Classwork Exercise and Series (Literature In English-SS1): Genres Of Literature

Major Genres of Literature

1. Drama
2. Prose
3. Poetry

 Drama: Drama in real life involves action. It is a situation in which happenings in a story are acted on stage by characters (casts). It is classified into:

1. Melodrama-it is regarded as melodrama when drama is exaggerated.
2. Straight drama-It is a drama in which issues presented in the drama involves serious reactions from both the audience and the characters.

Characteristics of Drama

1. Drama is meant to be acted on stage.
2. It makes use of dialogues between one cast and another or group of casts.
3. Also, it is usually divided into acts and scenes.
4. Drama requires the active participation of audience.

Types of Drama

1. Mime: This is a dramatic performance in which the action and events are conveyed through the medium of movements, facial expression and gesture without words.
2. Opera: This is a drama that is made up of songs. All actions are musical.
3. Allegory: In this type of drama, casts are exaggerated in a ridiculous manner to teach moral and intellectual lesson.
4. Epic: This is a form of drama which represents the history of individuals and people. The aim is to glorify the past heroic deeds of individuals and people.

     Poetry

This is a form of writing that is expressed by emotion and a deep feeling that may be very difficult to explain in literary form. It is the act of uniting pleasure within truth by the help of imagination and reasoning. Note: Poetic License is the freedom a poet enjoys in violating the normal rules of a language.

   Characteristics of poetry

1. Poetry makes use of archaic language and choice of words.
2. It makes use of stanza, meter, rhyme scheme and lines.
3. It makes of use of dialogue known as dramatic monologue.
4. It makes use of invented characters and settings.
5. The language of poetry is expressed rhythmically.

Types of Poetry

1. The Lyric
2. The Epic
3. The Ode
4. The Sonnet
5. The Ballad
6. The Elegy
7. Dramatic/Narrative/Descriptive
8. Lullaby
9. Dirge
10. Idyll.

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