Types of Literary Genre

Summary

In this engaging video, the speaker breaks down the world of literature into three primary genres: Prose, Drama, and Poetry. Prose encompasses various forms like novels, essays, and fables, characterized by a straightforward narrative style. Poetry, divided into lyric and narrative types, explores emotions through structured forms like sonnets and odes. Drama includes comedic and tragic works meant for performance. The video highlights the evolution of literary genres, emphasizing that all literature fits within these three broad categories, offering viewers a comprehensive understanding of literary classifications.

Takeaways

• 📚 The three major genres of literature are Prose, Drama, and Poetry.
• 📝 Prose follows a normal progression of conversation and syntax, making it the most common form of literature.
• 📰 Examples of prose include news articles, biographies, anecdotes, essays, and novels.
• 🎭 Drama involves scripted dialogue and is meant for performance on stage, encompassing various forms like farce, melodrama, comedy, and tragedy.
• 🎶 Poetry uses rhyme and rhythm to convey emotions, divided into lyric and narrative poetry.
• 🎤 Lyric poetry expresses the poet's feelings and includes types such as corridos, odes, elegies, awits, folk songs, sonnets, and psalms.
• 📜 Narrative poetry tells a story and includes epics, ballads, and metrical tales, often with significant themes and characters.
• 😄 Farce employs exaggerated situations and physical humor to engage the audience, while melodrama focuses on emotional storytelling.
• 😂 Comedy aims to evoke laughter, rooted in ancient Greek satire, whereas tragedy explores human suffering and evokes pity and fear.
• 🔄 Literary genres evolve over time, with new subcategories emerging that still fit within the primary genres of Prose, Drama, and Poetry.

Q & A

What are the three major genres of literature?

The three major genres of literature are Prose, Drama, and Poetry.

How is prose defined?

Prose is defined as a form of literature that follows a normal progression of conversation and syntax, similar to everyday communication.

Can you give examples of prose?

Examples of prose include news articles, biographies, anecdotes, essays, orations, novels, short stories, fables, legends, and plays.

What are the two main types of poetry?

The two main types of poetry are lyric poetry and narrative poetry.

What is the purpose of a fable?

The purpose of a fable is to teach a lesson, often using talking animals or inanimate objects as characters.

What distinguishes lyric poetry from narrative poetry?

Lyric poetry expresses the feelings and emotions of the poet, while narrative poetry tells a story about an event or phenomenon.

What are some types of lyric poetry mentioned?

Types of lyric poetry mentioned include Corrido, Ode, Elegy, Awit, Folk Songs, Sonnets, and Psalms.

What characterizes a tragedy in drama?

A tragedy centers around human suffering and typically features a main character who experiences a downfall, evoking feelings of pity or fear in the audience.

What is a ballad, and how is it structured?

A ballad is a type of narrative poetry intended to be sung, characterized by a plot and multiple characters, structured in four-line stanzas with a rhyming scheme.

How has the perception of literary genres changed over time?

The perception of literary genres has evolved, with new subcategories being added or removed, but all genres still fit under the three major categories discussed.