What are the 4 major forms of literature?
Four major forms of written literature are nonfiction prose, fiction prose, drama, and poetry. In addition, folktales are considered to be a form of literature in the oral tradition.

What is the main definition of literature?
Literature is a body of work that transmits culture. Much of literature is written, but some are also visual (such as plays) and oral (such as folktales). Major forms of literature are nonfiction prose, fiction prose, poetry, drama, and folktales.Major Literary Forms
Now let's meet some of the members of the literary family tree. We'll begin at the roots with the four major literary forms: nonfiction prose, fiction prose, poetry, and drama.

Nonfiction prose is literature that is written in ordinary, non-metrical language and communicates facts or opinions about reality. Every time you read a science textbook or a how-to article, you are reading nonfiction prose. Nonfiction meanings are usually pretty straightforward because the writer's primary purpose is to convey information or persuade readers.

Fiction prose is also written in ordinary, non-metrical language, but it is the product of the writer's imagination. You've probably been reading novels and short stories for years; if so, you already know a lot about fiction prose. The meaning of fictional works can stretch all the way from obscure and difficult to clear and direct.

Poetry, on the other hand, uses metrical language with lots of rhythm and rhyme to create word pictures. Poetry employs all kinds of word play, figurative language, and imagery to send its messages, which are often rather obscure and need to be dug out with some effort on the part of the reader.

Drama combines elements of prose and poetry into plays that are usually intended to be performed on stage. Drama joins monologues and dialogues by characters with stage directions and occasionally narrative sections that explain the action. Like poetry, drama can feature hidden meanings and messages that take some work to decipher.

These four literary forms are like the roots of the literary family tree, and they branch off into many different genres. We can't meet all these genres within the scope of this lesson, but we'll look at a few of the most common for each literary form.