22/01/2024
What is Genre?
*Genre*
*Definition of Genre*
```Genre means a type of art, literature, or music characterized by a specific form, content, and style``` .
_For example_ ,
literature has four main genres:
*Poetry,*
*Drama*,
*Fiction, and*
*Non-fiction.*
```All of these genres have particular features and functions that distinguish them from one another.``` Hence, it is necessary on the part of readers to know which category of genre they are reading in order to understand the message it conveys, as they may have certain expectations prior to the reading concerned.
*Types of Genre*
There are five types of genres in literature, which include:
*Poetry*
_Poetry is the first major literary genre_ All types of poetry share specific characteristics. In fact, poetry is a form of text that follows a meter and rhythm, with each line and syllable. It is further subdivided into different genres, such an epic poem, narrative, romantic, dramatic, and lyric.
*Dramatic poetry* includes melodrama, tragedy, and comedy, while other poems includes ode, sonnet, elegy, ballad, song, and epic.
*Popular examples of epic poems include Paradise Lost, by John Milton,* The Iliad and The Odyssey, by Homer. Examples of romantic poems include Red Red Rose, by Robert Burns. All these poetic forms share specific features, such as they do not follow paragraphs or sentences; they use stanzas and lines instead. Some forms follow very strict rules of length, and number of stanzas and lines, such as villanelle, sonnet, and haiku. Others may be free-form, like Feelings, Now, by Katherine Foreman, which is devoid of any regular meter and rhyme scheme. Besides that, often poetry uses figurative language, such as metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and alliteration to create heightened effect.
*Drama*
Drama is a form of text that is performed in front of an audience. It is also called a play. Its written text contains dialogues, and stage directions.