Literary Genres, Linguistic Concepts, and Communication Skills

Posted on Aug 18, 2025 in English Studies

Literary Genres and Narrative Forms

The Fantastic Tale

The fantastic tale tells of everyday, common, and natural actions, but at times, it presents facts in a surprising and inexplicable way, often appearing amazing and supernatural. This situation causes confusion and anxiety in the reader. Within this genre, the impossible is possible. The space in which the characters live is often illogical.

Key Characteristics of the Fantastic Tale:

  • The narrator’s subjective point of view, often centered on the protagonist.
  • The presence of hallucination or dream states of the characters, which blurs the boundaries between real and unreal.

The Tale of Terror

The primary purpose of these stories is to scare the reader. Recurring themes in fantasy and horror stories can be summarized into six major groups, which are divided into:

  • Death
  • Loss of bodily or mental integrity
  • Evil
  • The subconscious and the unconscious

The Detective Story

A detective story presents an enigma, typically a crime, and provides different clues to solve it. The reader follows the detective, who, through a series of deductions, eventually identifies and apprehends the culprit.

Structure of a Detective Story:

  • Introduction: Usually indicates the place and time of the story and introduces the characters.
  • Development: A conflict arises that must be resolved. All attempts at resolution constitute the development.
  • Outcome: The conflict is resolved, achieving a new balance in the situation.

Black (Noir) Detective Fiction:

In this subgenre, the detective often works for pay and deals with issues such as marginalization or shady dealings. The detective’s experience is crucial in navigating these complex situations.

The Novel

A novel is a lengthy prose narrative, typically divided into chapters, featuring complex characters.

Types of Narrators in Novels:

  • Omniscient Narrator: The author tells us what the characters do, say, or think, having full knowledge of the story.
  • Character Narrator: The story is told from the perspective of one of the characters within the narrative.

Linguistic Concepts and Textual Cohesion

Cohesion

Inter-sentential cohesion is a relationship that allows sentences to be organized logically within a text. It is the product of the relations between sentences that interact within it, ensuring the text flows smoothly.

Ellipsis

Ellipsis is the suppression of a known element that appears very close to the original text, allowing the receiver to reconstruct it. Kinds of ellipses include:

  • Nominal Ellipsis: The missing element is a phrase or a noun.
  • Verbal Ellipsis: The missing element is a verb or a verbal phrase.

Coherence

Coherence refers to the logical organization of information and how it is communicated, ensuring order and precision. For example, texts written by students should avoid inconsistent meanings.

Grammar

Grammar is the study of rules and principles governing the use of language and the organization of words within a sentence.

Branches of Grammar:

  • Syntax: Studies the ways that words combine and the syntagmatic relations between them and paradigms.
  • Morphology: Studies the internal structure of words to define, identify, and classify their units, the kinds of words that result (inflectional morphology), and the formation of new words.

Avant-garde Poetry

Avant-garde poetry seeks to innovate and present a new aesthetic, challenging traditional poetic forms and expressions.

The Drama

Drama represents an event or conflict in the lives of human beings through the dialogue of characters. This genre is destined to be represented publicly. An essential feature is the action: what happens in the work is not described, narrated, or commented directly by the playwright, but rather seen by the spectator. Drama can be written in prose or verse and originated in Greece. From Greece, drama spread to Rome, where notable authors emerged.

Elizabethan Tragedy

The remarkable economic boost in England during the reign of Elizabeth also resulted in significant developments in the arts, especially in theater. The term “Elizabethan theater” often refers to the dramatic works of this period.

Communication Skills and Rhetoric

The Debate

A debate is a traditionally oral communication technique that exposes an issue and presents arguments from different viewpoints.

The Argument

The purpose of an argument is to convince someone of something, for example, in a political speech. An argument typically needs:

  • Introduction: The arguer tries to capture the audience’s attention.
  • Thesis: This is followed by the main idea or claim.
  • Development: This section is used to support or refute the thesis with evidence and reasoning.
  • Conclusions: A summary of the points made and a final statement.

Verboids (Non-Finite Verb Forms)

Verb forms are the various accidents (inflections) that a verb can have. A finite verb has person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and voice.

There are also non-finite verb forms, which do not have person, number, tense, etc., and are called verboids. These include:

  • Infinitive: Ends in -ar, -er, -ir (e.g., “to love,” “to eat,” “to live”).
  • Participle: Ends in -ado, -ido (e.g., “loved,” “eaten,” “lived”).
  • Gerund: Ends in -ando, -endo (e.g., “loving,” “eating,” “living”).