The exposition of Langston Hughes’s “Thank You, Ma’am” is basically the first three sentences of the story that establish Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones as a character and establish the basic setting of the story–11:00 o’clock at night as Mrs. Jones walks home from work alone.

The setting is important because it actually helps to influence and even drive the action. Roger may have expected a single woman walking through the city alone at night to be an easy target, and he certainly learns his lesson from Mrs. Jones.

Setting is the time and place (or when and where) of the story. It’s a literary element of literature used in novels, short stories, plays, films, etc., and usually introduced during the exposition (beginning) of the story, along with the characters.

The 21st century in literature refers to world literature produced during the 21st century. The measure of years is, for the purpose of this article, literature written from (roughly) the year 2001 to the present.

Here’s another difference of 21st century literature, modernists would be more in lines of free verse, no set rhyme scheme, or format unlike conventional writers. Ancient literature, if that’s what you mean by traditional literature, was predominantly oral, didactic and mythical, full of romanticism and idealism.

• Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000)
• Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)
• Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2012)
• Ian McEwan, Atonement (2001)
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006)
• Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000)
• Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002)

Literature starts way back in prehistory when everything was in the oral tradition. But literature before and after 21st century have oral lore. Before, mythology and epics were being told to generations and to generations while our contemporary literature have spoken word performances, poetry reading, etc.

Traditional literature tends to follow set conventions (even when it sometimes parodies those conventions), such as the epic or sonnet or letter. Modern literature sometimes mixes up the conventions in very unexpected ways, striving not for harmony and unity but for dissonance and disunity.

21ST CENTURY IN LITERATURE  refers to world literature in prose produced during the 21st century.  The range of years in 21st century literature was written from (roughly) the year 2001 to the present.

21st Century Literary Genre

• 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE GENRE MISS PAULENE GALIMBA GACUSAN.
• ILLUSTRATED NOVEL Story through text and illustrated images.
• DIGI-FICTION Triple Media Literature.
• Graphic Novels Narratives in comic Book formats.
• Manga Japanese word for comics.

These sub-genres stem from the three primary forms of literature: Poetry, Drama, and Prose.

4. The Main Characteristics of Modern Literature: The characteristics of Modern Literature can be categorized into Individualism, Experimentation, Symbolism, Absurdity, and Formalism.

Examples of Different Genre Types

• Action and Adventure Genre.
• Comedy Genre.
• Fantasy Genre.
• Horror Genre.
• Mystery Genre.
• Drama Genre.
• Science Fiction Genre.
• Different Genre Types.