21st Century

Literary Genres
EN12Lit-Id-25

Week 3
After going through this lesson, you
are expected to:
1. differentiate the 21st century literary
genres, and the one’s from the original
genres;
2. enumerate the elements, structures
and traditions of each genre;
3. appreciate the unique features of
each genre.
 21st Century Literature

- refers to new literary work created

within the last decade. It is written by
contemporary authors which may
deal with current themes/ issues and
reflects a technological culture. It
often breaks traditional writing rules.
21st Century Reader

- grew up using technology as a primary learning

tool. He is capable of navigating and interpreting
digital formats and media messages. He also
possesses literacy skills, which include
technological abilities such as keyboarding,
internet navigation, interpretation of
technological speak, ability to communicate and
interpret coded language and decipher graphics
What is Genre?
- is a type of form
of literature. For
instance, someone
might say, “What
genre of literature
do you like to read.
Look for the conventional literary genres in the puzzle below and,
on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow.
1. What are the four conventional literary
genres have you found in the puzzle?
2. What are their unique features?
 POETRY is an imaginative awareness of experience
expressed through meaning, sound and rhythmic
POETRY language choices to evoke an emotional response. It
& has been known to employ meter and rhyme. The very
DRAMA nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode
of expression makes it nearly impossible to define.

DRAMA is a composition in prose or verse presenting

in dialogue or pantomime a story involving conflict
more contrast of character, especially on intended to
be acted on a stage: a play. It may be any situation or
series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting or
striking interest.
FICTION & NON-FICTION
FICTION is literature created from the imagination,
not presented as fact, though it may be based on a true
story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction
include the novel, short story and novella.

NON-FICTION is based on facts and the author’s

opinion about a subject. The purpose of non-fiction
writing is to inform and sometimes to persuade. Its
examples are biographies, articles from textbooks
and magazines and newspapers.
modern literary genres presently
used by 21st century writers
ILLUSTRATED
NOVEL
• Story through text and illustrated images
• 50% 0f the narrative is presented without words
• The reader must interpret the images to comprehend the
story completely.
• Textual portions are presented in traditional form.
• Some illustrated novels may contain no text at all.
• Span all genres.
• Examples include The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian
Selznick and The Arrival by Shaun Tan.
ILLUSTRATED
NOVEL
DIGI-FICTION
DIGI-FICTION

• Triple Media Literature

• Combines three media: book, movie/video and
internet website To get the full story, students must
engage in navigation, reading, viewing in all three
forms.
• Patrick Carman’s Skeleton Creek and Anthony
Zuiker’s Level 26 are examples.
GRAPHIC
NOVEL
 • Narrative in comic book formats
• Narrative work in which the story is
GRAPHIC
conveyed to the reader using a comic
NOVEL
form.
• The term is employed broadly manner,
encompassing non-fiction works and
thematically linked short stories as well as
fictional stories across a number of genres.
• Archie Comics by John Goldwater and
illustrator, Bob Montana, is a good
example.
MANGA
• Japanese word for comics
• It is used in the English-speaking world as a generic MANGA
term for all comic books and graphic novels originally
published in Japan.
• Considered as an artistic and storytelling style.
• Ameri-manga- sometimes used to refer to comics
created by American artists in manga style.
• Shonen- Boy’s Manga (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece)
• Shojo- Girl’s Manga (Sailormoon)
• Seinen- Men’s Manga (Akira)
• Josei- Women’s Manga (Loveless, Paradise Kiss)
• Kodomo- Children’s Manga (Doraemon, Hello Kitty)
DOODLE
FICTION
• Literary presentation where the DOODLE
author incorporates doodle writing FICTION
and drawings and handwritten
graphics in place of the traditional
font.
• Drawing enhances the story, often
adding humorous elements
• Examples include The Diary of a
Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and Timmy
Failure by Stephan Pastis.
TEXT-TALK NOVELS
• Blogs, email and IM (instant
message) format narratives
• Stories told almost entirely in
dialogue simulating social network
exchanges.

TEXT-TALK NOVELS
CHICK LIT or CHICK LITERATURE
 CHICK LIT or CHICK LITERATURE

• Is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern

womanhood, often humorously and lightheartedly.
• Chick Lit typically features a female protagonist
whose femininity is heavily thermalizing in the plot.
• Scarlet Bailey’s The night before Christmas and
Miranda Dickinson’s It started with a Kiss are
examples of this.
FLASH
FICTION
• Is a style of fictional literature FLASH
of extreme brevity FICTION
• There is no widely accepted
definition of the length and
category. It could range from
word to a thousand.
SIX-WORD FLASH FICTION
CREATIVE • 1000 Gifts
NON- by Ann
FICTION Voscamp
and Wind,
Sand, and
Stars by
Antoine de
Saint-
Exupery are
examples.
• Is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative
concepts such as futuristic science and technology, space
travel, time travel, faster than light travel, a parallel universe
and extra-terrestrial life
• Often explores the potential consequences of
scientific and other innovations and has been
called a “literature of ideas”.
• Examples include Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay
and Sarah Maas’ Kingdom of Ash.

SCIENCE FICTION
SCIENCE
FICTION
BLOG
BLOG
• A weblog, a website containing short
articles called posts that are changed
regularly.
• Some blogs are written by one person
containing their own opinions,
interests and experiences, while
others are written by different people.
HYPER POETRY
• Digital poetry that uses links using hypertext mark-
up
• It can either involved set words, phrases, lines, etc.
that are presented in variable order but sit on the
page much as traditional poetry does, or it can
contain parts of the poem that move and mutate.
• It is usually found online, through CD-ROM and
diskette versions exist. The earliest examples date
to no later than the mid-1980’s.

HYPER POETRY
 You have tried your hands in discovering the
What I characteristics of the literary genres discussed in this
Have module. Reflect on what you have learned by answering
the questions that follow.
Learned?
1. What are the conventional literary genres?
2. What are the common characteristics of conventional
literary genres?
3. What are the different 21st century literary genres?
4. What are the common characteristics of modern
literary genres?
5. What is the difference between conventional and
modern literary genres?