1.0    Appreciation Literary Genres As Sustained Development 

1.1    Salient Features of Literary Genres

Features of the literary genres 
Literature, which has generally been described as an imaginative piece of writing that possesses aesthetic and didactic values, consists of three main genres namely prose, drama and poetry. Their categories vary according to style, form and content.  Below are some of the distinctive features of the genres.

Prose: Prose includes novels, novellas and short stories; it possesses the following:•    It is written in a narrative form.•    It is written in sentences, paragraphs and chapters.
•    It creates and makes use of characters who depicts the events and themes in the story. 
•    It makes use of plot (exposition, complication, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution).
•    Setting is a crucial element in prose (i.e. locations where actions play out and when they occurred).
•    The story is told by a narrator i.e. 1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person narrator.

Drama:  It is an imaginative writing that is usually acted on a stage.
•    It is divided into acts and scenes. 
•    It is usually performed/acted on stage 
•    It relies heavily on dialogue. 
•    It is written in present tense. 
•    It makes use of costume,  light, props, etc.
•    Dramatic personae 

Poetry:  It is a literary genre that makes use of ornamented expressions to capture the poet’s feelings and understanding of an event or experience.
•    It is written in lines and stanzas. 
•    It relies heavily on imagery. 
•    It also makes ample use of literary devices such as figures of speech (simile, metaphors, personification), and literary techniques such as (alliteration, symbolism, rhythm, allusion, etc.). 
•    It usually follows a rhythm. Some poems are also written without rules and they are known as free verse.

1.2  Literary Terms

1.    Point of View: This is the perspective from which a story is told. In other words, it reveals who is telling the story. It is seeing /reading the story through the eyes of either the narrator or character. Types of point of view include first person point of view, second person point of view or third person point of view, and omniscient (third person) point of view. Examples of point of view include:
    a)    First person point of view:  kambili in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus narrates the story as an eye witness.
    b)    Omniscient third person point of view: As seen in Chinua Achebe’s Things fall Apart. 
    c)    Third person:  As seen Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun.

2.    Myth: It is an ancient story that often recounts events of a group of people or an individual in a particular geographical location. Myths explain mysteries of the universe, nature or existence often with no facts. It may also involve stories of gods and religions.

3.    Archetype: This is a familiar pattern in character, experience, plot or setting that appears in stories across cultures.   Examples of archetypes in a story are the hero, the villain, the magician, births and deaths, battle between good and evil, the witch/wizard, the medicine man/herbalist. These characters and situations can easily be recognised in stories.

4.    Denouement: This refers to the concluding part or segment of a story after the climax, where all  unresolved issues are clarified. 

5.    Catharsis: It is the process of purging negative emotions that have been built up as a result of anxiety, stress or tragedy. It brings about a renewal or liberation.

6.    Protagonist: This is the main character in a story around whom the story revolves. In other words, it is the main character whose experiences and actions develop the plot of a story.

7.    Symbolism: In literature, symbolism refers to the use of objects, events or characters to represent abstract ideas or deeper meaning e.g. Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart symbolizes the African culture. His fall from grace represents the eroding of African values by Western civilization.

8.    Style: This refers to a particular manner is which an author chooses to tell a story. Style is unique to each author and is often detected in the tone, diction or structure (that is the arrangement of words, and sentences) of the story line.  Elements of style include diction, proverbs,  figures of speech, idiomatic expressions, literary techniques and so on.

9.    Proverb:  It is a well known statement, a short sentence that conveys a general truth or gives an advice. 

10.    Folktale:  It is a traditional story from a particular region or culture that is passed on orally from generation to generation. Authors of folktales are usually unknown. 

11.    Legend: It is a popular traditional narrative about human events or a place which is presented as true but have not been proven.