Novel #
Longer-form fiction, usually written in a prose style in which sentences resemble common spoken language rather than poetic metre. Generally longer than 50,000 words.
Examples: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
Novella #
A short form fiction work, shorter than a novel, and longer than a short story. Generally between 20,000 and 50,000 words.
Examples: Albert Camus’ The Stranger, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, George Orwell’s Animal Farm
Short Story #
A fully developed piece of narrative fiction that is short enough to typically be read in one sitting. Generally between 1,000 and 4,000 words, but can reach as many as 15,000 words.
Examples: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi, Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery
Play #
A piece of writing that primarily consists of a script between speakers and is intended for acting at a theatre, on television, or over the radio.
Examples: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Friedrich Dürrenmat’s The Physicists
Poem #
A form of literary art that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings, often using a variety of techniques known as poetic devices, frequently arranged into loose or rigid poetic structures.
Examples: Robert W. Service’s The Cremation of Sam McGee, Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, William Shakespeare’s Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)
Epic #
A long narrative poem recounting heroic deeds, often of mythic or historical significance, typically dealing with gods or other superhuman forces.
Examples: Beowulf, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, The Song of Roland
Fable #
A succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that involves anthropomorphised creatures, plants, and inanimate objects, and contains a moral lesson.
Examples: Aesop’s The Frogs and the Ox, Aesop’s The Two Pots, Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare
Parable #
A succinct, typically fictional story, in prose or verse, that involves human characters, and contains a moral lesson.
Examples: The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno
Myth #
A classic or legendary story that usually focuses on a particular hero or event, and explains the mysteries of nature, existence, or the universe with no true basis in fact.
Examples: Osiris and Isis, Tower of Babel, Prometheus and the Gift of Fire
Fairytale #
A short story featuring magic and mythical beings. It is typically not only not true, but also could not possibly be true, and takes place “once upon a time” rather than in actual times.
Examples: Cinderella, The Golden Ass, Charles Dickens’ The Magic Fishbone
Essay #
A structured, often brief, piece of writing that defines an idea or concept, usually giving the author’s own argument. Commonly used as literary criticism or as a political manifesto.
Examples: George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant, Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, Michel de Montaigne’s Of Sadnesse and Sorrowe
Article #
A written composition in prose, usually nonfiction, on a specific topic, forming an independent part of a book or other publication, such as a newspaper or magazine.
Examples: Gene Weingarten’s “Fatal Distraction” for Washington Post, John Hersey’s “Hiroshima” for The New Yorker, Chris Hamby’s “The Court That Rules the World” for Buzzfeed News
Memoir #
A nonfiction narrative writing based on the author’s personal memories, usually focusing on a particular time or event in someone’s life or career.
Examples: Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, Ann Patchett’s Truth & Beauty: A Friendship, Ruth Reichi’s Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise
Biography #
A nonfiction work where the subject is the life of an individual, it contains more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships and death; it portrays a person’s experience of these life events, and occasionally an analysis of the subject’s personality.
Examples: Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin’s American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Hayden Herrera’s Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, Barry S. Strauss’ The Spartacus War
Autobiography #
A self written account of one’s own life, typically from their own perspective using the first person, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author’s experiences, memories, and insights.
Examples: Plestia Alaqad’s The Eyes of Gaza, Coley Cibber’s An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, Robert Dessaix’s A Mother’s Disgrace
Letter #
A written message conveyed from one person or a group of people, to another, through a medium. It can be formal or informal, and usually is characterized by being intended to be read by only one person, the recipient.
Examples: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Letter to Walt Whitman, Charles Bukowski’s Thank-You Letter to John Martin
Speech #
A formal premeditated public discourse performed by an orator, usually for the purpose to persuade, inform, or entertain an audience.
Examples: Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address, Randy Pausch’s Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, Elizabeth Gilbert’s Your Elusive Creative Genius
Political Speech #
A formal address often given by a public figure. It usually provides commentary on matters of public concern, typically to rally public support for a particular issue, position, or candidate.
Examples: Malcolm X’s The Ballot or the Bullet, Anna Howard Shaw’s Fundamental Principle of a Republic, Sundar Singh’s Plea for Sikh Justice in Canada
Journal #
A periodical publication containing articles related to a particular subject area, or academic discipline, often including peer reviewed articles featuring technical language. Typically published at set intervals throughout the year, each assigned a unique volume number and issue number.
Examples: Journal of Nephrology, Oxford Art Journal, Nature
Manifesto #
A written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, written by an individual, group, political party, or government. It can accept a previously published opinion or unlicensed consensus, but many reject accepted knowledge in favour of new ideas.
Examples: Thomas Jefferson et al’s The Declaration of Independence, Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto, Walter Gropius’ Program of the Staatliches Bauhaus
Sermon #
A religious discourse delivered in public, usually by a member of the clergy as a part of a worship service. Typically addresses a scriptural, theological, or moral topic.
Examples: Sermon on the Mount, Paris Reidhead’s Ten Shekels and a Shirt, Bhai Jagraj Singh’s Don’t JUST be a Sunday Sikh
