Forms of Literature

Literature is a mirror to society. It reflects society in its best possible manner. Literature greatly educates and entertains its readers. The forms of literature are stated as given below:

I) Drama:

A drama is a type of literature that is written for the purpose of being performed in front of an audience. It is written in the form of a script. The story of the drama is told through the lines of the characters played by actors.

Types of Drama

1) Comedy

A comedy is a type of drama that is written to be entertaining or amusing for the audience.  e.g. As You Like It and Midsummer Night’s Dream are William Shakespeare’s fine comedies.

2) Tragedy

Tragedy involves serious subject matter and the death of one or more main characters.   e.g. Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlow and Hamlet, Macbeth,Othello, King Lear by William Shakespeare.

3) Farce

Farce is a sub-category of comedy. It is characterized by greatly exaggerated characters and situations. e.g. The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare.

II) Novel:

A novel is a long prose narrative. It describes fictional characters and events. It is usually in the form of a sequential story.

Types of Novel

1)    Realistic / Social Novel -

It is any novel that describes the ordinary social life of people.

e.g. John Green’s Looking for Alaska.

2) Picaresque Novel -    

A Picaresque novel relates the adventures of an eccentric hero in episodic form. The Picaresque novel gets it’s name from the Spanish word picaro or rogue.

e.g.    1) Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Kim’ (1901)

          2) Henry fielding’s ‘The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling’ (1749)

 3) Historical Novel -

 A historical Novel is a novel set in a period earlier than that of the writing.

 e.g     1) Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair”

          2) Dickens’“A Tale of Two cities”

 4) Epistolary Novel –

Epistolary fiction is a popular genre where the narrative is told via a series of documents. Letters are the most common basis for epistolary novels but diary entries are also popular.

 e.g.    1) Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela”.

          2) Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”.

 5) Gothic Novel-

Gothic novel includes terror, mystery, horror, thriller, supernatural, ghosts and so on.

 e.g.    1) Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.

          2) Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto”.

 III) Essay:

 A Short literary composition on a single subject usually presenting the point of view of the author

 e.g.    1) James Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son”

          2) George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”

 IV) Biography:

 A biography is a text written to inform a reader about a real person’s life. The author is someone other than the person featured in the text.

e.g.    James Boswell’s “The life of Samuel Johnson”.

 V) Autobiography:

 An autobiography is the story of the life of a person, written by that person himself. It is written in first person point of view.

 e.g.    1) Mahatma Gandhi’s “My Experiments with Truth”.

          2) Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl”

VI) Poetry:

Poetry is “a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings arising from emotions recollected in tranquility”. –William Wordsworth

Types of Poem

1)    Ode 

          Ode is a poem addressed to some person or thing and usually characterized by lofty feelings, elaborate form and dignified style.

Types of Ode

1)    Pindaric Ode

2)    Horation Ode

e.g. ‘Ode to Autumn’ by John Keats

       ‘Ode to the West Wind’ by Shelley

 2) Sonnet

Sonnet is a fourteen lines poem. It is originated in 13^th century. It was fathered by Dante. However, it was brought to perfection by the Italian poet Petrarch.

Types of Sonnet

1)    Petrarchan Sonnet/ Italian sonnet

The Italian poet Petrarch wrote this type of sonnets. It has divided into two parts Octave and Sestet. The Rhyme scheme of octave is ABBA ABBA. The rhyme scheme of sestet is CD CD CD or CDE CDE.

2)    The Shakespearean Sonnet/ The English Sonnet

The sonnet form was first introduced in England by Sir Thomas Wyatt. However, it was Shakespeare who modified the form. Hence, it is called Shakespearean sonnet. It has three quatrains and one couplet. The rhyme scheme of the sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

3)    Ballad

Ballad is a narrative poem usually meant to sing. It tells directly stories addressing to listener rather than to readers.

1) Coleridge – The Ancient Mariner

2) Tennyson – Lady of Shallot

4)    Elegy

An elegy is a poem or song written to reveal sorrows for the dead or for something lost.

e.g.      I) Milton’s Lycidas

          II) Shelley’s Adonais