Literary Terms - Story

Literary Terms

Story

 

A story or narrative is a connected series of events expressed through written words, spoken words, imagery, body language, performance, music, or any other form of communication. A story can be told about anything, and the events can be real or imaginary. Stories can be of past, present and future. Stories are of great value to human culture.

Stories are the foundation of creativity and they are shared in all different ways—from oral and written storytelling or journalism; to TV, film, and radio; to fine arts, stage performance and music; and so on.

In one form or another, stories have been a part of human culture and society since man has existed! They’re found in the past and present of people from every culture, religion, and ethnicity; in every region and language.

Types of Stories

Stories can be divided into two very broad categories—fiction and nonfiction. Within each there are a huge number of possibilities in terms of subject matter, genre, type of delivery (oral, written, performance), narrative style, and so on.

Fiction stories

Fiction stories are based on imaginary events. There are many types of fiction stories and genres, some of them are:

·      Fairy tales

·      Folklore

·      Mythology

·      Legends

·      Epics

·      Dramas

·      Adventure stories

·      Historical fiction

·      Fantasy

·      Science-fiction

·      Love stories

·      Horror stories

·      Ghost stories

·      Bedtime stories

·      Non-fiction stories

Non-fiction stories

Non-fiction stories are the real-life events or experiences, but, they often fall into the following categories:

·      Historical events

·      News and current events

·      Biographies and autobiographies

·      Memories and experiences

·      Cultural history

·      Crime and justice

·      Science

·      Love

·      Family

·      Travel stories

·      Survivor stories

·        War stories