Literary Genres of Philippine Literature: Prose, Fiction, and Non-Fiction

Genre

A category of artistic work that has a specific form or characteristics.

Prose

Known to be a conversational language presented orally or in writing, composed of sentences and paragraphs instead of lines and stanzas.

Fiction

A genre that represents real-life experiences in imaginary narratives, yet its essence can be based on factual and verifiable events.

Novel

A long narrative in written form that has a very complicated plot, usually divided into chapters that are crucial to the story's main plot, and should have at least 50,000 words.

Novella

A work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel.

Short Story

Shorter than a novella and has a simpler plot.

Legend

More often secular than sacred, and their principal characters are human. These stories tell of migrations, wars and victories, deeds of past heroes, chiefs and kings, and successful in ruling dynasties.

Myth

A story that explains the origin of the world, humanity, death or natural phenomena, and deals with Gods and folkloric creatures.

Fable

A story about animals that can behave like humans, containing morals that apply to humanity.

Parable

A story found in the sacred scriptures that contains symbols that, when interpreted, can teach a life lesson in accordance with Christian faith and teaching.

Characters

The actors in the story, usually embodying a trait or human attribute that the author intends to include in the narrative.

Protagonist

The story's main character, whose presence is crucial because it propels the plot forward.

Antagonist

An opponent who challenges the protagonist and obstructs the protagonist's success.

Round characters

Characters that undergo a certain change and have complex personalities that are strategically unraveled throughout the story.

Flat characters

Characters that remain constant or do not change throughout the story.

Setting

The time and place/environment of the story.

Plot

The chain of connected events that make up a narrative; the sequence of events in the story.

Exposition

Tells about the background of the story, including the setting, characters' back stories, or historical contexts.

Rising action

Part of the story after the characters and setting are introduced, where events begin to reveal probable conflicts that the protagonist must resolve.

Climax

The highest point of tension in the story, usually the most interesting part.

Falling action

The part of a story after the climax and before the very end.

Resolution/denouement

The final outcome of the story where other secrets are revealed, if there are any.

Theme

The central binding thought or topic of the story.

Non-fiction

A literary genre that tells about stories that actually happen in real life, dealing with real people, places, and events.

Autobiography

A self-written biography where the author writes about all or a portion of their own life.

Memoir

A narrative of an episode in one's life which usually contains a certain memorable experience.

Biography

The story of a person's life told by another person, including all pertinent details from the subject's life, typically arranged in chronological order.

Essay

A piece of writing that centers on one topic or subject matter, with the purpose to inform, describe, entertain, or persuade the readers.

Diary

A personal record of a person's daily activities.

Journal

Logs of events that happen to a person or group.