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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46937
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Most attempts at classifying things like this are completely arbitrary. Different writers will come up with different lists, and it's not like you could somehow prove that one is right and the others are wrong.

This reminds me ... nothing about writing, but about classifying. A friend of mine who had not gone to college as a young person decided to go when she was in her 40s. She thought maybe she could get an exemption from some introductory classes based on knowledge she had accumulated over the years. One class she tried to get out of was Politics 101. So she went to see the teacher. The teacher said, "Well, let's see if you know the material." She ten pulled out the textbook, flipped it open, and said, "What are the 7 functions of a political party?" My friend rattled off some things. The teacher said her answer was incomplete and refused to let her out of the class.

The funny part is: My friend was the president of a prestigious Political Action Committee. She was on a first name basis with senators and governors. Candidates struggled to win her endorsement. She probably knew more about politics than the teacher of this class. But because she could not come up with the same list of "the 7 functions of a political party" that were in the textbook, the teacher concluded she didn't know much about politics.

Coming up with a classification scheme in which everything clearly and unambiguously fits in one and only one category is tough. I can see lots of problems with this list. Couldn't a "rags to riches" story also be a comedy? When would "voyage and return" NOT be a "quest"? What about a romance story? That doesn't seem to fit any of these categories. Maybe the author would say that it's an example of "overcoming the monster" where the "monster" is what keeps the couple apart, but at that point he'd be saying that "monster" means any sort of problem, and almost every story is about overcoming some sort of problem, so that category includes all the others. Etc.

Furthermore, there are many ways one could classify stories, just as there are many ways that one could classify almost anything. You might divide stories into tragedy, comedy, romance, whatever you need to complete that list. (There's a funny conversation about this in Shakespeare's Hamlet.) Netflix divides stories into action, drama, horror, science fiction, romance, and new releases. (Maybe some others.) Stories are often classified as children, young adult, or adult. Or as short story vs novella vs novel. People will identify stories as "having a strong female main character" versus ... weak female characters, I guess. Etc etc.

You can come up with a "one and only one category" list if you have simple enough criteria. If you classify by a yes/no question, then everything is either yes or no, maybe you have to provide for maybe or mixed, and you can be confidant you have been definitive. There are some other cases when you can be confidant you are definitive. Like all religious beliefs either say there is no god, there is one God, or there are many gods. Zero, one or more than one. That clearly represents all possibilities. That sort of thing.

So no, this list is not definitive. I don't think this particular list is even a very good one.

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