROTIC

Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships
which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually. Such erotica takes the form of
novels, short stories, poetry, true-life memoirs, and sex manuals. A common feature of the genre
is sexual fantasies on such themes as prostitution, orgies, homosexuality, sadomasochism, and many
other taboo subjects and fetishes, which may or may not be expressed in explicit language. Other
common elements are satire and social criticism. Despite cultural taboos on such material, circulation
of erotic literature was not seen as a major problem before the invention of printing, as the costs of
producing individual manuscripts limited distribution to a very small group of readers. The invention of
printing, in the 15th century, brought with it both a greater market and increasing restrictions,
like censorship and legal restraints on publication on the grounds of obscenity. Because of this,
much of the production of this type of material became clandestine.

Much erotic literature features erotic art, illustrating the text.

NONESENSE

Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that uses sensical
and nonsensical elements to defy language conventions or logical reasoning. Even though the most
well-known form of literary nonsense is nonsense verse, the genre is present in many forms of
literature.

The effect of nonsense is often caused by an excess of meaning, rather than a lack of it. Its humor is
derived from its nonsensical nature, rather than wit or the "joke" of a punchline.

LYRIC

Lyric poetry is a form of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the
first person. The term derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, the lyric, which was defined by
its musical accompaniment, usually on a stringed instrument known as a lyre. The term owes its
importance in literary theory to the division developed by Aristotle between three broad categories of
poetry: lyrical, dramatic and epic.

MYTHOPOEIA

Mythopoeia (also mythopoesis, after Hellenistic Greek , "myth-making") is a

narrative genre in modern literature and film where a fictional mythology is created by the writer
of prose or other fiction. This meaning of the word mythopoeiafollows its use by J. R. R. Tolkien in the
1930s. The authors in this genre integrate traditional mythological themes and archetypes into fiction.

ROMANCE

The romance novel or romantic novel is a literary genre. Novels of this type of genre
fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and
 must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." There are many subgenres of the
romance novel including fantasy, historical, science fiction and paranormal.

As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a type

of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High
Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-
filled adventures, often of aknight-errant portrayed as having heroic qualities, who goes on
a quest, yet it is "the emphasis on heterosexual love and courtly manners distinguishes it from
the chanson de geste and other kinds of epic, in which masculine military heroism
predominates."

MYSTERY

The mystery genre is a type of fiction in which a detective (or other professional) solves a crime or
series of crimes. Mystery writings can be novels or short stories. This genre may also be called
detective or crime novels. The purpose of a mystery novel is to solve a puzzle and to create a feeling
of resolution with the audience.

SATIRE

Satire is the use of different elements such as irony, sarcasm, humor, and ridicule to criticize or mock
the foolish behavior of others. Although the use of satire is often entertaining, it is also often used to
bring attention to a particular subject and promote change.

TRAGEDY

Tragedy, branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events
encountered or caused by a heroic individual. By extension the term may be applied to other literary
works, such as the novel.

Although the word tragedy is often used loosely to describe any sort of disaster or misfortune, it more
precisely refers to a work of art that probes with high seriousness questions concerning the role of
man in the universe.

TRAGICOMEDY
Tragicomedy in literature is defined by critics as a dramatic genre in which the tragic and the comic
coexist to produce mixed tragicomic response. The term was coined by Roman playwright Plautus
(254 BC to 184 BC) in the prologue to his play Amphytryon as an excuse for mixing in it slaves and
gods, since according to the tenets of classical drama gods and kings belonged to tragedy and
ordinary people to comedy.