Contemporary: Advantages

The contemporary genre has drawbacks. Which genre doesn't? And like all the other genres, contemporary fiction has much to offer us:

• We can discover a sense of community and belonging.
• We are reminded that we aren’t alone; for if someone can write a story that matches my world so well, they too must know what it is like.
• We begin to see the value in the ordinary and the mundane
• We remember that we’re all valuable and have something to contribute—just as we are reminded by film It’s a Wonderful Life.
• We get the chance to see the long-range impact of our daily choices. For all of us are stuck in the middle of our story, not knowing what the end of our story will be. But contemporary fiction gives us a chance to see how today’s choices can impact tomorrow’s life.

Contemporary: Drawbacks

The contemporary genre might look pretty benign on the surface. After all, how dangerous can it be to read about the “real world”? Yet overindulging in this genre can bring its own set of problems too:

• It can overemphasize the small stuff.
• It can cause us to lose sight of the big picture
• It can make our problems look much bigger than they are.
• Because the focus is on the mundane, the contemporary genre can cause us to overlook and even dismiss completely the special, the unique, and the miraculous.
• It mirrors reality so closely that it can make life feel suffocating.
• It can cause us to feel trapped in our lives rather than help us appreciate what we have.

Contemporary: Characteristics

The contemporary genre focuses on the real, everyday world. Therefore, common characteristics of the genre would include:

• Characters who are "ordinary people"—the mom, the businessman, the student, the teacher, the grocery clerk, the mailman.
• Character-driven plots which center on the mundane.
• Conflict which is internal, dealing with common struggles like discontentment and the desire to keep up with the Jones.

Contemporary: Definition & Examples

The contemporary genre is defined as stories about the real, everyday world. Keep in mind that the term contemporary refers to the relationship in time between the story and the writer, not between the story and the reader!

 

Examples of the contemporary genre in television:

• 7th Heaven
• The Andy Griffith Show
• Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

Examples of the contemporary genre in literature:

• Heidi
• Anne of Green Gables
• Little Women

 

Humor: Heart Hole

The heart of hole of humor can be a little tricky.

Most people think the reason we need the humor genre is because we need to laugh and not take life so seriously. This is a definitely a need. However, the need for laughter doesn’t fully explain the genre. After all, many of the subgenres, like satire or black comedy, don’t necessarily elicit laughter.

Rather, the primary heart hole for humor seems to deal with the clarity of vision. For each of us are stuck within our own mind and body. Therefore, at best our perceptions are limited, and at worst, they’re completely skewed. We all understand this on some level, because we have all misunderstood another and have been misunderstood ourselves at some point. But humor takes us outside of ourselves and allows us to see ourselves. This genre makes us aware of our problems and does it in a way that doesn't make us defensive, for we reason that we aren’t as bad as the characters, at least. So the heart hole which humor fills is our need for an outside perspective.

Therefore we need to read humor to remember that we need an outside perspective from God’s Spirit, who is a Spirit of truth, and He will guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

Humor: Advantages

Despite the potential problems, the humor genre offers a variety of benefits:

• It provides us clarity of vision, enabling us to see human folly for what it is and therefore deterring us to from following suit.
• It reminds us to not take the small stuff so seriously.
• It encourages us to laugh frequently.
• It gives us practice spotting logical fallacies, a skill which is quite helpful in a culture where figures may never lie, but liars definitely figure.

Humor: Drawbacks

The humor genre is based on exaggeration, yet to make that exaggeration work, the protagonist will often seem to lack a few brains. So the reader will often see what the protagonist does not. This means common drawbacks of the humor genre include: 

• the development of a superiority complex
• the belief that anyone who thinks differently than you is stupid, because they "obviously" can't see the ridiculousness of their actions/beliefs.
• mocking a person or God, rather than an action.
• losing the respect we are to give others.

Humor: Characteristics

The humor genre is defined as a story about man's folly or life's ridiculousness. Therefore, humor juxtaposes the unusual, making the predominate characteristic of this genre is exaggeration:

• the exaggeration of circumstances
• the exaggeration of actions
• the exaggeration of characteristics
• the exaggeration of emotions or reactions

So although the humor genre is frequently based in reality, reality has been slightly warped. So humor paints a caricature of life with some elements overplayed while others are underplayed.

Finally, since these exaggerations are not noticeable to the main characters, the protagonists will often seem not all that smart.

 

Humor: Definition & Examples

The humor genre is simply defined as a story about the ridiculous of life and/or the folly of man.
 
Examples of the humor genre in television:

• The Beverly Hillbillies
• The Brady Bunch
• Gilligan's Island

Examples of humor in literature (last two are the subgenre of satire):

• Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
• Amelia Bedila
• Tom Sawyer
• Orwell’s Animal Farm
• Cervantes’s Don Quixote

Romance: Heart Hole

Romance is about two people falling in love and a predominate characteristic of this genre is romantic love. And through romance, we are reminded to love and allow ourselves to be loved. Considering all these things, the heart hole of romance is probably quite obvious:

We crave love—both to give it and to receive it.

Therefore, through reading the romance genre, we are reminded that we are loved--indeed, beloved--for God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

 

Romance: Advantages

Romance can cause problems. Yet we need the benefits of romance, for this genre helps us to:

• discover ways people who are very different can learn to work together
• understand that similar actions can originate from very different sources, as this misunderstanding is a common way to keep hero and heroine apart.
• remember that we are loved and need to take the risk of loving others.
• glimpse God’s love for us.

Romance: Drawbacks

 Mystery, suspense, and horror all have the potential drawback of desensitization in the area of violence. Desensitization can also occur with romance. But this time, the desensitization will occur in the area of the sexual. Compounding this problem is the downplaying of consequences for physical intimacy, especially with the more “benign” hand-holding and kissing.

In addition, the romance genre often entices readers to fall in love with love or to superimpose the fictitious on reality, causing discontentment with a mate.   

Romance: Characteristics

With the romance genre, we have shifted away from the more plot-based genres. Now we will be focusing on those stories which are mainly driven by the internal conflict of the characters and their growth.

As a result, emotional struggles are central to the romance genre. There will be an external plot, but it will be focused on bringing the hero and the heroine together. Frequently misunderstanding and opposite goals are used to keep hero and heroine apart. Therefore, it is not unusual for this genre to have no human villain. Instead, the romance genre focuses on its double protagonists.

Lastly, the whole genre is built around romantic love, which has a physical side. Therefore, you will see various forms of intimacy in romance novels, ranging from hand-holding and kissing to, in the most extreme cases, explicit sex.

Romance: Definition & Examples

Romance is defined as a story about two characters who meet and fall in love.

Examples of the romance genre in film:

• Titanic
• West Side Story
• Singin' in the Rain

Examples of the romance genre in literature:

• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• The books by Grace Livingston Hill.

 

Horror: Heart Hole

In such a dark and terrifying genre, what heart hole could be possibly touched on? I think the answer may be twofold.

First, horror is closely related to fantasy. So it has a similar heart hole in that horror taps into our need not only for something greater than ourselves, but the need for something or someone worth fearing.

Second, horror points to our desire for truth. That might sound a bit surprising, but consider: the whole point of horror is to strip away all veneers in an attempt to see things as they are, to discover what is real in the world. So it fills our desire to know what is really true. 

Therefore, we need to read horror to remind us that we will should seek the truth, and that someday we will know the truth. For though we currently see in a mirror dimly, knowing only in part, someday we shall know fully, even as we are fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

 

Horror: Advantages

Horror is very dark. Horror can be hard to stomach. I will be the first to admit it. I have great difficulties reading or watching horror because of my overactive imagination.

Nonetheless, there are reasons to include at least a little horror in your reading diet:

• Through the horror genre, we see evil without its mask, and when we see evil in all its ugliness, we can be deterred from doing evil ourselves. 
• Horror forces us to confront the reality of death; this can be very helpful since we live in a society where we tend to be insulated from real death.
• Horror provides us greater understanding into the nature of humanity. The situations in this genre are so intense that they strip away all facades and pretense, and we glimpse our truest nature.
• Perhaps most of all, the horror genre can remind us of God’s power. No matter how hopeless the situation seems, God is greater; He will provide a way out. It may not be the way we desire, but the way will be there.

Horror: Drawbacks

Horror is the genre of the trapped, with its most predominate characteristic being its scariness. Frequently, this terror is compounded by the death of the protagonist. Not surprisingly, then, one of the major potential drawbacks of horror is the loss of hope—if they can’t escape, what makes me think I can?

In addition, because this genre preys on fear, horror may result in: 

• paranoia.
• the addiction to the adrenaline rush.
• desensitization to evil in general.
• an unhealthy interest in the dark supernatural.

Horror: Characteristics

Since the horror genre is defined as a story with no way out, the first characteristic of horror that pops to mind is probably its scariness.

This scariness can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Horror likes to use creepy situations, like the haunted house. It often has terrifying characters; think Dracula and Hannible Lector. Horror can also prey on our fears through graphic and gory violence and the use of dark supernatural elements (e.g. ghosts, zombies, demons).

Whichever means horror uses to scare us, you can be certain this genre will play mind games with you. And if this wasn't bad enough, the protagonist may die in the end, failing to escape the terrifying situation.
         

Horror: Definition & Examples

The horror genre is defined as a story about characters who are trapped in a situation that appears to have no way out.
 
Examples of the horror genre in film & television:

• Jaws
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents
• The Twilight Zone

Examples of the horror genre in literature:

• Shelley’s  Frankenstein
• Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
• The work of Stephen King
• The novels of Ted Dekker

 

Fantasy: Heart Hole

Since the fantasy genre centers on the supernatural, it probably shouldn’t be surprising that the heart hole also is tied to our craving for the supernatural.

Because we were created for God, to serve and worship Him. But when Adam and Eve sinned, God was dethroned. This left a vacuum within the human heart so large that nothing else in the world is sufficient to fill it. Fantasy acknowledges this desire for something greater than ourselves. So the heart hole that fantasy taps into is our need to worship.

So fantasy become important to our reading diet because this genre reminds of our need to worship--specifically our need to worship the Lord and serve Him only, for He is greater than all other gods (Matthew 4:10, Exodus 18:11).

Fantasy: Advantages

Yes, dangers exist with the fantasy genre. But dangers exist with every genre, and indeed, with everything which exists in this world. This doesn't mean we shouldn't read fantasy. Indeed, there are many benefits we can reap from the fantasy genre when we enjoy it with discernment. For example:

• Fantasy teaches us about heroism and sacrifice.
• Fantasy stretches our imagination.
• Fantasy reminds us of what God can do—that He is able to do more than we can even imagine. And since all fantasies are product of the imagination, God is able to do even more and greater things than what we see portrayed in these stories.
• It provides us a fresh perspective, allowing us to see Christianity, as C.S. Lewis put it, without the stained glass. That is, by placing the familiar in an unfamiliar setting, we see these things with fresh eyes and a greater appreciation for the truth.

 

Fantasy: Drawback

The fantasy genre, opposed to its sci-fi counterpart, focuses on the supernatural. As a result, one of the strongest drawbacks of the fantasy genre is the potential obsession with the supernatural.

Now most people assume this means an interest in the Occult and real-world witchcraft. In the extreme, this certainly can be the case. However, this obsession with the supernatural can also manifest itself in more acceptable forms, such as in an unhealthy obsession with angels, the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, and even with scriptural prophecy.

In addition, because many fantasies deal with the overthrow of great evil in the form of bad government, this genre can foster an attitude of rebellion and the lack of submission to authority. Finally, the alternate realities of the fantasy genre can cause the reader to lose touch with reality.

Fantasy: Characteristics

Science fiction and fantasy are often lumped together as a single genre, and to a certain extent, this makes sense as they they both deal with things beyond our current realm of experience. However, in practicality, the science-fiction genre and the fantasy genre are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

So whereas science fiction is the genre of ethics and morality, being focused on technology and the physical realm, fantasy is the genre of religion, focusing on all things supernatural and otherworldly. Therefore, the fantasy genre frequently includes the characteristics of 

• an alternate world setting.
• non-human characters, like angels, fairies, elves, and fauns.
• a plot about an epic battle of good vs. evil.
• a specially gifted or prophesied protagonist, who leads the good side.