Module 1: Tools for Success

In any field, like science, social studies, mathematics, or English, experts try to organize ideas and concepts into smaller parts. Throughout your education, you may have noticed that your teachers and textbooks have introduced smaller pieces of content before putting together larger concepts.

The worlds of English and literature are huge! They are so huge that in order to understand them, scholars divide them into smaller, easy to understand parts. In this module, you will begin by exploring the three main kinds of literature. You will learn to distinguish between the different genres of literature, and you will be able to recognize genres of literature by providing definitions and further subdivisions of those genres. In addition, you will be introduced to active reading, a type of reading that allows you to interact with the literature in a meaningful way. Finally, you will examine each of the individual steps of the writing process.

Getting Started

Since this course is a study in genres, your first step will be to learn about all of these different categories of literature. Try to see if you already know the characteristics of major genres and sub-genres of literature in this non-graded activity. Click on the literary work that matches the genre shown. After making your selection, click SUBMIT. Click the player button to get started.

 

Key Vocabulary

To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.

active reading	epic poetry	poetry
annotation	fiction	prose
comedy	lyric poetry	short story
connotation	narrative	thesis statement
denotation	nonfiction	tragedy
drama	novel