NOVEL

NOVELLA

SHORT STORY

MYTHS AND LEGENDS

FABLES AND PARABLES

• A lengthy narrative with plot, setting, characters, and conflict that imitates real life or real situations

• Encompasses all kinds of subject matter, including historical, adventure, mysteries, romance, etc.

• Shorter than a novel, with a more simplified plot

• Develops themes and characters more fully

• A short prose narrative, very limited in plot, few characters, and crafted for unity

• Reveals character, rather than traces its development

• A narrative that explains the origins of life, the occurrences in nature, or the deeds of a figure of folklore

• Often rooted in both fact and fiction

• Legends focus less on the supernatural

• A short narrative that imparts a moral, or a lesson

• Is sometimes a warning, or expresses a general truth about life

• Often times, the characters are animals

• Parables are typically allegorical

PROSE: SUB-GENRES OF FICTION