Forms of English Literature

It is useful to study literature in a hierarchy:

Literature → Forms → Sub-forms/Genres → Important examples → Important writers

1. Poetry

Poetry is literature written mainly in verse, using rhythm, imagery, sound, and figurative language.

Form / Sub-form	Meaning	Important examples
Epic	Long narrative poem about heroic deeds	Paradise Lost — John Milton; The Faerie Queene — Edmund Spenser
Mock-epic	Uses epic style to treat a trivial subject humorously	The Rape of the Lock — Alexander Pope
Ballad	Narrative poem, often about love, adventure, tragedy or the supernatural	The Rime of the Ancient Mariner — S. T. Coleridge
Lyric	Short poem expressing personal feelings/emotions	Ode to a Nightingale — John Keats
Ode	Formal lyric poem addressing and praising a person, thing or idea	Ode to the West Wind — P. B. Shelley
Elegy	Poem expressing sorrow, especially for the dead	Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard — Thomas Gray
Sonnet	14-line poem with a particular rhyme structure	Shakespeare's Sonnets; On His Blindness — John Milton
Dramatic monologue	One speaker reveals thoughts while addressing a silent listener	My Last Duchess — Robert Browning
Pastoral	Idealised depiction of rural/shepherd life	Lycidas — John Milton
Spenserian stanza	9-line stanza developed by Edmund Spenser	The Faerie Queene
Terza rima	Three-line interlocking rhyme scheme	The Divine Comedy — Dante; Ode to the West Wind — Shelley
Blank verse	Unrhymed iambic pentameter	Paradise Lost — Milton; Hamlet — Shakespeare
Free verse	Poetry without a fixed metre or rhyme scheme	The Waste Land — T. S. Eliot
Villanelle	19-line poem with repeated lines	Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night — Dylan Thomas
Limerick	Five-line humorous poem, usually with AABBA rhyme	Edward Lear's limericks
Haiku	Very short Japanese poetic form	Bashō's haiku

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2. Drama

Drama is literature written to be performed on stage.

Major dramatic forms

Form / Sub-form	Meaning	Important examples
Tragedy	Serious drama ending in suffering or downfall	Hamlet — Shakespeare; King Lear — Shakespeare
Comedy	Drama designed primarily to create humour and usually ending happily	As You Like It — Shakespeare
Tragicomedy	Combination of tragic and comic elements	The Winter's Tale — Shakespeare
History play	Drama based on historical events/figures	Henry IV — Shakespeare
Romantic comedy	Comedy involving love, mistaken identities and eventual union	Twelfth Night — Shakespeare
Problem play	Deals with controversial social/moral problems	Mrs Warren's Profession — G. B. Shaw
Farce	Highly exaggerated comedy based on absurd situations	The Importance of Being Earnest — Oscar Wilde
Melodrama	Dramatic work with exaggerated emotions and clear good/evil characters	The Lady of Lyons — Bulwer-Lytton
Morality play	Medieval allegorical drama presenting moral lessons	Everyman
Mystery play	Medieval drama based on Biblical stories	The Second Shepherds' Play
Miracle play	Medieval drama based on saints' lives or miracles	The Play of the Sacrament
Interlude	Short medieval dramatic entertainment	Fulgens and Lucres — Henry Medwall
Masque	Elaborate court entertainment combining drama, music, dance and spectacle	Comus — Milton
One-act play	Drama consisting of a single act	Riders to the Sea — J. M. Synge
Closet drama	Drama intended mainly for reading rather than performance	Manfred — Lord Byron
Absurd drama	Presents the meaninglessness/irrationality of human existence	Waiting for Godot — Samuel Beckett
Epic theatre	Theatre designed to make audiences think critically rather than simply become emotionally involved	Mother Courage and Her Children — Bertolt Brecht

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3. Fiction / Prose Fiction

Fiction is imaginary narrative prose.

A. Novel

A novel is a long fictional prose narrative.

Type of novel	Important example
Historical novel	Ivanhoe — Walter Scott
Gothic novel	The Castle of Otranto — Horace Walpole
Epistolary novel	Pamela — Samuel Richardson
Picaresque novel	Tom Jones — Henry Fielding
Bildungsroman	David Copperfield — Charles Dickens
Psychological novel	Mrs Dalloway — Virginia Woolf
Stream-of-consciousness novel	Ulysses — James Joyce
Social novel	Hard Times — Charles Dickens
Regional novel	Far from the Madding Crowd — Thomas Hardy
Detective novel	The Hound of the Baskervilles — Arthur Conan Doyle
Science-fiction novel	The Time Machine — H. G. Wells
Satirical novel	Gulliver's Travels — Jonathan Swift
Allegorical novel	Animal Farm — George Orwell
Dystopian novel	Nineteen Eighty-Four — George Orwell
Utopian novel	Utopia — Thomas More
Romance novel	Jane Eyre — Charlotte Brontë
Campus novel	Lucky Jim — Kingsley Amis
Autobiographical novel	David Copperfield — Charles Dickens

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B. Short Fiction

Form	Meaning	Example
Short story	Brief fictional narrative	The Tell-Tale Heart — Edgar Allan Poe
Novella	Longer than a short story but shorter than a novel	The Turn of the Screw — Henry James
Novelette	Shorter than a novella, generally longer than a short story	The Metamorphosis — Franz Kafka
Parable	Simple story conveying a moral/religious lesson	The Good Samaritan
Fable	Short story, often using animals, with a moral	The Tortoise and the Hare
Fairy tale	Traditional story involving magic or supernatural elements	Cinderella
Ghost story	Fiction involving ghosts/supernatural elements	The Canterville Ghost — Oscar Wilde

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4. Non-fiction Prose

These works are generally based on real people, events, ideas or experiences.

Form / Sub-form	Important example
Essay	Of Studies — Francis Bacon
Personal essay	Essays of Charles Lamb
Critical essay	The Function of Criticism at the Present Time — Matthew Arnold
Periodical essay	The Spectator essays — Addison and Steele
Biography	The Life of Samuel Johnson — James Boswell
Autobiography	The Prelude — William Wordsworth
Memoir	A Room of One's Own — Virginia Woolf
Diary	The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Travel writing	A Sentimental Journey — Laurence Sterne
Letters / Epistolary writing	Letters from a Stoic — Seneca
Sermon	Sermons — John Donne
Speech / Oration	Gettysburg Address — Abraham Lincoln
Literary criticism	Biographia Literaria — S. T. Coleridge
History	History of the Peloponnesian War — Thucydides

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5. Literary Forms Based on Length

This is particularly useful for objective questions.

Poetry

Epic → long narrative poem
Ballad → narrative poem
Ode → serious lyric poem
Elegy → mourning/death
Sonnet → 14 lines
Lyric → personal emotion
Dramatic monologue → one speaker

Fiction

Novel → longest major prose fiction
Novella → between novel and short story
Novelette → between short story and novella
Short story → brief prose fiction

A useful approximate hierarchy is:

Novel > Novella > Novelette > Short Story

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6. Important Forms You Should Not Confuse

Sonnet vs Ode vs Elegy

• Sonnet → 14 lines

• Ode → serious/praising lyric

• Elegy → lament for the dead

Epic vs Mock-epic

• Epic → serious heroic subject
  → Paradise Lost

• Mock-epic → trivial subject treated in an epic manner
  → The Rape of the Lock

Tragedy vs Comedy vs Tragicomedy

• Tragedy → serious conflict + downfall

• Comedy → humour + generally happy ending

• Tragicomedy → mixture of tragedy and comedy

Biography vs Autobiography vs Memoir

• Biography → life written by another person

• Autobiography → one's own life story

• Memoir → selected memories/experiences, usually focused on a particular period or theme

Allegory vs Fable vs Parable

• Allegory → characters/events represent deeper ideas

• Fable → usually animals + moral

• Parable → simple story conveying a moral/religious lesson

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7. High-Priority Forms ⭐

Poetry

• Epic

• Mock-epic

• Ballad

• Lyric

• Ode

• Elegy

• Sonnet

• Dramatic monologue

• Pastoral

• Blank verse

• Free verse

• Terza rima

• Spenserian stanza

• Villanelle

Drama

• Tragedy

• Comedy

• Tragicomedy

• Farce

• Melodrama

• Morality play

• Mystery play

• Miracle play

• Masque

• Problem play

• Absurd drama

• Epic theatre

• Closet drama

Fiction

• Novel

• Novella

• Short story

• Historical novel

• Gothic novel

• Picaresque novel

• Epistolary novel

• Bildungsroman

• Psychological novel

• Stream-of-consciousness novel

• Detective novel

• Dystopian novel

• Allegorical novel

Non-fiction

• Essay

• Periodical essay

• Biography

• Autobiography

• Memoir

• Diary

• Travel writing

• Literary criticism

• Sermon

• Speech