Types of Literature

Types of Literature: 1) Novella - A novella is the name given to a work that is longer than a short story, but too brief to be listed as a novel. Typically, most novellas can range from anywhere between 50 to 100 pages, though length can vary. Some literary critics characterize the maximum length of a novella to be 100,000 words. Today, the novella is rarely sold as an individual work. More frequently, several novellas are compiled into one book, or a novella will be grouped with a number of short stories by the same author. (Ex. John W. Campbell’s Who goes there?) 2) Novel - A novel is a fictional piece of prose usually written in a narrative style. Novels tell stories, which are typically defined as a series of events described in a sequence. The novel has been a part of human culture for over a thousand years, although its origins are somewhat debated. Regardless of how it began, the novel has risen to prominence and remained one of the most popular and treasured examples of human culture and writing. (Ex. Moby Dick by Herman Melville) 3) Poetry - art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts. (Ex. How to change a frog into a Prince by Anna Denise) 4) Drama - is a literary composition involving conflict, action crisis and atmosphere designed to be acted by players on a stage before an audience. This definition may be applied to motion picture drama as well as to the traditional stage. (Ex. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare) 5) Short Story - are written works that are usually fiction. They are sometimes known as micro fiction or flash fiction, and they are exceptionally short pieces that tell a story in a brief amount of space and time. Most short short stories are shorter than 1500 words, and some are even as short as 500 words. It is exceptionally difficult to tell a complete story in such a short amount of space, so these types of stories can be quite a