GENRE is a French word meaning 'a kind' - 'a type'.
The genre, organised according to 'kind' or 'type', sets up reader expectations by communicating what type of story a novel, film or text is. Understanding different genres – the structure and style, tone and mood, and how a particular text conforms to or challenges the generic conventions – helps us to analyse the text and draw out themes.
The list of Genres at a glance:
Science Fiction
Action & Adventure
Fantasy
Fairytale
Romance
Mystery
Suspense
Crime
Thriller
Horror
Detective
Comedy
Western
Running time: 23 min 44 secs.
Join our hosts as they investigate some of fiction's most popular genres while emphasising that knowing the genre of a text helps libraries, writers and readers to organise, think about, and compare works of literature.
Genre labels placed on the spine of the book help readers identify what type of genre the novel is.
Examples below: Fantasy, romance, mystery, science-fiction, horror and historical fiction.
Running time. 14 min. 52 seconds.
Genre conventions are what distinguish genre types. Narrative elements such as character similarities and repeated plots allow us to distinguish between genres.
Mystery: the plot always revolves around a crime of sorts that must be solved by the protagonists.
Romance: this type of novel places its primary focus on the relationship.
Science Fiction: these stories often tell about science and technology of the future and often involve partially true - partially fictitious laws or theories of science.
Fantasy: this type of novel is set in a fictional imagined world and includes prominent elements of magic, mythology, or the supernatural.
Horror: these novels feature common fears, including nightmares, alienation, vulnerability, death, fear of the unknown, and loss of identity.
Genre is important in order to be able to organize writings based on their form, content, and style.
The five genres students should be familiar with are:
Poetry, Drama, Prose, Nonfiction, and Media.
Note: Prose is anything written in complete sentences and organized in paragraphs - any novel or short story falls into this category.
There is sometimes an overlap between genres: for example, Prose is a broader term that includes both drama and non-fiction.
