Genre Overview
Fiction

1.  Fantasy:  a story including elements that are impossible such as talking animals or magical powers.  Make-believe is what this genre is all about.

2.  Realistic Fiction:  a story using made-up characters that could happen in real life.

3.  Mystery:  a suspenseful story about a puzzling event that is not solved until the end of the story.

4.  Traditional Literature:  stories that are passed down from one group to another in history.  This includes folktales, legends, fables, fairy tales, tall tales, and myths from different cultures.

5.  Historical Fiction:  a fictional story that takes place in a particular time period in the past.  Often the setting is real, but the characters are made up from the author's imagination.

6.  Science Fiction:  a type of fantasy that uses science and technology (robots, time machines, etc.)

Nonfiction

1.  Informational:  texts that provide facts about a variety of topics (sports, animals, science, history, careers, travel, geography, space, weather, etc.)

2.  Biography:  the story of a real person's life written by another person.

3.  Autobiography:  the story of a real person's life that is written by that person.

Other Genre

Poetry:  poetry is verse written to create a response of thought and feeling from the reader.  It often uses rhythm and rhyme to help convey its meaning.