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