All About Fiction Image above: My own! :D
Literary works invented by the imagination, such as novels or short stories.
The term "fiction" is from the Latin word fictiō, which means a fashioning, hence something imaginary.
(Collins English Dictionary)
The term "fiction" is from the Latin word fictiō, which means a fashioning, hence something imaginary.
(Collins English Dictionary)
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HISTORICAL FICTION is made up of stories that take place in a certain time and place in the past. Real historical figures and settings may be included in a fiction story.
Bud, Not Buddy
A Boy at War
Across Five Aprils
Ben and Me
The Butterfly
Sign of the Beaver
Titanic Crossing
Dear America Series
REALISTIC FICTION is made up of stories that could really happen. They are imaginative writing that accurately reflects life as it was lived in the past or could be lived today.
Examples:
Because of Winn Dixie
Holes
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Crash
Monster
Drama High
MYSTERIES are stories that have a real setting and a problem to be solved that includes clues, distractions, and an answer to the problem.
The House of Dies Drear
Never Say Die
The Treehouse Mystery
Mystery of the Midnight Message
Encyclopedia Brown Series
Boxcar Children Mysteries
SCIENCE FICTION is made up of stories that blend fact and fiction with futuristic technology, medicine, or outer space. It differs from fantasy in its aim to suggest real hypotheses about this world’s (or another planet’s) future. It is sometimes included under the category of fantasy fiction.
Aliens for Breakfast
A Wrinkle in Time
My Best Friend is Invisible
Star Wars
The Time Machine
ROMANCE is fiction that focuses primarily on the relationship and romantic love between two people.
FANTASY is fiction that has elements that are not real. Sometimes this includes talking animals or characters with magical powers. There’s usually a conflict between good and evil.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Charlotte’s Web
The Wreck of the Zephyr
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter Series
FOLK LITERATURE (or FOLKLORE) includes stories, myths, and fables that people told one another over the years, having no original source/author. Later the stories were written down. They have a simple plot, lively language (in keeping with an oral tradition), and often have a message or moral.
FABLES or FOLK TALES are stories about talking beasts or country folk of the past.
Aesop’s Fables
Beauty and the Beast
The Bunyans
Cinderella
John Henry
The Tortoise and the Hare
SHORT STORIES are more of a medium than a genre. They are fiction of such brevity that it supports no subplots. It can cross over into all genres.
GRAPHIC NOVELS are a medium rather than a genre. They are fiction of such brevity that it supports no subplots. It can cross over into all genres.
POETRY is verse written to inspire thoughts and feelings in the reader.
Where the Sidewalk Ends
How Do I Love Thee
Chocolate Dreams: Poems
A Dream Deferred
We Real Cool
Our Grandmothers
DRAMA is made up of stories composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and action.
(References for the information contained in this Weebly is located on the Teaching Tools tab at the top!)
- Tells an interesting story that balances fact with fiction.
- Has to be historically accurate in details of the people, place, events, values, speech, and norms of that time period.
- Characters and plot can be fictional, but can’t change known history.
- Should examine problems of today by examining those of the past.
Bud, Not Buddy
A Boy at War
Across Five Aprils
Ben and Me
The Butterfly
Sign of the Beaver
Titanic Crossing
Dear America Series
REALISTIC FICTION is made up of stories that could really happen. They are imaginative writing that accurately reflects life as it was lived in the past or could be lived today.
- They may take place in real places, but are not based on history like the genre Historical Fiction.
- They are often stories about growing up, working through relationships with family/friends, handling cultural differences, surviving difficulties/disabilities, or dealing with death/loss.
- ADVENTURES are stories with a lot of action and suspense. It can cross over into all genres.
- ANIMAL STORIES are about animals in people’s lives.
- CONTEMPORARY REALISTIC FICTION is realistic fiction that is set in modern times.
- HORROR is stories in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader. This can cross over into categories such as fantasy or science fiction.
- HUMOR
is fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement that is meant to entertain. It can cross over into all genres.
- SPORTS STORIES are about people involved in sports.
- (MYSTERIES are often included under the category of realistic fiction. See description below.)
Examples:
Because of Winn Dixie
Holes
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Crash
Monster
Drama High
MYSTERIES are stories that have a real setting and a problem to be solved that includes clues, distractions, and an answer to the problem.
- Can be fiction or nonfiction.
- Often included in the realistic fiction category.
The House of Dies Drear
Never Say Die
The Treehouse Mystery
Mystery of the Midnight Message
Encyclopedia Brown Series
Boxcar Children Mysteries
SCIENCE FICTION is made up of stories that blend fact and fiction with futuristic technology, medicine, or outer space. It differs from fantasy in its aim to suggest real hypotheses about this world’s (or another planet’s) future. It is sometimes included under the category of fantasy fiction.
- DYSTOPIA is a story about possible futures for mankind that are problematic, and that the protagonist tries to solve.
- UTOPIA is a story about possible futures for mankind that are prosperous and happy.
Aliens for Breakfast
A Wrinkle in Time
My Best Friend is Invisible
Star Wars
The Time Machine
ROMANCE is fiction that focuses primarily on the relationship and romantic love between two people.
- It usually has an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.
- There are books from a variety of genres that could also be categorized as a romance, as long as it includes the focus on the romantic love relationahip.
FANTASY is fiction that has elements that are not real. Sometimes this includes talking animals or characters with magical powers. There’s usually a conflict between good and evil.
- Has a well-constructed plot, convincing characterization, and a theme. It may have talking animals or toys, and often include extraordinary characters, situations, worlds, quests, or even time travel.
- The word “fantasy” comes from a Greek word meaning “a making visible.”
- MODERN FAIRY TALES are fairy tales with a known author (not compiled by someone)
- MODERN FANTASY are stories that mean more than they say. There is often a metaphorical meaning.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Charlotte’s Web
The Wreck of the Zephyr
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter Series
FOLK LITERATURE (or FOLKLORE) includes stories, myths, and fables that people told one another over the years, having no original source/author. Later the stories were written down. They have a simple plot, lively language (in keeping with an oral tradition), and often have a message or moral.
FABLES or FOLK TALES are stories about talking beasts or country folk of the past.
- Usually has a useful lesson, like good or wise triumphs over evil or foolish.
- Fables are usually short with two or three characters.
- Often begins with phrase like “once upon a time ” and ends with “they lived happily ever after.”
- Good wins over evil.
- Set in a faraway or imaginary land, and often involves magic or granting a wish.
- May have factual elements, but have been exaggerated through the years.
- Tries to explain something in nature or human behavior.
Aesop’s Fables
Beauty and the Beast
The Bunyans
Cinderella
John Henry
The Tortoise and the Hare
SHORT STORIES are more of a medium than a genre. They are fiction of such brevity that it supports no subplots. It can cross over into all genres.
GRAPHIC NOVELS are a medium rather than a genre. They are fiction of such brevity that it supports no subplots. It can cross over into all genres.
POETRY is verse written to inspire thoughts and feelings in the reader.
- It often uses rhyme, repetition, and rhythm;9euw or it can be written in free verse.
- It tries to capture the essence of an object, feeling, or thought, often using imagery.
- It often has a specific form, or the words can form a specific shape.
Where the Sidewalk Ends
How Do I Love Thee
Chocolate Dreams: Poems
A Dream Deferred
We Real Cool
Our Grandmothers
DRAMA is made up of stories composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and action.
- Lists characters, scenes, dialogue, and actions (stage directions).
- COMEDY - in the contemporary meaning of the term, is any work generally intended to be humorous, especially in theatre, television, film and stand-up comedy. This sense of the term must be carefully distinguished from its academic one, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece. In that society, the public opinion of voters was influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters. The theatrical genre can be simply described as a dramatic performance which pits two entities against each other in an amusing conflict.
- TRAGEDY - a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience a satisfaction or empathy in the viewing. In the modern era, tragedy has also been defined against drama. The term tragedy often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization.
- SATIRE - a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, which is full of is strong irony or sarcasm. Vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government or society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon and as a tool to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including literature, plays, commentary, television shows, and media such as lyrics.
(References for the information contained in this Weebly is located on the Teaching Tools tab at the top!)