The CWRC Literary Genre Ontology Specification 0.2

Versions of written works produced by condensation and omission but with retention of the general meaning and manner of presentation of the original, often prepared by someone other than the author of the original. (Getty, 2017)

A novel in which the characters and plots are fictionalized, but can actually be recognized as real people and events in disguise. French for "novel with a key." (DBpedia, 2017)

Short poems or prose compositions in which text is arranged so that the first letters of each line form a word, phrase, or motto. (Getty, 2017)

Written works or works derived from written works, where the second work is an alteration or amendment a text to make it suitable for another purpose. An example of an adaptation is a version of an earlier text made to better agree with a philosophy other than that intended by the original. Other examples are written works adapted for another medium, such as film, broadcasting, or stage production. For visual works adapted from another work, use "adaptations (derivative objects)."

Action-filled fiction in which a protagonist is removed from her or his ordinary life to undertake some sort of journey or quest. Along the way, the protagonist is exposed to extraordinary events and physical dangers that put his or her virtues, such as bravery, to the test. (Oxford, 2015)

The text of an advertisement for any type of medium. Typically short, and full of attention-grabbing, persuasive language that aims to quickly convince a consumer to make a purchase. (WebFinance Inc., 2017)

A short drama performed after a main play, popularized in the 1700s as justification for a new half-price entrance fee charged to latecomers. Typically a comedic one-act, regardless of the genre of the preceding play. (Penguin, 1999)

A section that appears towards the end of a book, does not form part of the main body, and often concludes or summarizes. (Oxford, 2015)

Derived from agitation propaganda, meaning intended to inspire political action. With reference to visual art, refers to the specific art movement arising in Soviet Russia following the Bolshevik revolution. (Getty, 2017)

Literary works, art works, or other creative works that employ allegory to express complex abstract ideas, for example works that employ symbolic, fictional figures and actions to express truths or generalizations about human conduct or experience. (Getty, 2017)

1- Words or phrases made by transposing the letters of other words or phrases. (Getty, 2017)

2- Anagrammatic poetry is poetry with the constrained form that either each line or each verse is an anagram of all other lines or verses in the poem. A poet that specializes in anagrams is an anagrammarian. Writing anagrammatic poetry is a form of a constrained writing similar to writing pangrams or long alliterations. (DBpedia, 2017)

Notes added as comment or explanation, such as those accompanying an entry in a bibliography, reading list, or catalogue intended to describe, explain, or evaluate the publication referred to. (Getty, 2017)

A form of intertextuality in which an author writes a response to a work by another writer, typically to argue against the statements of that work. Often takes the form of an essay or letter.

A song in which the lyrics promote pride in and allegiance to the identity and values of a particular group, such as a nation, sports team, or social cause. (Oxford, 2015)

Collections of choice extracts, from the writings of one author, or various authors, and usually having a common characteristic such as subject matter or literary form. (Getty, 2017)

A text that rejects in some way the form of the romance novel. Often linked to satirical and picaresque novels.

Short, pithy statements of principle or precepts, often of known authorship; distinguished from "proverbs" which are statements repeated colloquially and which often embody the folk wisdom of a group or nation. (Getty, 2017)

A text in which a writer defends the possibly controversial opinions contained in his or her writing. (Oxford, 2015)

"The study or practice of the analytical description, interpretation, and evaluation of visual art works and exhibitions." (Getty, 2017)

Documents of any type that are biographies of individuals written by themselves. For the overall genre, use "autobiography (genre)."(Getty, 2017)

A drama combining song and spoken dialogue, popularized in the 1700s by John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. It can be seen as a precursor to the modern musical. (Penguin, 1999)

A ballade (from French ballade, [baˈlad], and German Ballade, [baˈlaːdə], both being words for "ballad"), in classical music since the late 18th century, refers to a setting of a literary ballad, a narrative poem, in the musical tradition of the Lied, or to a one-movement instrumental piece with lyrical and dramatic narrative qualities reminiscent of such a song setting, especially a piano ballad. (DBpedia, 2017)

"Dramatic entertainments consisting of dance and mime performed to music. Ballets are characterized by stylized poses and steps that are combined with light and flowing figures and movements, such as leaps and turns; often combined with music, scenery, costume, and sometimes pantomime or speech to convey a story, theme, or atmosphere to the audience." (Getty, 2017)

A folk dance originating in Bergamo, Italy, in the 16th century, but often included in theatre productions unrelated to Italian culture. (Merriam-Webster, 2017)

Collections of moralized fables, especially as written in the Middle Ages, about actual or mythical animals. (Getty, 2017)

A work that rewords the text of the Bible, often to improve clarity or to make it accessible to a wider audience.

Novels of a traditional German genre that focuses on the spiritual development or formative years of an individual. Now in broad use to refer to this type of novel written in any language or in any culture. (Getty, 2017)

A reference text containing biographical entries on multiple people, often with a common link between them (for example, a biographical dictionary of women), and typically arranged alphabetically.

1- The genre of nonfiction that concerns accounts of the lives of individuals. For examples of this genre, prefer "biographies (documents)." (Getty, 2017)

2- Brief profiles of a people's life or work. (Getty, 2017)

Fiction dealing with bisexuality.

A black comedy (or dark comedy) is a comic work that employs morbid humor, which, in its simplest form, is humor that makes light of subject matter usually considered taboo. Black humor corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor. Black comedy is often controversial due to its subject matter. (DBpedia, 2017)

The result of a game popularized in 17th-century France in which a poet must write a logical poem using a list of random rhyming words written by someone else. (Oxford, 2015)

Large sheets of paper with a poem or song, especially a ballad, printed on only one side. (Oxford, 2015)

A form of comic drama set to music, first popularized in the 1700s. (Penguin, 1999)

Various forms of entertainment, often involving dancing, singing, or comedy acts, performed at a venue such as a nightclub in which the audience is seated at tables. Live music played in restaurants or public houses would not usually be considered cabaret without an additional component. (Oxford, 2015)

Captivity narratives are usually stories of people captured by enemies whom they consider uncivilized, or whose beliefs and customs they oppose. The best-known captivity narratives are those concerning the indigenous peoples of North America. These narratives (and questions about their accuracy) have an enduring place in literature, history, ethnography, and the study of Native peoples. However, captivity narratives have also come to play a major role in the study of contemporary religious movements, thanks to scholars of religion like David G. Bromley and James R. Lewis. In this article, both main types of captivity narratives are considered. Traditionally, historians have made limited use of certain captivity narratives. They have regarded the genre with suspicion because of its ideological underpinnings. As a result of new scholarly approaches, historians with a more certain grasp of Native American cultures are distinguishing between plausible statements of fact and value-laden judgements in order to study the narratives as rare sources from "inside" Native societies. Contemporary historians such as Linda Colley and anthropologists such as Pauline Turner Strong have also found the narratives useful in analyzing how the colonists constructed the "other", as well as what the narratives reveal about the settlers' sense of themselves and their culture, and the experience of crossing the line to another. Colley has studied the long history of English captivity in other cultures, both the Barbary pirate captives who preceded those in North America, and British captives in cultures such as India, after the North American experience. Certain North American captivity narratives involving Native peoples were published from the 18th through the 19th centuries, but they reflected a well-established genre in English literature. There had already been English accounts of captivity by Barbary pirates, or in the Middle East, which established some of the major elements of the form. Following the American experience, additional accounts were written after British people were captured during exploration and settlement in India and East Asia. Other types of captivity narratives, such as those recounted by apostates from religious movements (i.e. "cult survivor" tales), have remained an enduring feature of modern media, and currently appear in books, periodicals, film, and television. The unifying factor in most captivity narratives, whether they stem from geopolitical or religious conflicts, is that the captive portrays the captors' way of life as alien, undesirable, and incompatible with the captive's own (typically dominant) culture. This underscores the utility of captivity narratives in garnering support for social control measures, such as removing Native Americans to "reservations", or stigmatizing participation in religious movements – whether Catholicism in the nineteenth century, or ISKCON in the twentieth. Captivity narratives tend to be culturally chauvinistic, viewing an "alien" culture through the lens of the narrator's preferred culture, thus making (possibly unfair) value judgements like "Puritans good, Indians bad." (DBpedia, 2017)

1- Manuals or guides for instructing through a series of questions and answers, especially for religious instruction. (Getty, 2017)

2- A catechism (/ˈkætəˌkizəm/; from Greek: κατηχέω, to teach orally), is a summary or exposition of doctrine and served as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult converts. Catechisms are doctrinal manuals - often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorised - a format in non-religious or secular contexts as well. The term catechumen refers to the designated recipient of the catechetical work or instruction. In the Catholic Church, catachumens were usually placed separately during Holy Mass from those who received the Sacrament of Baptism. Early catecheticals emerged from Graeco-Roman mystery religions, especially the late cult of Mithras meant to educate their members into the secretive teachings, which competed with the Christian Church as an underground religion in the 1st to 4th centuries CE and allegedly shared its many ritual practices. Today, they are characteristic of Western Christianity but are also present in Eastern Christianity. (DBpedia, 2017)

Small books or pamphlets, usually cheaply printed and containing such texts as popular tales, treatises, ballads, or nursery rhymes, formerly peddled by chapmen. (Getty, 2017)

A character sketch is an abbreviated portrayal of a particular characteristic of people. The term originates in portraiture, where the character sketch is a common academic exercise. Following the translation of Theophrastus's Characters into English, a number of British and American painters attempted to illustrate the "types" of humanity. As late as William Hogarth, portraitists were doing studies of (in his case) Nine heads. The artist performing a character sketch attempts to capture an expression or gesture that goes beyond coincident actions and gets to the essence of the individual. (DBpedia, 2017)

A form of riddle in which clues are given about each syllable of a word so that the entire word may be guessed. Originally, these riddles were written, often in the form of a poem, but it soon gained popularity as a parlour game in which the clues were mimed rather than written in verse. (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017)

Literature written and published for children. (Getty, 2017)

A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. The first line is the name of the poem's subject, usually a famous person put in an absurd light. The rhyme scheme is AABB, and the rhymes are often forced. The line length and metre are irregular. Bentley invented the clerihew in school and then popularized it in books. (DBpedia, 2017)

A drama, often written in verse and frequently with extensive stage directions, that is meant to be read in private rather than performed for an audience. (Oxford, 2015)

Books containing outline drawings, for coloring in with crayons, watercolor, colored pencils, or other media, usually intended for use by children. (Getty, 2017)

Genre encompassing forms of theatre, literature, and improvisation with the basic objective to amuse, humor, and induce laughter. In general, it is often contrasted with tragedy and can be applied in the form of social criticism through satire and political or intellectual wit or applied in the form of pure spectacle through farce or burlesque. (Getty, 2017)

A dramatic form popularized in the 16th century in which the comedy depends on complex plots, surprising twists, and ridiculous situations. The characters and their development tend to be secondary to plot in importance. (Penguin, 1999)

The comedy of manners is an entertainment form which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class or of multiple classes, often represented by stereotypical stock characters. For example, the miles gloriosus ("boastful soldier") in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the English Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young. Restoration comedy is used as a synonym for "comedy of manners". The plot of the comedy, often concerned with scandal, is generally less important than its witty dialogue. A great writer of comedies of manners was Oscar Wilde, his most famous play being The Importance of Being Earnest. The comedy of manners was first developed in the new comedy of the Ancient Greek playwright Menander. His style, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence, whose comedies were widely known and copied during the Renaissance. The best-known comedies of manners, however, may well be those of the French playwright Molière, who satirized the hypocrisy and pretension of the ancien régime in such plays as L'École des femmes (The School for Wives, 1662), Le Misanthrope (The Misanthrope, 1666), and most famously Tartuffe (1664). (DBpedia, 2017)

A type of comedic drama in which the dark humour stems from the main characters’ fear, irrational or not, that some dark force threatens them. (Penguin, 1999)

Sequence of illustrations containing a story or stories (called "comics," because some are humorous), often serialized, published in booklet form. (Getty, 2017)

Pertaining to the process of coming out sexually.

Books in which noteworthy literary passages, cogent quotations, poems, comments, recipes, prescriptions, and other miscellaneous document types are written. (Getty, 2017)

An authoritative and often academic handbook or collection providing a guide to and overview of a subject field, composed of short entries or longer essays, and generally encycopedic in scope or structure.

A compilation of coded instructions or sequence of code that, when run, achieves a certain task in a mechanism, usually a computer. (Getty, 2017)

A form of narrative fiction, named for a phrase from Thomas Carlyle's “Chartism” (1839), that addresses Victorian social and political issues with a focus on political unrest and class conflict, and typically seeks to instill empathy for the poor and understanding of social iniquities and injustices. Closely related to the industrial novel because of its interest in the impact of the industrial revolution.

Prescriptive literature, usually directed to a specific gender, that outlines the rules of appropriate behaviour according to the gender roles and societal norms prevalent at the time of writing. Conduct books became very popular in the 18th century. (Penguin, 1999)

1- A cookbook (sometimes cookery book in Commonwealth English or cook book) is a kitchen reference publication that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions. Cookbooks can also cover a wide variety of topics, including cooking techniques for the home, recipes and commentary from famous chefs, institutional kitchen manuals, and cultural commentary. (DBpedia, 2017)

2- Reference publications containing collections of recipes with ancillary content on selection of ingredients or the broader context of the types of cooking presented. Contemporary cookbooks may focus on cultural or regional themes. (Getty, 2017)

Fiction in which courtship is a major part of the plot.

Scholarship, typically non-fiction, dealing with the study of crime, criminals, and criminal justice.

A short bit of text conventionally appearing before the start of a novel or poem in which the author or poet addresses some individual, invoking his or her gratitude or thanks to that individual. Frequently, the dedication is to a spouse, friend, loved one, child, mentor, or individual who inspired the work. Several of the Inklings dedicated specific fictional works to each other (or in the case of C.S. Lewis, to children of fellow Inklings). Among scholars, one of the most significant types of dedications is a festschrift. A festschrift is a collection of essays or studies in book form, dedicated to a former teacher or professor in his or her advanced age. The individual scholarly writings come from his or her students, who typically collaborate to organize the work and contact the publisher, and they present the collection to the teacher upon its publication. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—either professional or amateur—investigates a crime, often murder.

Christian devotional literature (also called devotionals or Christian living literature) is religious writing that is neither doctrinal nor theological, but designed for individuals to read for their personal edification and spiritual formation. Theologian Karl Holl has suggested that devotional literature came into full development at the time of Pietism during the second half of the 17th century. (DBpedia, 2017)

A popular style of fiction in the 17th and 18th centuries featuring conversations between the ghosts of well-known figures. Based on the satirical Dialogues of the Dead by Lucian (120-around 180 CE), but not necessarily satirical themselves. (Mazella, 2007)

A text made up of a conversation between two or more characters, often in which the characters take up opposing sides of an argument. (Oxford, 2015)

Refers to books containing the daily, personal accounts of the writer's own experiences, attitudes, and observations. Use "journals (accounts)" when referring to an individual's or an organization's account of occurrences or transactions. (Getty, 2017)

Reference sources containing alphabetical lists of words with information given for each word; generally including meanings, pronunciation, etymology, and often usage guidance. (Getty, 2017)

Writing that is "preachy" or seeks overtly to convince a reader of a particular point or lesson. Medieval homilies and Victorian moral essays are often held up as examples of didactic literature, but one might argue that all literature is didactic to one extent or another since the written word frequently implies or suggests an authorial attitude. Sometimes, the lesson is overtly religious, as in the case of sermons or in literature like Milton's Paradise Lost, which seeks to "justify God's ways to men." In a more subtle way, much of Romantic literature hints at a critique of urbanized and mechanized life in 19th-century London. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

Enumerations of names, addresses, and other data about specific groups of persons or organizations; may appear in alphabetic or graphic format. (Getty, 2017)

"Written treatises, or the records of a discourse on a subject, usually prepared and presented as the final requirement for a degree or diploma and typically based on independent research and giving evidence of the candidate's mastery of the subject and of scholarly method." (Getty, 2017)

"Written, oral, sound, or photographic recordings, or presentations in other media that explain or re-create actual events, eras, life stories, or other factual information in a manner purporting to be objective and accurate." (Getty, 2017)

Domestic realism normally refers to the genre of nineteenth-century novels popular with women readers. This body of writing is also known as "sentimental fiction" or "woman's fiction". The genre is mainly reflected in the novel though short-stories and non-fiction works such as Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Our Country Neighbors" and The New Housekeeper's Manual written by Stowe and her sister-in-law Catharine Beecher are works of domestic realism. The style's particular characteristics are: "1. Plot focuses on a heroine who embodies one of two types of exemplar: the angel and the practical woman (Reynolds) who sometimes exist in the same work. Baym says that this heroine is contrasted with the passive woman (incompetent, cowardly, ignorant; often the heroine's mother is this type) and the "belle," who is deprived of a proper education. 2. The heroine struggles for self-mastery, learning the pain of conquering her own passions (Tompkins, Sensational Designs, 172). 3. The heroine learns to balance society's demands for self-denial with her own desire for autonomy, a struggle often addressed in terms of religion. 4. She suffers at the hands of abusers of power before establishing a network of surrogate kin. 5. The plots "repeatedly identify immersion in feeling as one of the great temptations and dangers for a developing woman. They show that feeling must be controlled. . . " (Baym 25). Frances Cogan notes that the heroines thus undergo a full education within which to realize feminine obligations (The All-American Girl). 6. The tales generally end with marriage, usually one of two possible kinds: A. Reforming the bad or "wild" male, as in Augusta Evans's St. Elmo (1867) B. Marrying the solid male who already meets her qualifications.Examples: Maria Cummins, The Lamplighter (1854) and Susan Warner, The Wide, Wide World (1850) 7. The novels may use a "language of tears" that evokes sympathy from the readers. 8. Richard Brodhead (Cultures of Letters) sees class as an important issue, as the ideal family or heroine is poised between a lower-class family exemplifying poverty and domestic disorganization and upper-class characters exemplifying an idle, frivolous existence (94)." An example of this style of novel is Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres in which the main character's confinement is emphasized in such a way. Some early exponents of the genre of domestic realism were Jane Austen and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. (DBpedia, 2017)

A composition in prose or verse presenting, in pantomime and dialogue, a narrative involving conflict between a character or characters and some external or internal force (see conflict). Playwrights usually design dramas for presentation on a stage in front of an audience. Aristotle called drama "imitated human action." Drama may have originated in religious ceremonies. Thespis of Attica (sixth century BCE) was the first recorded composer of a tragedy. Tragedies in their earliest stage were performed by a single actor who interacted with the chorus. The playwright Aeschylus added a second actor on the stage (deuteragonist) to allow additional conflict and dialogue. Sophocles and Euripides added a third (tritagonist). Medieval drama may have evolved independently from rites commemorating the birth and death of Christ. During the late medieval period and the early Renaissance, drama gradually altered to the form we know today. The mid-sixteenth century in England in particular was one of the greatest periods of world drama. In traditional Greek drama, as defined by Aristotle, a play was to consist of five acts and follow the three dramatic unities. In more recent drama (i.e., during the last two centuries), plays have frequently consisted of three acts, and playwrights have felt more comfortable disregarding the confines of Aristotelian rules involving verisimilitude. See also unities, comedy, tragedy, revenge play, miracle play, morality play, and mystery play. An individual work of drama is called a play. DRAMATIC CONVENTION: See convention. DRAMATIC IRONY: See irony. DRAMATIC (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

Dramatic monologue, also known as a persona poem, is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character. M.H. Abrams notes the following three features of the dramatic monologue as it applies to poetry. (DBpedia, 2017)

Literature, typically a poem and frequently an allegory or symbolic tale, in which the plot is a dream recounted by a narrator who dreamed it. (Oxford, 2015)

(from Greek, dys topos, "bad place"): The opposite of a utopia, a dystopia is an imaginary society in fictional writing that represents, as M. H. Abrams puts it, "a very unpleasant imaginary world in which ominous tendencies of our present social, political, and technological order are projected in some disastrous future culmination" (Glossary 218). For instance, while a utopia presents readers with a place where all the citizens are happy and ruled by a virtuous, efficient, rational government, a dystopia presents readers with a world where all citizens are universally unhappy, manipulated, and repressed by a sinister, sadistic totalitarian state. This government exists at best to further its own power and at worst seeks actively to destroy its own citizens' creativity, health, and happiness. Examples of fictional dystopias include Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, George Orwell's 1984, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics. (DBpedia, 2017)

Mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poems, especially funeral songs or laments for the dead. (Getty, 2017)

Books, set of books, or disks, containing informational articles on subjects in every field of knowledge, or limited to a special field or subject, usually arranged in alphabetical order. (Getty, 2017)

Meaning extended from "epic poetry," in modern usage refers to literary art forms, such as prose, poetry, plays, films, and other works where the story has a theme of grandeur and heroism. (Getty, 2017)

Refers to short satiric poems or any similar pointed sayings. (Getty, 2017)

A conclusion added to a literary work such as a novel, play, or long poem. It is the opposite of a prologue. Often, the epilogue refers to the moral of a fable. Sometimes, it is a speech made by one of the actors at the end of a play asking for the indulgence of the critics and the audience. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream contains one of the most famous epilogues. Contrast with prologue. Do not confuse the term with eclogue. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

Literary genre taking the form of letters, usually of a literary, formal, or public nature. Examples are the epistles in the Biblical New Testament. (Getty, 2017)

Novels written by using the device of a series of letters, diary entries, newspaper clippings, or other documents. (Getty, 2017)

An epitaph (from Greek ἐπιτάφιος epitaphios "a funeral oration" from ἐπί epi "at, over" and τάφος taphos "tomb") is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves before their death, while others are chosen by those responsible for the burial. An epitaph may be written in prose or in poem verse; poets have been known to compose their own epitaphs prior to their death. (DBpedia, 2018)

An epithalamiumLatin form of Greek (ἐπιθαλάμιον epithalamion from ἐπί epi "upon," and θάλαμος thalamos nuptial chamber) is a poem written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. This form continued in popularity through the history of the classical world; the Roman poet Catullus wrote a famous epithalamium, which was translated from or at least inspired by a now-lost work of Sappho. According to Origen, Song of Songs, might be an epithalamium on the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh’s daughter. (DBpedia, 2017)

Brief narrative poems in dactylic hexameter of ancient Greece, imitated by Romans and others. Usually dealing with mythological and romantic themes. They are characterized by lively description, miniaturistic attitude, scholarly allusion, and an elevated tone similar to that of the elegy. (Getty, 2017)

Literature, graphic art, or moving images in which much or all of the content is of a sexual nature. While pornography tends to be exclusively intended to arouse the reader or viewer, erotica typically uses sexual content to express the beauty of the human body as a form of art. (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017)

Short literary compositions on single subjects, often presenting the personal view of the author. (Getty, 2017)

A eulogy (from εὐλογία, eulogia, Classical Greek for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person(s) or thing(s), especially one who recently died or retired or as a term of endearment. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. They take place in a funeral home during or after a wake. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions. Eulogies can also praise people who are still alive. This normally takes place on special occasions like birthdays, office parties, retirement celebrations, etc. Eulogies should not be confused with elegies, which are poems written in tribute to the dead; nor with obituaries, which are published biographies recounting the lives of those who have recently died; nor with obsequies, which refer generally to the rituals surrounding funerals. Catholic priests are prohibited by the rubrics of the Mass from presenting a eulogy for the deceased in place of a homily during a funeral Mass. The modern use of the word eulogy was first documented in the 15th century and came from the Medieval Latin term “eulogium” (Merriam-Webster 2012). “Eulogium” at that time has since turned into the shorter “eulogy” of today. Eulogies are usually delivered by a family member or a close family friend in the case of a dead person. For a living eulogy given in such cases as a retirement, a senior colleague could perhaps deliver it. On occasions, eulogies are given to those who are severely ill or elderly in order to express words of love and gratitude before they die. Eulogies are not limited to merely people, however; Places or things can also be given eulogies (which anyone can deliver), but these are less common than those delivered to people, whether living or deceased.

Publications that document the works displayed in an exhibition. (Getty, 2017)

1- A brief story illustrating human tendencies through animal characters. Unlike the parables, fables often include talking animals or animated objects as the principal characters. The interaction of these animals or objects reveals general truths about human nature, i.e., a person can learn practical lessons from the fictional antics in a fable. However, unlike a parable, the lesson learned is not necessarily allegorical. Each animal is not necessarily a symbol for something else. Instead, the reader learns the lesson as an exemplum--an example of what one should or should not do. The sixth century (BCE) Greek writer Aesop is most credited as an author of fables, but Phaedrus and Babrius in the first century (CE) expanded on his works to produce the tales we know today. A famous collection of Indian fables was the Sanskrit Bidpai (circa 300 CE), and in the medieval period, Marie de France (c. 1200 CE) composed 102 fables in verse. After the 1600s, fables increasingly became common as a form of children's literature. See also allegory, beast fable, and parable. Click here for a PDF handout discussing the difference between fables and parables. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

2- Fictitious narratives usually with animals or inanimate objects as protagonists, intended to convey a hidden meaning regarding human conduct. (Getty, 2017)

A humorous, frequently ribald or "dirty" narrative popular with French poets, who traditionally wrote the story in octosyllabic couplets. The tales frequently revolve around trickery, practical jokes, sexual mishaps, scatology, mistaken identity, and bodily humor. Chaucer included several fabliaux in The Canterbury Tales, including the stories of the Shipman, the Friar, the Miller, the Reeve, and the Cook. Examples from French literature include Les Quatre Souhais Saint Martin, Audigier, and Beranger au Long Cul (Beranger of the Long Ass). (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

1- Narratives set in the distant past recounting events impossible in the real world, often magical and with fairies, but with humans as heroes and heroines. (Getty, 2017)

2- Fairytale fantasy is distinguished from other subgenres of fantasy by the works' heavy use of motifs, and often plots, from folklore. (DBpedia, 2017)

Literary genre in which works are of a whimsical or visionary nature, having suppositions that are speculation or resting on no solid grounds. (Getty, 2017)

(from Latin Farsus, "stuffed"): A farce is a form of low comedy designed to provoke laughter through highly exaggerated caricatures of people in improbable or silly situations. Traits of farce include (1) physical bustle such as slapstick, (2) sexual misunderstandings and mix-ups, and (3) broad verbal humor such as puns. Many literary critics (especially in the Victorian period) have tended to view farce as inferior to "high comedy" that involves brilliant dialogue. Many of Shakespeare's early works, such as The Taming of the Shrew, are considered farces. Contrast with comedy of manners. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

Writing concerned with the unique experience of being a woman or alternatively writing designed to challenge existing preconceptions of gender. Examples of feminist writings include Christine de Pisan's medieval work, The City of Ladies; Aemilia Lanyer's Renaissance treatise, Salve Deus, Rex Judaeorum (which presented the then-shocking idea that Adam was just as much to blame for the fall of man as Eve was in the Genesis account); Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication, and Susan B. Anthony's nineteenth-century essays (which presented the equally shocking idea that women in America and Canada should have the right to vote). Many female students in my class preface their discussions of feminist writings by stating, "I'm not a feminist, but ..." This tendency always puzzled me, since it implies that feminism is something negative, radical, or always liberal. Worse yet, it implies that it's bad for women to want crazy, misguided things like education, equal health insurance, similar pay to what men earn in similar professions, freedom from harassment, and funding for medical problems concerning women, such as breast and uterine cancer research, which are the primary concerns of feminism. Somewhere toward the end of the twentieth-century, detractors of such writers have caricatured these demands as "man-hating" or "anti-family." As an antidote to such thinking, keep in mind the broader definition: a feminist is anyone who thinks that women are people too. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

"Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experience, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, psychoanalysis, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy." (DBpedia, 2017)

Genre that refers to works evoked from the imagination of the writer and not conferred as fact. In literature, fiction generally refers to the novel, novella, short story, and poetic forms. (Getty, 2017)

"Written texts of stage plays, screenplays, and radio or television broadcasts." (Getty, 2017)

A song recorded or transcribed after being preserved for generations by a particular culture through an oral tradition, or more recent songs composed in the style of that tradition. (Oxford, 2015)

A text, typically non-fiction, dealing with the subject of gardening.

Accounts or histories of the descent of persons, families, or other groups, from an ancestor or ancestors; enumerations of ancestors and their descendants in the natural order of succession. (Getty, 2017)

Poetry about rural life that gives practical advice on the subject of agriculture. Unlike pastoral poetry, it does not portray the countryside as an idyllic escape, but rather focuses on the necessity of outdoor labour. (Oxford, 2015)

Prose tales of the supernatural in which the living encounter manifestations of the spirits of the dead. (Getty, 2017)

Books, usually illustrated literary anthologies, intended to be given as gifts and often published annually; popular in the 19th century. For works produced to mark an occasion, use "keepsakes (books)." (Getty, 2017)

Romantic fictions having a prevailing atmosphere of mystery and terror, often combined with a love story. The genre was introduced in England ca. 1765, but soon became popular elsewhere in Europe, reaching its heyday in the 1790s. The genre has undergone frequent revivals in subsequent centuries. It is called "Gothic" because the early examples were often set in part among medieval buildings and ruins, such as castles or monasteries. (Getty, 2017)

An official government publication covering any of a wide variety of subjects.

GRAMMAR: Another term for transformational grammar. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

An 18th-century poetic form dealing with the subjects of death and immortality. The name originates from the setting typical of these poems: the graveyard. (Oxford, 2015)

Handbooks for the guidance of strangers or visitors in a district, town, building, etc., giving a description of the roads, places, or objects of interest to be found there. (Getty, 2017)

1- Saints' lives as a branch of literature or legend. (Getty, 2017)

2- Biographies of saints, usually written, but includes oral or visual works as well.

(plural: haiku, from archaic Japanese): The term haiku is a fairly late addition to Japanese poetry. The poet Shiki coined the term in the nineteenth century from a longer, more traditional phrase, haikai renga no hokku ("the introductory lines of light linked verse"). To understand the haiku's history as a genre, peruse the vocabulary entries for its predecessors, the hokku and the haikai renga or renku. The haiku follows several conventions: Many Japanese poets have used the form, the two acknowledged masters being Bashó (a nom de plume for Matsuo Munefusa, 1644-94); and Kobayashi Issa (a nom de plume for Kobayashi Nobuyuki). The Imagist Movement in 20th century English literature has been profoundly influenced by haiku. The list of poets who attempted the haiku or admired the genre includes Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell, Robert Frost, Conrad Aiken, and W. B. Yeats. Contrast haiku with the tanka and the senryu. See also hokku, below, and haikai, above. See also kigo and imagism. You can click here to download a PDF handout summarizing this discussion of haiku, or you can click here to download PDF samples of haiku. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

"Books popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, originally often depicting harlequins, in which folded parts of pages are lifted to reveal new pictures, fitted neatly onto the remaining parts of the previous pictures." (Getty, 2017)

Form of poetry comprising long narratives celebrating on a grand scale the adventures and deeds of one or more heroic figures, ordinarily concerning a serious subject significant to a culture or nation. Classical epic poetry employs dactylic hexameter and recounts a journey. (Getty, 2017)

Refers to maps that indicate political administrative boundaries or other characteristics of a region at periods of time before the present. They typically include historical names for places, historical population dispositions, and the historical state of physical features. (Getty, 2017)

Chronological records of significant events, as of the life or development of a people, country, or institution, often with an explanation of the causes. (Getty, 2017)

A religious song consisting of one or more repeating rhythmical stanzas. In classical Roman literature, hymns to Minerva and Jupiter survive. The Greek poet Sappho wrote a number of hymns to Aphrodite. More recently a vast number of hymns appear in Catholic and Protestant religious lyrics. A particularly vibrant tradition of hymn-writing comes from the South's African-American population during the nineteenth century. In the realm of fiction, C.S. Lewis creates hymns for the Solid Ones in The Great Divorce, and Tolkien creates Elvish hymns such as "O Elbereth" in The Lord of the Rings, typically with quatrain structure alternating with couplet stanzas. In the example of "O Elbereth," the hymn honors one of the Maiar spirits. See also paean. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

A form of intertextuality in which a writer intentionally adopts the style of another writer or borrows important elements of someone else's work. (Penguin, 1999)

A novel that exposes the living or working conditions of the 19th century-working class as a result of the industrial revolution. The shocking circumstances—extreme poverty, deplorable factory conditions, widespread disease, over-crowded housing, etc.—are typically described in great detail. Solutions are often proposed, but the main goal of an industrial novel is to make the plight of the lower class known to the middle and upper classes in order to promote social change. (Penguin, 1999)

A broad category of writing, often considered nonfictional, designed to convey specific content on a wide range of topics. That content may not be true, and informational texts like other forms of writing are vehicles for persuasion and ideology. Informational writing may possess literary qualities and may or may not be scholarly.

The opening section of a text, often in the form of an essay, that usually provides an overview of the text's subject matter and explains the author's reason for writing. (Penguin, 1999)

Content prepared for a newspaper, magazine, news website, or other form of news media, typically with the purpose of recording facts about a person or event. (Merriam-Webster, 2017)

Literary or artistic works produced by persons in their childhood or youth; usually used to set those works apart from later, mature works. (Getty, 2017)

Originating in Britain in the 1950s, realistic drama centred on the domestic lives of working-class characters. (Oxford, 2015)

German for “artist-novel.” A novel in which an artist is the main character, often following the development of his or her life and artistic growth, as in a bildungsroman. (Oxford, 2015)

A laisse is a type of stanza, of varying length, found in medieval French literature, specifically medieval French epic poetry (the chanson de geste), such as The Song of Roland. In early works, each laisse was made up of (mono) assonanced verses, although the appearance of (mono) rhymed laisses was increasingly common in later poems. Within a poem, the length of each separate laisse is variable (whereas the metric length of the verses is invariable, each verse having the same syllable length, typically decasyllables or, occasionally, alexandrines. The laisse is characterized by stereotyped phrases and formulas and frequently repeated themes and motifs, including repetitions of material from one laisse to another. Such repetitions and formulaic structures are common of orality and oral-formulaic composition. When medieval poets repeated content (with different wording or assonance/rhyme) from one laisse to another, such "similar" laisses are called laisses similaires in French. (DBpedia, 2017)

A coarse or crude satire ridiculing the appearance or character of another person. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

"Legal writing is a type of technical writing used by lawyers, judges, legislators, and others in law to express legal analysis and legal rights and duties. Legal writing in practice is used to advocate for or to express the resolution of a client's legal matter." (DBpedia, 2017)

Stories that have been maintained over time, usually by a particular culture through an oral tradition. Often understood within originating cultures as historical accounts although they differ from Western record-keeping. (Getty, 2017)

Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics.

"Pieces of correspondence that are somewhat more formal than memoranda or notes, usually on paper and delivered." (Getty, 2017)

Moralised case-histories in the form of letters in which the dead strive to reclaim the living beloved by persuading them to repent and reform. Often include features of lively fiction: character-drawing, narrative, suspense, surprise, humour, and love-situations including transgression of all kinds.

Books or booklets containing the text or words of an opera or similar extended musical composition. (Getty, 2017)

Writing that analyzes or critiques a literary work, often through the use of a particular literary theory, and typically in the form of an essay.

Writing, typically in the form of a prayer or a song, to be used by a particular religious community for the purpose of worship. (Getty, 2017)

Generic modifier for a representation that deals primarily with the subject of love.

Lyric Essay is a subgenre of essay writing, which combines qualities of poetry, essay, memoir, and research writing. The lyric essay is considered high art, and often requires work and association on behalf of the reader. Proponents of the lyric essay classification insist it differs from prose poetry in its reliance on association rather than line breaks and juxtaposition. (DBpedia, 2017)

A style of fiction popularized in Latin-American writing from the mid-twentieth century, in which magical or fantastical elements are not treated as unusual, but rather occur alongside realistic elements as a natural part of the narrative. (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017)

Formal written declarations, promulgated by a sovereign or by the executive authority of a state or nation, such as to proclaim its reasons and motives for declaring a war, or other international action; also public declarations or proclamations of political, social, artistic, or other principles. (Getty, 2017)

Books or treatises, often compendious, containing rules or instructions needed to perform tasks, operations, processes, occupations, arts, or studies, and intended to be used as reference while the task or study is performed. (Getty, 2017)

"Refers to graphic or photogrammetric representations of the Earth's surface or a part of it, including physical features and political boundaries, where each point corresponds to a geographical or celestial position according to a definite scale or projection. The term may also refer to similar depictions of other planets, suns, other heavenly bodies, or areas of the heavens. Maps are typically depicted on a flat medium, such as on paper, a wall, or a computer screen." (Getty, 2017)

Not to be confused with a masquerade, a masque is a type of elaborate court entertainment popular in the times of Queen Elizabeth I, King James I, and Charles I--i.e., the early 17th Century after Queen Elizabeth's death. The masque as a performance grew out of medieval plays, but it was more spectacle than drama proper. The content was suitable for amateur actors rather than professional performers. The masques tended to use long speeches and little action. They combined poetic drama, singing, dancing, music, and splendid costumes and settings. The imagery was influential on later poets and poems, such as Andrew Marvell, who makes use of masque-imagery in "Upon Appleton House." (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

Writing, typically of a scientific nature, relating to the field of medicine.

A dramatic form characterized by excessive sentiment, exaggerated emotion, sensational and thrilling action, and an artificially happy ending. Melodramas originally referred to romantic plays featuring music, singing, and dancing, but by the eighteenth century they connoted simplified and coincidental plots, bathos, and happy endings. These melodramatic traits are present in Gothic novels, western stories, popular films, and television crime shows, to name but a few more recent examples. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

"Visual works created using multiple media." (Getty, 2017)

Writing that uses the conventions of a specific genre satirically in order to mock or parody that genre.

In theatre, a monologue (from Greek μονόλογος from μόνος mónos, "alone, solitary" and λόγος lógos, "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their mental thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media (plays, films, etc.), as well as in non-dramatic media such as poetry. Monologues share much in common with several other literary devices including soliloquies, apostrophes, and aside. There are, however, distinctions between each of these devices. (DBpedia, 2017)

Religious dramas or pageants, typically written anonymously, that were popular in medieval Europe. Mystery plays represent one or more scenes from the Bible, and were first performed in the 13th century, often using a wagon as a stage to allow a performance to take place in various locations, . Morality plays were first popularized in the 15th century, and are allegorical rather than directly representational works in which personified vices and virtues compete to win a human soul for eternity. (Oxford, 2015)

"Contemporary works of art that employ several distinct art forms, such as sculpture and music or painting and light art." (Getty, 2017)

Writing associated with some form of music.

Writing dealing with the scientific study of music. (Getty, 2017)

A novel focused on suspense and solving a mystery--especially a murder, theft, kidnapping, or some other crime. The protagonist faces inexplicable events, threats, assaults, and unknown forces or antagonists. Conventionally, the hero is a keenly observant individual (such as Sherlock Holmes) and the police are depicted as incompetent or incapable of solving the crime by themselves. Many of the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, and Agatha Christie are mystery novels. (L. K Wheeler, 2017)

Legendary stories without a determinable basis of fact or natural explanation, typically concerning a being, hero, deity, or event and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. (Getty, 2017)

Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metred verse. Narrative poems do not have to follow rhythmic patterns. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be complex. It is usually well it normally dramatic, with objectives, diverse characters, and metre. Narrative poems include epics, ballads, idylls, and lays. Some narrative poetry takes the form of a novel in verse. An example of this is The Ring and the Book by Robert Browning. In terms of narrative poetry, a romance is a narrative poem that tells a story of chivalry. Examples include the Romance of the Rose or Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Although these examples use medieval and Arthurian materials, romances may also tell stories from classical mythology. Shorter narrative poems are often similar in style to the short story. Sometimes these short narratives are collected into interrelated groups, as with Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Some literatures contain prose naose narratives, and the Old Norse sagas include both incidental poetry and the biographies of poets. An example is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service. (DBpedia, 2017)

A romantic genre developed in early nineteenth-century, particularly associated with Ireland and Scotland, in which historical content is woven into narratives treating such subjects as the formation or defence of a nation, political conflict with a bearing on nationhood, and national identity or culture. (Foster, 2006)

Notebook is a style of writing where people jot down what they have thought or heard at the spur of moment. The contents of a notebook are unorganized, and the number of subjects covered in a notebook are unlimited: a paragraph of autobiography can be followed immediately by one on astronomy or one on history. Some famous authors are also famous for the notebooks they left. The Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi kept a notebook, called Zibaldone, from 1817 to 1832. The idea of keeping that, which contains no fewer than 4,526 pages, was possibly suggested by a priest who fled from the French Revolution and came to live in the poet's hometown. The priest suggested that "every literary man should have a written chaos such as this: notebook containing sottiseries, adrersa, excerpta, pugillares, commentaria... the store-house out of which fine literature of every kind may come, as the sun, moon, and stars issued out of chaos." There are writers who earned their posthumous fame solely by their notebooks, such as the German scientist and humorous writer Georg Lichtenberg. He called his notebooks "waste book," using the English book-keeping term. He explains the purpose of his "waste book" in his notebook E: The notebooks of scientists, such as those of Michael Faraday and Charles Darwin, can reveal the development of their scientific theories. On the other hand, the notebooks used by scientists for recording their experiments are called lab notebooks. The notebooks used by artists are usually referred as sketchbooks, which may contain more than sketches. Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks contain his writings on painting, sculpture, architecture, anatomy, mining, inventions and music, as well as his sketches, his grocery lists and the names of people who owed him money. In Chinese literature, "notebook" or biji is a distinct genre, and has a broader meaning. (DBpedia, 2017)

Invented prose narratives of considerable length and a certain complexity that deal imaginatively with human experience through a connected sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific setting. (Getty, 2017)

Short prose tales popular in the Renaissance and for later prose narratives intermediate between novels and short stories. (Getty, 2017)

Tales in rhymed verse for children. (Getty, 2017)