How to recognise genres Success Criteria I know

How to recognise genres. Success Criteria: • I know what a genre is. • I can identify features in genres. • I can document popular genres. STARTER What happens next? Why do you know?

How to recognise genres. Genre – a style or category of art, music or literature. You own a library and need to organise the books so that people can choose them easily? What categories will you arrange the books in? Think of a library and how books are grouped.

How to recognise genres. Genre – a style or category of art, music or literature. Narrative nonfiction Fairy tale Essay Science Fiction Biography Short Story Autobiography Realistic Fiction Speech Folklore Drama Historical Fiction Poetry Horror Fantasy Tall Tale Humor Legend Fable Mystery Mythology Fiction

Adventure Example: The frayed rope snapped and Jack went hurtling through the air until a small bush broke his fall. He didn’t care. He’d made it. After months of planning and research, Jack had finally worked out where it was hidden. Somewhere in this dense jungle lay the answer to what had been baffling historians for decades. Jack knew the only way leading to it would be through a hidden passage and there was only one minor problem with that. It was hidden. Another problem was that time was not on his side. He knew the men hunting him would be on his trail before nightfall. One thing in Jack’s favour was that there was no way onto the island after the rope had snapped, as the rocks were too treacherous to take a boat near. That also meant there was no way off the island. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it, and chuckled to himself at the thought of the irony. Jack took the old tattered map from his pocket and began looking for some of the features on the map that he could see from his position in the jungle.

Adventure Definition: A story in which the characters go somewhere exciting and dangerous. Key Features: A chase or narrow escape. A battle might be fought. ‘Goodies’ against ‘Baddies’. Usually makes us wonder if the characters will make it or not. Settings Key Words kidnap dangerous desert island treasure unknown abandoned ship swordfight brave cave escape outsmarted underwater journey suddenly pirate ship

Traditional Fairy Tales Example: Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters. He told them that one day his kingdom would belong to one of them. Whoever would inherit the kingdom would have to prove that they were worthy. The king told his daughters about a magical well up in the misty mountains where a magical genie lived. This genie could be asked three questions to find out which of these three daughters would be the one who would rule the kingdom. The three daughters set out from the kingdom, through the Tirisfall Glades, through the Eversong Woods and finally into Winterspring where they met an old lady.

Traditional Fairy Tales Definition: A story about fairies and magic. Usually told through many generations. Key Features: Begin with ‘Once upon a time…’. Love and magic are common themes. Talking animals. Witches and wizards. Princes and princesses. Ending is usually ‘…happily ever after. ’ Settings Key Words enchanted spell magical kingdom three wishes unknown land far, far away castle brave cottage evil in love forest wicked beautiful wood

Fantasy Example: In a land far away, in a time long ago to remember lived a handsome young man. When most young men his age worried about what they were going to do with their life, Nicholas worried about how long his life may last. It had a nasty way of seeming like it was about to end, but this was normal when your job was to protect the town from a dragon. Three dragons to be precise. The trouble was that these dragons were very fond of treasure, which the city of Westfall had a good deal of. Most of this treasure was worn by a beautiful young princess. In short, this handsome young man’s job was simply to protect the beautiful young princess from being carried off by dragons.

Fantasy Definition: A story about imagined places and people. Not based on reality at all. Key Features: A whole other world with fantastical creatures and magic. Extraordinary and beautiful events. Settings Key Words magical mermaids clouds enchanted kingdom castle unicorn castles magic cottage wizard fairies sea dragons powers sky

Horror Example: Sarah woke up. That is to say, something had woken her up. As she gazed around in the darkness one thing quickly became apparent to her. This room she had woken up in was not the same one she had fallen asleep in. She sat in silence trying to take in her new surroundings. There was an old, damp smell in the air. A tiny window in the far corner let in just enough light to make out the room she was currently occupying. Tattered curtains, unopened for decades hung on an old wrought iron rail while a an old stone fireplace. Though Sarah cracked oil painting of a man hung above could not clearly make out the painting, she could see that it had been viciously slashed where the head should be. She froze. With no warning, the wooden door to the small room shook violently. It shook with so much force that one of the paintings fell from its perch on the wall and hit the floor with such force it splintered at once. Sarah fell to the floor in sheer terror, her heart racing out of control. Just as soon it started, the violent shaking came to a halt and was replaced by what could only have been the sound of heavy, clawed feet thumping away down the corridor and into the night.

Horror Definition: A scary story written to frighten people! Key Features: Elements of surprise and shock. Detailed descriptions to create a scary atmosphere. All will seem well and then suddenly go wrong! Short sentences can be used for effect. Settings Key Words cackle horrifying old house haunting shock castle terrified screaming woods shivers dark swamp creeping spooky deserted place

Detective/Mystery Example: The clues just didn’t add up. There was a set of footprints leading to a solid wall, a note written to someone who did not live at the house and a set of fingerprints that belonged to somebody who was known at that precise moment to be on the other side of the world. Every piece of evidence would be photographed and then taken into a laboratory to be looked at in more detail. Millionaires don’t get kidnapped every day, but there is always a bigger reward if you manage to catch the kidnapper. There were twenty possible suspects, but each one either had their own air-tight alibi or there wasn’t enough evidence to place them as the main suspect.

Detective/Mystery Definition: A story in which a crime is committed and the perpetrator is unknown. Key Features: The main character tries to solve the crime. Clues are found to help with solving the mystery, though some clues are found to lead us away from the truth and surprise us at the end. Key Words Settings robbery detective police station kidnap spy mansion clues victim jewellery shop suspect mystery quiet village suspicious millionaire

Science Fiction Example: The laser scanners powered down and came to a steady halt with a hum. Nathan cautiously opened one eye, then the next. Did it work? All of a sudden the two empty cylinders next to him began to fill with liquid, one a lurid green; the other a brilliant purple. He could hear the machine buzzing and whirring as it calculated its next procedure…almost as if it was thinking for itself. Silence. With the strike like that of a cobra, the machine shot two pipes into Nathan’s left arm. He watched in eager anticipation as the fluid drained through the pipes and into his body. He could feel it surging around his body. He was now connected to the space ship. Nathan could feel his senses heightening, almost as if this alien technology was reading his mind… Within the blink of an eye, the ship and Nathan had reached a speed never before reached by another human.

Science Fiction Definition: Stories that are based around scientific knowledge. Key Features: These stories are often set in the future and scientific discoveries are usually the inspiration for the advanced technology that is mentioned in them e. g. time machine. Key Words Settings mutant pod planet galaxy meteorite moon laser hovercraft spaceship mission zoom galaxy black hole UFO

Features of a story across a text? A story without a theme is little more than a list of events. A theme is not the plot. The plot is what the story is about. The theme is how the meaning of a story is defined. The Titanic sinks, but is theme love, about two passengers on board, is tragedy, about those who died, or survival concerning those who started a new life in New York?

Features of a story across a text? The theme is how the meaning of a story is defined. The theme is the ‘pulse’ of the story; you want your reader to carry on to find out the ending. It helps if the reader can relate to theme – has some personal experience of it.

Features of a story across a text? Alienation Ambition Betrayal Bullying Coming of age Courage Deception Discovery Escape Death Fear Freedom Good versus evil Isolation Jealousy Justice Loss Loneliness Love Lust Power Prejudice Security Spirituality Survival