Poetry
A long narrative poem written in elevated style which presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation. E.g. The Odyssey
What is an Epic
A brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters. E.g. The Tortoise and the Hare
What is a Fable
A work in which the protagonist, a person of high degree, is engaged in a significant struggle which ends in ruin or destruction. E.g. Romeo and Juliet
What is a Tragedy
A formal speech praising a person who has died
What is a Eulogy
A story or narrated account
What is a Narrative
A formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme. The poem laments its subject's death but ends in consolation.
What is an Elegy
A story that concerns an unreal world or contains unreal characters, a ____ may be merely whimsical, or it may present a serious point
What is Fantasy
A long speech given by a character in a play to one or more other characters
What is a Monologue
A work in three parts, each of which is a completed work in itself. E.g. The Hunger Games
What is a Trilogy
A simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson
What is a Parable
A lighthearted verse poem consisting of five lines of regular rhythm in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme, and the third and fourth line rhyme.
What is a Limerick
A literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions or are representative of some larger humanistic trait (greed, vanity, or bravery) and attempt to convey some larger lesson or meaning to life. E.g. The Crucible
What is an Allegory
A long speech in which the character recites his inner thoughts aloud, not to any other character or the audience.
What is a Soliloquy
A sermon, or a moralistic lecture, regarding scripture and religion
What is a Homily
A traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that help explain natural events
What is a Myth
A poem consisting of fourteen lines, written in four parts with 3 quatrains and ending with a rhyming couplet. It is written in iambic pentameter, follows the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg, and often focuses on romantic love. There are two main types- Shakespearean and Petrarchan.
What is a sonnet
A narrative, written from the perspective of the author, about an important part of their life.
What is a Memoir
Originated by Susan Sontag, this is an aesthetic style that is ostentatious, exaggerated, and larger than life. The goal is to express irony and go against mainstream society. E.g. Rocky Horror Picture Show
What is Camp
A term describing a character or literary work that reflects the characteristics of Romanticism, the literary movement beginning in the late 18th century that stressed emotion, imagination, and individualism.
What is Romantic
A narrative handed down from the past, containing historical elements and usually supernatural elements. E.g. The Fountain of Youth and La Llorona
What is a Legend
This style of poetry has 19 lines, organized into five stanzas of three lines each, and one closing stanza of four lines. The rhyme scheme is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA, with a line format of 123 / 451 / 673 / 8 9 1 / 10 11 3 / 12 13 1 3. E.g. Do not go gentle into that good night
What is a Villanelle
Literature dealing with themes of life and living, focused on characters who cannot find a meaning or purpose for life. The main conflict is the struggle of characters to find meaning in their life as they take part in everyday life. They often view situations that the general reader would view as important as unimportant
What is Absurdist Literature
A work in which the events are intended to be humorous or amusing to the audience. Traditionally, they end in a marriage between two of the main cast of characters. E.g. A Midsummer Night's Dream
What is a Comedy
An artistic movement emphasizing the imagination and characterized by incongruous juxtapositions and lack of conscious control. Positioned in the Unconscious World. E.g. The Metamorphosis
What is Surrealism
This type of novel is written in the form of letters or other short documents
What is Epistolary