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| Categorizing literature by a style, form, or content. Music, plays, and other art forms can also be categorizing by genre. |
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| An imaginative literary work or story representing inventive rather than actual personas, places, or events. The story is made up by the author. |
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| Writing that is based on actual persons, places, things, or events. A true story, NOT made up. |
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| A story based on the actual, imagined, or potential (future) science. The story is usually set in the future or on other planets. |
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| Fantasy stories are similiar to science fiction and fairy tales. These stories contain talking animals, magical powers, time travel, and imaginary beings. The characters do not often "live happily ever after". |
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| A story with fictional (made up) characters combined with real, historical (famous) characters in fictional (made up), historical settings. These stories help readers understand what life was like in the past. |
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| A story that can actually happen and is like real life. Realistic fiction is often based in the present or recent past. The events portrayed in realistic fiction might help a reader with real life situations (divorce, friend issues, school issues, family problems, death). |
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| Stories about fairies or other magical creatures, usually for children. They often begin with "Once upon a time" and everyone "lives happily ever after". There is usually a good character and an evil character. The good character usually wins. Examples: Cinderella, Snow White. |
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| A story dealing with the solution of a crime or the unraveling of secrets. It can be fiction or non fiction. Clues are used to help solve the crime. A clue is something that serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem or mystery. |
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| A work of writing that is shorter than a novel. It can be fiction or non fiction. It is about a specific moment in time. |
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| A traditional, historical tale that is handed down from one generation to the next, first orally, then written. Legends have a hero or heroine. The stories may be based on facts, but the hero's actions are "bigger" than life. For example, there really was a King Arthur but we do not believe he pulled a sword out of a stone or had a magician named Merlin. |
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| A story of anonymous origin dealing with gods, goddess, heroes, or supernatural events. Mythology may explain a belief, custom, or force of nature. Often used to explain events before there was science. For example, lightning stories were because Zeus, the god of lightning, was unhappy with mortals and sent down lightning storms to push people. |
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| A brief story told in poetry or prose (ordinary language) that ends with a moral or a practical lesson about life. Many fables are credited to Aesop, an ancient Greek storyteller. |
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| An exaggerated story that is obviously untrue but is told as though is should be believed. The events in the story start "small" but are exaggerated or "grow taller" as the story is retold. The main character is bigger than life and has super-human abilities. The main character usually has a problem to solve. These stories are often funny and have lots of action. For example: Paul Bunyan, Pescos Bill. |
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| A story that no know author and was orginally passed down from one generation to the next, first orally, then written. Folktales are usually about ordinary folks or animals that act like people. These stories are for entertainment and DO NOT contain morals or lessons. |
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| A literary work written in dialogue to be performed before an audience by actors on a stage. A play. |
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| A book-length marrative that tells a story, through a combination of words and sequential art, which often resembles a large comic book. Sequential means in order of telling. |
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| A true story about a real person written by someone else. A biography tells the story of a person's life. "Bio" means life and a graph(y) is a time line so a biography is a time line of a person's life in story form. |
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| A true story about a real person written by THAT person. "Auto" means self, "bio" means life and "graph" (y) means time line so an autobiography is a story that a person is telling about his or her life. |
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| A short literary composition that reflects the author's outlook or viewpoint. |
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| A speech is written then performed orally in public. One of the most famous speeches in American History is The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. |
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| Factual information presented in a format that tells a story. Many science facts are tolds in stories. For example, a science book might contain a story about a lifecycle of a whale. |
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