List of narrative forms
This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021) |
Narrative forms have been subject to classification by literary theorists, in particular during the 1950s, a period which has been described metaphorically as the Linnaean period in the study of narrative.[1]
- Epistolary - a story usually in a letter written form with a section of dialogue
Narrative forms include:
- Autobiography – a detailed description or account of the storyteller's own life.
- Biography – a detailed description or account of someone's life.
- Captivity narrative – a story in which the protagonist is captured and describes their experience with the culture of their captors.
- Epic – a very long narrative poem, often written about a hero or heroine and their exploits.
- Epic poem – a lengthy story of heroic exploits in the form of a poem.
- Essay - a short literary composition that reflects the author's outlook or point
- Fable – a didactic story, often using animal characters who behave like people.
- Fantasy – a story about characters that may not be realistic and about events that could not really happen.
- Flash fiction – a fictional work of extreme brevity that still offers character and plot development.
- Folk tale – an old story which has been passed down orally and which reveals the customs of a culture.
- Historical fiction – stories which take place in real historical settings and which often feature real historical figures and events, but which center on fictional characters or events.
- Legend – a story that is based on fact but often includes exaggerations about the hero.
- Memoir – similar to an autobiography, except that memoirs generally deal with specific events in the life of the author.
- Myth – an ancient story often meant to explain the mysteries of life or nature.
- News – information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.
- Nonlinear narrative – a story whose plot does not conform to conventional chronology, causality, and/or perspective.
- Novel – a long, written narrative, normally in prose, which describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story.
- Novella – a written, fictional, prose narrative normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.
- Parable – a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles.
- Play – a story that is told mostly through dialogue and is meant to be performed on stage.
- Poem - a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meaning
- Quest narrative – a story in which the characters must achieve a goal. This includes some illness narratives.
- Realistic fiction – stories which portray fictional characters, settings, and events that could exist in real life.
- Screenplay – a story that is told through dialogue and character action that is meant to be performed for a motion picture and exhibited on a screen.
- Short story – a brief story that usually focuses on one character and one event.
- Tall tale – a humorous story that tells about impossible happenings, exaggerating the hero's accomplishments.
See also
Notes
- ^ Stanzel, F. K. (1984). A theory of narrative. Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-521-31063-5.
References
- Peterson, Shelley (2005). Writing Across the Curriculum: Because All Teachers Teach Writing. Portage & Main Press. p. 88. ISBN 9781553790600. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
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- Ab ovo
- Action
- Backstory
- Chekhov's gun
- Cliché
- Cliffhanger
- Conflict
- Deus ex machina
- Dialogue
- Dramatic structure
- Eucatastrophe
- Foreshadowing
- Flashback
- Flashforward
- Frame story
- In medias res
- Kishōtenketsu
- MacGuffin
- Pace
- Plot device
- Plot twist
- Poetic justice
- Red herring
- Reveal
- Self-insertion
- Shaggy dog story
- Stereotype
- Story arc
- Story within a story
- Subplot
- Suspense
- Trope
- Alternate history
- Backstory
- Crossover
- Dreamworld
- Dystopia
- Fictional location
- Utopia
- Worldbuilding
- Allegory
- Bathos
- Comic relief
- Diction
- Figure of speech
- Imagery
- Mode
- Mood
- Narration
- Narrative techniques
- Show, don't tell
- Stylistic device
- Suspension of disbelief
- Symbolism
- Tone
- Act
- Freytag's Pyramid
- Exposition/Protasis
- Rising action/Epitasis
- Climax/Peripeteia
- Falling action/Catastasis
- Denouement/Catastrophe
- Linear narrative
- Nonlinear narrative
- Premise
- Types of fiction with multiple endings
(List)
- Autobiography
- Biography
- Fiction
- Nonfiction
- Dominant narrative
- Fiction writing
- Continuity
- Canon
- Reboot
- Retcon
- Parallel novel
- Prequel / Sequel
- Continuity
- Genre
- Literary science
- Literary theory
- Narrative identity
- Narrative paradigm
- Narrative therapy
- Narratology
- Political narrative
- Rhetoric
- Screenwriting
- Storytelling
- Tellability
- Verisimilitude
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2011) |
This article about a literary genre is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
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