Genres(JON-RA)

What does genre mean?

Genre: a category of artistic composition

So, a genre is just the category a

book falls into!!

How many genres are there?

Let’s find out about some now!

Traditional

Literature

BIOGRAPHY

FANTASY

SCIENCE

FICTION

MYSTERY

FOLK TALE

LEGEND

HISTORICAL FICTION

REALISTIC

FICTION

FABLE

POETRY

TALL TALE

Informational

Autobiography

NONFICTION

• FACTUAL• RESEARCH BASED• CAN PROVE IT!

BIOGRAPHY• The story of a person’s life, living or not living.• Shows how that person affected other people

– Call Number: 921 – Alphabetical by the person’s last name.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

• The story of a person’s life, living or not living BUT it is written by that person.

The Life and TimesOf

Martha Washington

Written by: Martha Washington

POETRY• Words build sensory images• Verses: Plays with sounds of words and

rhythms• May or may not rhyme• Can be on any subject

– Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky– Call Number: 811

FICTION

• MADE UP• NOT A TRUE STORY• IMAGINARY• SOMETIMES BASED ON A TRUE

STORY

Traditional LiteratureTraditional Literature

• Folk Tales• Fairy Tales• Legends• Tall Tales• Fables

FOLKTALE & FAIRY TALES

• Timeless and placeless tale• Evil and good people or animals• Begins “Once upon a time” and ends

“happily ever after”• Often helped by magical creatures

– Cinderella– Three Little Pigs – Sleeping Beauty– Hansel and Gretel– Gingerbread Man– Ugly Duckling

LEGEND

• Characters have special traits• Based on a fictional or real figure

whose story has been exaggerated

• Characters perform super human deeds– Robin Hood – King Arthur

TALL TALES

• Heroes are “larger than life”: Some are made up, some based on real people

• Characters have exaggerated qualities. They are bigger, stronger, faster than the average person even though they seem average

• Solves problems in humorous way that is exaggerated beyond belief– Paul Bunyan– Pecos Bill

FABLE• Short stories• Teach a valuable lesson• Most characters are animals or

inanimate objects with human feelings– Aesop Fables

FANTASY• Events could not happen according to science today

(animals talking)• Characters may have special powers like magic, ability

to travel where others can’t , traveling through time– Charlotte’s Web– Dragon books– Magic Tree House– Percy Jackson series (Riordan)– Gregor series (Collins)

SCIENCE FICTION• Story with plot based on

science• If science makes advances, the

story could possibly happen– Among the… (series by Haddix)– Bailey School Kids (Dadey)

HISTORICAL FICTION

• Story is based in earlier era or time period• May be entirely fiction or mixed with

historical facts• Characters are entirely fiction or based on

a real person in history– Out of the Dust (Hesse)– Little House on the Prairie (Wilder)

REALISTIC FICTION

• Fictional characters who behave in realistic ways.

• Seems like it could really happen• Books by:

– Andrew Clements– Beverly Cleary

MYSTERY• Uncovering clues and piecing

them together

• There is a definite problem that is solved by the end of the story.