What Are the Two General Types of Literature?
The two most general types of literature are fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is literature created through the author’s imagination, while nonfiction is literature based on fact. Within these two categories, literature can be broken down into genres and sub-genres.
Fiction includes poems, stories, plays and novels. Common genres of fiction are mystery, romance, fantasy and classic literature.
Nonfiction includes such types of literature as newspaper articles, editorials, textbooks and legal documents. Readers will find many topics in the nonfiction section of a bookstore or library including biography, business, cooking, self-help, health, pets, crafts, home decorating, language, travel, religion, art, history and much more.