Fiction that has been derived from the Latin word ‘fingere’ which means to create or to form literally is the opposite of fact. Similarly in literature fictional pieces are the stories that talk of the imagined events of the author. They have no connection to reality and make no factual claims. At the same time they have been and remain till today an important part of literature. Fiction ranges over a long list of literary pieces. They include novels, short stories, fables, fairy tales, comics and even myths to a certain extent. Fiction is also broadly classified as popular fiction (science fiction, mystery fiction) and literary fiction (William Faulkner, Marcel Proust). Though they may just include parts of one’s wildest dreams, fictional writing has been passed on over generations to instill certain beliefs and values. It is also noticed that fiction may over time blend with factual accounts and develop into mythology. Fiction is a fundamental part of human culture.the art of creating fiction may be restricted to a few, but thanks to books there exists a wide range of opportunities for the rest of Humanity to enjoy the benefit of this.
Mystery
Though the word mystery is derived Greek verb “myein” meaning to close, in general usage it refers to something that is inconceivable, unknown or unexplainable. Mystery novels are mostly classified under fiction and but at cases can also be a description of ones real life incidents. The Mystery part of literature has always kept readers, the young as well as the old spell bound. Mystery books may start from the early reading days of a child in the form of Enid Blyton books and may later grow into a strong liking towards more famous books like Sherlock Holmes etc.
Adventure
An adventure in the literal sense is an activity that is comprised of risky, dangerous, or uncertain experiences that are for the sake of physical or emotional excitement. Books have always portrayed the adventure as a dangerous situation in which the major characters are consistently involving risks and living solely dependent on their skills and wits but at the same time having a lot of fun.
Science Fiction
The popular SF or sci-fi is one of the broad sections in fiction which involves speculations based on current science and technology. It may involve an imagination that has been let loose or may at times involve predictions of the future with a solid proof. Science fiction most commonly speaks of extra terrestrial creatures, outer space settlements, robots, time travels, unknown social systems and even artificial intelligence.
Rod Serling's stated definition is "fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."
Comics
Comics are a form of visual art which consists of images that are combined with text usually in speech balloons or thought clouds to entertain the readers. Comic stories are best known as the comic strips in newspapers and magazines, like ‘Garfield’ etc but are also equally famous in the form of books like ‘Calvin and Hobbes’. The comics too have been growing with time. The comics seem to have traced their origins from the Egyptian hieroglyphics and went through stage of drawing with pencil and stand today as a product of the digital means to create artwork. McCloud's definition sates that "...comics consist of pictorial narratives or expositions in which words (often lettered into the picture area within speech balloons) usually contribute to the meaning of the pictures and vice versa."
Classics
Classics may be interpreted often usually as a widely-read book; however, it usually is a book marking a turning point in history. Others may reflect the traditional views of earlier societies or report social conflicts during that time. Certain classics may contain revolutionary ideas or fact. Classics usually dominate in literature that suggests a social or philosophical change. Some people enjoy classics because of the clever development of the plot and/or characterization. Classics can be enjoyed by people of all ages, usually ranging from young teens to older adults. Classics comprise what some call a "canon" of world literature but Mark Twain famously wrote that a "classic" was a "book which people praise and don't read.”
Non fiction
Autobiography
The word autobiography, was derived from the Greek auton, 'self', bios, 'life' and graphein, 'write' and is the events that took place in the life of the writer himself. Traditionally, an autobiography focuses on the "life and times" of the character. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was the first secular biography published in the United States and served as a model for subsequent American autobiographies. An auto biography is entirely different from a memoir as the latter consists of a more intimate focus on writer’s emotions, feelings and memories. The present day literature holds Diaries and Letters as memoirs. A few notable autobiographies are:
Boy & Going Solo- Roald Dahl
My Experiments with truth- Mahatma Gandhi
The Story of My Life-Helen Keller
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl- Harriet Jacobs
Biography
Biography (from the Greek words bios meaning "life", and graphein meaning "write") is a genre of literature. a biography develops a complex analysis of personality, highlighting different aspects of it and including intimate details of experiences. A biography is more than a list of impersonal facts like birth, education, work, relationships and death. It also delves into the emotions of experiencing such events. The first known biographies were written by scribes. Ancient Greeks developed the biographical tradition which we have inherited, although until the 5th century AD, when the word 'biographia' first appears, in Damascius' Life of Isodorus, The "Golden Age" of English biography emerged in the late 1700s, the century in which the terms "biography" and "autobiography" entered the English lexicon. The classic works of the period were Samuel Johnson's Critical Lives of the Poets (1779-81) and James Boswell's massive Life of Johnson (1791). Generally, American biography followed the English model, however, incorporating Thomas Carlyle's view that biography was a part of history. Carlyle asserted that the lives of great men were important to understanding society and its institutions.
Nirad C. Chaudhuri, (1897-1999) - Clive of India, Max Muller
Alfred Ainger, (1837-1904) - Charles Lamb
H. F. M. Prescott, (1896-1972), Mary I of England - 'Bloody Mary'
Poetry
Poetry (from the Greek poiesis, a "making" or "creating") is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns or lyrics.
Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poetry's use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor and simile create a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.Poetic Diction describes the manner in which language is used and refers not only to the sound but also to the underlying meaning and its interaction with sound and form. Many languages and poetic forms have very specific poetic dictions, to the point where separate grammars and dialects are used specifically for poetry.
Travelogue
Travel literature is literature which records the people, events, sights and feelings of an author who is touring a foreign place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue.
Traveloguemight also include fictional travelogues such as the mythical journey in Homer's Odyssey and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Picture courtesy:www.storiesfromtheweb.org, www.panmacmillan.com, www.clarelibrary.ie, www.kclibrary.nhmccd.edu, www.mysimon.com,www.sidharths.com
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