The Genres

1. The Genres Introduction 9.0

2. Fiction fiction: imaginary narrative writing narrative: the telling of a story short story: focuses on a single idea novel: an extended work of fiction; can have wide range of characters and complex plot novella: longer than a short story but shorter than a novel Now let’s identify the following literary elements in the excerpt on page 5: plot, conflict, character, setting, theme, narrator, point of view.

3. Poetry • poetry: words and sounds carefully chosen to convey meaning and emotion. “…a way of taking life by the throat.” – Robert Frost • form: the arrangement of a poem on the page • stanza: a group of lines that form a separate unit within a poem. • imagery: language of sensory experiences (what you see, hear, smell, touch, taste) As you listen to a reading of “Los acianos” by Pat Mora found on page 6 in your text, consider what characteristics signal that this is a poem. Also think about the language used and the subject being described. What might be the theme or “big idea” expressed in this poem?

4. Drama drama: a work of literature that is meant to be performed dialogue: what the characters say scenes: the divisions of drama, with each one occurring in a different time or place acts: what scenes are grouped into Listen as I read the third paragraph on page 7. Next, you read “The Miracle Worker” silently to yourself. Now let’s have volunteers read the two roles aloud. How do you know that Annie is exhausted?

5. Nonfiction autobiography: the true story of a person’s life, told by that person essay: a short nonfiction work that focuses on a single subject speech: an oral presentation that gives the speaker’s ideas or beliefs news article: a newspaper or magazine report on recent events. feature article: a newspaper or magazine piece on human-interest topics. functional documents: writing that serves a practical purpose, such as an instruction manual. Let’s read both nonfiction selections on page 9. How might the details in an autobiography differ from those in a news article? Explain.

6. Media media: forms of communication that reach large numbers of people feature films: movies with narratives news media: accounts of current events that appear on television, in newspapers, and magazines, on the radio, and on the Web. advertising: a sponsor's paid use of media Web sites: collections of “pages” on the World Wide Web. Considering each type of media listed on page 10,why is it important to develop media literacy? Take out your cell phones and post your responses under the Discussions tab on our class Facebook page.