Realistic Fiction
broad designation referring to any story that could happen in real life. The characters are fictional, but the events in the story are based in the real world.
Science Fiction
deals with current or futuristic science and technology, other life forms such as aliens, other planets and universes, and time travel; it refers to fiction that has more of a scientific basis even if it is far-fetched
Fantasy
more fantastical. IF features witches, wizards, kings, dragons, fairies, mermaids, talking animals, etc.
Fables
very short stories that teach a moral or less. The characters are usually animals, or sometimes plants or forces of nature, that are anthropomorphized (given human qualities)
Myths
revolve around heroic, immortal, or extra-human characters. They take place either in other worlds or in others parts of the world, in the distant past, or both
Legends
based on historical figures or events. Can overlap with myths.
Folktales
originated in the early stages of civilization and were passed along orally, which left room for a great deal of shifting and modification by the tellers. Some are humorous; some have morals; they can be religious, romantic or magical. They are stories th
Mystery
stories that entail solving a puzzle. Involves some kind of crime or whodunit, and a detective or sleuth, professional or amateur, who tries to solve it. The cast usually has colorful characters that may become suspects in the crime
Historical Fiction
stories that people and children that live through those events
Story Elements
plot (the main events)`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````, character, setting and theme
Freytag's Pyramid
exposition (setting the stage), rising action (building the plot), climax (the turning point), falling action (the aftermath), resolution (the conclusion)
Theme
the main idea of a work, sometimes called the author's purpose or the moral
First-Person Narrative
use I and me in the narration. The narrator is a person, animal, creature, or even an object, who tells the story through his or her own eyes and ears. The reader is limited to knowing only what the narrator knows
Third-Person Limited Narrative
follows one main character, but it is told more from the perspective of a close observer, as if the narrator where shadowing the main character. The Narrator uses the character's name and the third-person pronouns he or she, him or her and the correspondi
Third-Person Omniscient
narrator is like a ghost, able to move from person to person, room to room, city to city. All of the characters are referred to by name and by third-person pronouns, but while there still may be one or a few main characters, the narrator can see them all
Lyric Poems
describe a speaker's thoughts or feelings
Narrative Poems
long poems that tell stories
Haiku
have a specific structure and capture a fleeting moment in nature
Odes
celebrate or praise
Elegies
mourning poems
Ballads
song-like narrative poems, often of folk origins
Concrete Poems
used words to form a shape representative of the poem's subject.
Simile
comparing to dissimilar things using like or as
Metaphor
comparing to dissimilar things without using like or as
Extended Metaphor
uses a symbol to represent something else throughout a long passage or entire work. Ex. "O Captain! My Captain!" - on the surface it is talking about a captain who has successfully navigated through a storm, but dies just before reaching port. However, th
Personification
the assigning of human qualities to inanimate objects or concepts: animals, plants, etc.
Alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds ex. Little Lucy loves lavender and lilacs
Hyperbole
exaggeration ex. I am so tired, I could sleep for a month!
Imagery
language that appeals to all the senses. Ex. I stroked the papery skin of her hands
Tone
overall attitude of a piece of writing. Words or phrases that evoke emotions. Ex. Christ trudged out in to the bleak, gray dawn.
Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates the sound it represents. Pretty much every animal sound and words such as slap, crack, swish, click and murmur.
Fallacies
types of bad reasoning