Forms of Literature

Language Arts Standards: 7E1b.1 Structural Features of Informational Text 7E1c.1 Discuss the purposes and characteristics of different forms of literary text

Prose
The ordinary form of written language. Most writing that is not poetry, drama, or song is considered prose. Prose is one of the major genres of literature and occurs in two forms, fiction and nonfiction.

Childrens Literature
A form of literature for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. Childrens literature can include books that are written by children, books written specifically for children, or books that are chosen by/for children. Two common forms of childrens literature are picture books and chapter books.

Picture Books
A book in which the colorful illustrations are as important as the text, both contributing to the telling of the story. Often use rhyme, repetition, and other poetic elements to increase engagement of young children. Picture books are often among the first books introduced to children and are usually intended to be read to them.

Chapter Books
A book long enough to be divided into chapters, but not long or complex enough to be considered a novel. Chapter books intended for the youngest children often contain some illustrations.

Young Adult Literature

Books selected for reading by young adults, ages 13 to 18, whether published specifically for them or for the general public. The vast majority of the stories published specifically for young adults, portray an adolescent as the protagonist, rather than an adult or a child. The subject matter and story lines are typically consistent with the age and experience of the main character. Themes in these stories often focus on the challenges of youth. Despite its unique characteristics, this type of literature shares the fundamental elements of fiction with other stories: character, plot, setting, theme, and style.

Young Adult Literature: Coming-of-Age Story

A type of novel where the protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both, often by a process of disillusionment. Some of the shifts that take place are these:

ignorance to knowledge innocence to experience false view of world to correct view idealism to realism immature responses to mature responses

Short Story
A short story is a brief work of fiction. Although concise, is does contain all the literary story elements. Like a novel, a short story presents a sequence of events, or plot. The plot usually deals with a central conflict faced by a main character, or protagonist. The events in a short story usually communicate a message about life or human nature. The message, or central idea, is the storys theme.

Novella
A work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel.

Novel
A novel is a long work of fiction. Novels contain all the elements of short stories, including characters, plot, conflict, and setting. However, novels are much longer than short stories. The writer of novels, or novelists, can develop these elements more fully than a writer of short stories can. In addition to its main plot, a novel may contain one or more subplots, or independent, related stories. A novel may also have several themes.

Poetry

A form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities, and not usually for its apparent meaning. Poems are often divided into lines and stanzas that employ regular rhythmical patterns, or meters. However, some poems are written out like prose or free verse. Most poems use highly concise musical and emotionally charged language. Many poems use imagery, figurative language, and special devices such as rhyme.

Drama
A drama is a story written to be performed by actors. Although a drama is meant to be performed, one can also read the script, or written version, and imagine the action. The script of a drama is made up of dialogue and stage directions. Both the dialogue and stage directions aid comprehension when reading a drama. Dialogue- the words meant to be spoken by the actors Stage directions- usually printed in italics, describe the setting and effects of sound and lighting and tell how the actors should look, move, and speak Dramas are often divided into parts called acts. The acts are often divided into smaller parts called scenes.

Comic Book
A periodic publication containing pictures and stories and articles of interest to those who purchase it or subscribe to it cartoon strips, comic strips, and/or funnies- a sequence of drawings telling a story in a newspaper or comic book

Graphic Novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential artwork. Unlike comic books, graphic novels usually cover a story from start to finish, rather than the traditional cliffhanger ending.

Nonfiction Literature
Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir Informational Books Technical Manuals Reference Sources

Encyclopedias
Dictionaries Thesaurus

Articles, Essays, and Critiques

Essay
An essay is a short nonfiction work about a particular subject. Most essays have a single major focus and a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. There are many types of essays, but most can be placed into one of four main categories. Expository- relates information or provides explanations Narrative- a story about a real-life experience Persuasive- presents and supports an opinion Descriptive (Most essays contain elements of description, but few are purely descriptive essays.)

Critique Critical Analysis/ Literary Analysis

1. (verb) the study of a literary work by a critic, student, or scholar. 2. (noun) a report about the elements of a literary work which is based on a careful, detailed reading and analysis of that work

Articles

A stand-alone section of a larger written work. These nonfictional prose compositions appear in magazines, newspapers, academic journals, the Internet or any other type of publication. Articles can be divided into two main categories: news and features.

News Article- discusses current or recent news of either general interest or on a specific topic Feature- nonfiction articles that intend to inform, teach or amuse the reader on a topic. The topic centers around human interests. Feature stories may include conventions found in fiction such as dialogue, plot and character. A feature article is an umbrella term that includes many literary structures: personality sketches, essays, how-to's, interviews and many others.

Resources:
http://www.nde.state.ne.us/read/framewo rk/glossary/general_a-e.html http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.thefreedictionary.com http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm Prentice Hall Literature Bronze