Literary Genres

What this page covers

This page collects study material on the main kinds of writing: poetry, drama, fiction prose and nonfiction prose. Most of it is mind maps, and the rest is flashcard decks, a few quizzes, notes and flowcharts. The resources were made by GoConqr users, and many mention A-level English Literature, GCSE English Literature or IB.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map LITERARY GENRES. It lays out poetry, drama, nonfiction prose and fiction prose, then breaks them into forms such as comedy, tragedy, melodrama, epic, ballad and elegy. Next, open the Genres flashcard deck for terms like memoir, fable, myth, legend and biography.

Drama and tragedy

A large share of the page is about the stage. Useful resources include:

• The Elements of drama mind map, which covers cast of characters, setting, scene, dialogue, script and stage directions.
• The Drama Terms flashcard deck, for terms such as soliloquy, aside, monologue and tragic flaw.
• The Staging a Scene slide set, which helps with a commonly asked exam question.
• The Tragedy Key Terms quiz, followed by the several Tragedy mind maps.

Other genres

For prose, try the SCIENCE FICTION mind map and the Utopia/ Dystopia mind map, which mentions The Republic by Plato and Utopia by Thomas More. The Fantasy Genre, GOTHIC FICTION, Myth and Folklore maps cover more kinds of story. If you want to test yourself on fiction, the quiz on Detective Fiction is a good place to go.

Using quizzes and maps together

1. Read a mind map to see how a genre is built.
2. Go through the matching flashcard deck until the terms feel familiar.
3. Take a quiz, such as Genre Quiz or the multiple choice quiz on literary genre, and note what you missed.
4. Go back to the map for those gaps.

This page sits in the Literature subject, in the strand Foundations of Literary Study. Pick one genre today, open its map, and see how far you get.