Top 4 Genres of English Literature
English literature encompasses numerous genres and sub-genres. Four key genres are read and written across the world.
Each genre contains its own characteristics and expressive style of language. Likewise, each genre can have multiple sub-genres.
1: Fiction:
These works are the production of the author’s imagination. This is a kind of imagined literature. The writers and authors write novels, stories, and other stuff with the power of imagination. It is possible that a fictional work can portray circumstances that may resemble real-life situations.
These works often contain realism in the setting and the plot of the story. Examples of fictional works include “1984” by George Orwell, “Gulliver’s Travels” by Johnathan Swift, and “The Old Man and the Sea,” which are a few remarkable fictional works.
2: Nonfiction:
These works are literary works that are based on true incidents and events. The nonfiction works contain facts and examples of real life. Nonfiction works may be divided into their subgenres: biography and autobiography. “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marcella Hazzan is a notable example of nonfiction.
3: Poetry: Britannica describes poetry as “literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.”
According to William Wordsworth, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”
Drama: Thoughtco defines drama as “In literature, a drama is the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the performance of written dialog (either prose or poetry). Dramas can be performed on stage, on film, or on radio. Dramas are typically called plays, and their creators are known as “playwrights” or “dramatists.”
There are various other genres of English literature; however, all those genres fall into the aforementioned categories.
