Forms of English literature

1. Forms of English Literature
By Dr Neeta Sharma
Asst Professor
Department of English
Shri Shankaracharya Mahavidyalaya,Bhilai

2. Four main types
• English literature can be divided into four
main types.
• Poetry. ...
• Drama. ...
• Fiction. ...
• Nonfiction.

3. Difference between Prose and Poetry
• Prose
• Follows natural patterns of speech and
communication
• Has a grammatical structure with sentences
and paragraphs
• Uses everyday language
• Sentences and thoughts continue across lines

4. Poetry
• Traditional poetry has deliberate patterns,
such as rhythm and rhyme
• Many poems have a formal metrical
structure—repeating patterns of beats
• Incorporates more figurative language
• Poems visually stand out on a page with
narrow columns, varying line lengths, and
more white space on a page than prose
• Deliberate line breaks

5. Define Poetry
• Poetry is a type of literature that conveys a thought,
describes a scene or tells a story in a concentrated,
lyrical arrangement of words. Poems can be structured,
with rhyming lines and meter, the rhythm and
emphasis of a line based on syllabic beats. Poems can
also be freeform, which follows no formal structure.
• The basic building block of a poem is a verse known as
a stanza. A stanza is a grouping of lines related to the
same thought or topic, similar to a paragraph in prose.
A stanza can be subdivided based on the number of
lines it contains. For example, a couplet is a stanza with
two lines.

6. Epic Poetry
• Epic: Epic poems often fill the length of a book
and tell of heroic adventures and journeys,
often involving extraordinary abilities, muses
and gods, and high drama. Classic examples
include Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid.

7. Elegy
• Elegy: An elegy is a serious poem that
expresses deep sorrow typically to mourn
someone who has died. In a traditional elegy,
there are three stages of loss represented in
the poem, including lament, praise of the
deceased, and finally solace. An example of an
elegy is "You Were You Are Elegy," by Mary Jo
Bang.

8. Example of Epic Poetry
• Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the
earth,
• nothing is bred that is weaker than man.
• (Homer, The Odyssey)
• The Greek poet Homer wrote some of the ancient
world’s most famous literature. He wrote in
a style called epic poetry, which deals with gods,
heroes, monsters, and other large-scale
“epic” themes. Homer’s long poems tell stories of
Greek heroes like Achilles and Odysseus, and
have ins

9. Epigram
• Epigram: An epigram is a concise yet forceful
and often witty and satirical poem. Epigrams
are usually written in verse. An example is
"What Is an Epigram?" by Samuel Taylor
Coleridge.

10. Epitaph
• Epitaph: An epitaph poem is written to honor
and remember someone who has died. The
poem is intended for inscription on a
tombstone. Examples include "Upon Ben
Jonson," by Robert Herrick.

11. Free Verse
• Free Verse: In free verse, there are no regular
rhyme schemes or patterns of meter.
However, the poem does have intentional line
breaks and may rhyme. Examples include
"After the Sea-Ship" by Walt Whitman and
"This Is Just To Say" by William Carlos
Williams.

12. Haiku
• Haiku: Originally, the haiku was the opening of a
Japanese regna, a longer poetic form. Over time the
haiku became its own form, typically capturing a single
image or moment in time. Haikus are short—just
seventeen syllables in all. They are usually unrhymed
and are arranged in three lines of verse: the first line
has five syllables, the second line has seven, and the
final line has five. While modern haikus may not
adhere to the strict 5-7-5 pattern, the heart of the
haiku remains unchanged. Examples include "The Snow
is Melting," by Kobayashi Isa, and "The Bottoms of My
Shoes," by Jack Kerouac.

13. 3 types of Poetry
• What are the 3 types of poetry?
• There are three main kinds of
poetry: narrative, dramatic and lyrical. It is not
always possible to make distinction between
them. For example, an epic poem can contain
lyrical passages, or lyrical poem can
contain narrative parts. Is the kind of poetry
which tells a story.

14. Define Narrative
• noun. a story or account of events,
experiences, or the like, whether true or
fictitious. a book, literary work, etc.,
containing such a story. the art, technique, or
process of narrating, or of telling a story:
Somerset Maugham was a master
of narrative.
•

15. Difference between Narrative and
Essay
• Narrative is the choice of which events to
relate and in what order to relate them – so it
is a representation or specific manifestation of
the story, rather than the story itself. The easy
way to remember the difference between
story and narrative is to reshuffle the order of
events. A new event order means you have a
new narrative of the same story.

16. Dramatic Poetry
Examples include Robert Browning's “My Last
Duchess,” T.S. Eliot's “The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock,” and Ai's “Killing Floor.” A lyric
may also be addressed to someone, but it is
short and songlike and may appear to address
either the reader or the poet

17. Lyrical Poetry
• Lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which
expresses personal emotions or feelings,
typically spoken in the first person. It is not
equivalent to song lyrics, though they are
often in the lyric mode. The term derives from
a form of Ancient Greek literature, the lyric,
which was defined by its musical
accompaniment, ...

18. Define Drama
• noun. a composition in prose or verse
presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story
involving conflict or contrast of character,
especially one intended to be acted on the
stage; a play. the branch of literature having
such compositions as its subject; dramatic art
or representation.

19. Three genres of drama
• The three genres of drama
were comedy, satyr plays, and most
important of all,tragedy.

20. Satyr plays
• Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of
tragicomedy, similar in spirit to the bawdy
satire of burlesque. They featured choruses
of satyrs, were based on Greek mythology,
and were rife with mock drunkenness, brazen
sexuality (including phallic props), pranks,
sight gags, and general merriment.

21. Define Fiction
• Fiction, literature created from the
imagination, not presented as fact, though it
may be based on a true story or situation.
Types of literature in the fiction genre include
the novel, short story, and novella. The word is
from the Latin fictiōn, “the act of making,
fashioning, or molding.”

22. Types of Fiction
• There are three main types of fiction:
the short story, the novella and the novel.

23. Meaning of Novella
• Novella
• A work of fiction between 20,000 and 49,999 words is
considered a novella. Once a book hits the 50,000 word
mark, it is generally considered a novel. (However, a
standard novel is around 80,000 words, so books between
50,000 to 79,999 words may be called short novels.) A
novella is the longest of the short fiction forms, granting
writers freedom for an expanded story, descriptions, and
cast of characters, but still keeping the condensed intensity
of a short story. Modern trends generally seem to be
moving away from publishing novellas. Novellas are more
commonly published as eBooks in specific genres,
especially romance, sci-fi, and fantasy.

24. Meaning of Novelette
• Novelette
• A novelette falls in the range of 7,500 to 19,999
words. The term once implied a book that had a
romantic or sentimental theme, but today a
novelette can be any genre. While some writers
still use the term novelette, others might prefer
to simply call it a short novella or long short story.
Like the novella, a novelette may be difficult to
pitch to an agent, but might work better as an
eBook in niche genres.

25. Short Story
• Short story
• Short stories fall in the range of about 1,000 to
7,499 words. Due to its brevity, the narrative in a
short story is condensed, usually only focusing on
a single incident and a few characters at most. A
short story is self-contained and is not part of a
series. When a number of stories are written as a
series it's called a story sequence. Short stories
are commonly published in magazines and
anthologies, or as collections by an individual
author.

26. Flash Fiction
• Flash fiction is generally used as an umbrella
term that refers to super short fiction of 1,000
words or less, but still provides a compelling
story with a plot (beginning, middle, and end),
character development, and usually a twist or
surprise ending. The exact length of flash
fiction isn't set, but is determined by the
publisher.

27. Types of Flash Fiction
• There are many new terms that further define
flash fiction. For example, terms like short
shorts and sudden fiction are used to describe
longer forms of flash fiction that are more
than 500 words, while micro fiction refers to
the shortest forms of flash fiction, at 300 to
400 words or less. Here are some of the types
of flash fiction:

28. Elements of Fiction
• Plot, Setting, Character, Conflict, Symbol,
and Point of View are the main elements
which fiction writers use to develop a story
and its Theme.

29. Define Non Fiction
• The two main categories
of literature are fiction, which includes
imaginary stories, and nonfiction, which
includes writing based on true
events. Nonfiction must include real-life
situations, include factual information, and
usually has a purpose to express .

30. Four Types of Nonfiction
• The Four Types of Nonfiction Explained
• Narrative Writing. This type of nonfiction tells
a true story about a person, event, or place. ...
• Expository Writing. The purpose of this type
of nonfiction writing is to explain or inform a
reader about a certain topic. ...
• Persuasive Writing. ...
• Descriptive Writing. ...