Types of novels – next steps

This song covers the five main elements of a story: setting, plot, characters, conflict and theme.

Novels tend to fall into three broad categories: literary fiction, genre fiction, and mainstream fiction.

• Mysteries.
• Romance.
• Thrillers.
• Science Fiction.
• Fantasy.
• Historical Fiction.

Henry Fielding

Thomas Nash

Don Quixote is considered the first modern European novel and a stellar example of the picaresque novel. Usually satirical, a picaresque novel follows the exploits of a hero, usually low born, who must survive by his wits as he travels about on various (usually unlooked-for) adventures.

The anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes

Thomas Nashe’s Unfortunate Traveller

The first novel is usually credited to be Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe which was first published in 1719 (Lee). The novel is about a man, Crusoe, who spent 28 years on a deserted island and the adventures in which he encountered while on the island.

But most picaresque novels incorporate several defining characteristics: satire, comedy, sarcasm, acerbic social criticism; first-person narration with an autobiographical ease of telling; an outsider protagonist-seeker on an episodic and often pointless quest for renewal or justice.

: of or relating to rogues or rascals also : of, relating to, suggesting, or being a type of fiction dealing with the episodic adventures of a usually roguish protagonist a picaresque novel.

A picaresque narrative is usually written in first person as an autobiographical account. The main character is often of low character or social class. He or she gets by with wits and rarely deigns to hold a job. There is little or no plot.

(Entry 1 of 2) 1 : of, relating to, or suitable to a letter. 2 : contained in or carried on by letters an endless sequence of …

This is how Ulrich Wicks began his thesis regarding the basic themes on the picaresque novel. According to the same author, there are only a few themes which we have to consider as basic: desengaño, or disillusionment (or vanity of vanities), the theme of freedom, the theme of hunger, of solitude and of gullibility.

The picaresque novel, comes from the Spanish word picaresca from picaro, for rogue or rascal. It’s a genre of prose fiction that depicts the adventures of a roguish hero or heroine of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an example of a picaresque in that it follows the adventures of a lower-class, rough-around-the-edges protagonist who exposes the hypocrisies of the society he lives in.

picaro in British English 1. a male roguish adventurer. 2. literature. the main male character in a picaresque novel.

(Entry 1 of 2) 1 : any of various cosmetics for coloring the cheeks or lips red. 2 : a red powder consisting essentially of ferric oxide used in polishing glass, metal, or gems and as a pigment. rouge.

(Entry 1 of 4) 1 : vagrant, tramp. 2 : a dishonest or worthless person : scoundrel. 3 : a mischievous person : scamp.

Salinger (Catcher in the Rye). Thomas Nash is credited with writing the first picaresque novel in English (1594): The Unfortunate Traveller, or the Life of Jack Wilton.

In the late 19th century, Bram Stoker released one of the most widely recognized and successful novels in the epistolary form to date, Dracula. Printed in 1897, the novel is compiled entirely of letters, diary entries, newspaper clippings, telegrams, doctor’s notes, ship’s logs, and the like.

Common Examples of Themes in Realism emphasis on appearance of what is real and true. importance of character over action and plot. complex ethical decisions are often the subject matter. characters appear real in their complexity, behavior, and motives.

In realism, you’ll find characters with genuine jobs and problems. For example, a work of realism might chronicle the life of an average farmer. Rather than fun metaphors or imagery, a realistic writer would show you the undramatized life and dialect of the area.