Nonfiction UnitCreative Writing

9-12 Elective

Nonfiction

Prose that deals with real events and people

Characters, settings, and events must conform to what is true

Story cannot be manipulated by the writer’s imagination

Types of Nonfiction

Essay: Brief examination of a subject in prose, usually expressing a personal or limited view of the topic

Formal Essay: Serious in tone and subject and more objective in point of view.

Informal Essay: Informal tone, as if the author is speaking directly to the reader

Purposes of Writing Essays

To Entertain

To Inform

To Explain

To Persuade

Exposition

Explains a subject

Writer’s main purpose is to inform

Most objective type of nonfiction

Facts are presented as neutrally as possible

Author’s opinion on the subject DOESN’T intrude

Persuasion

Attempts to influence the reader’s ideas or actions

Major purpose is to convince the reader to think, feel, or act in a certain way

Writer selects and arranges facts so that the reader will share the writer’s opinion

Successful only if the reader believes that the facts support the writer’s opinion

Description

Presents a picture or an impression of a subject

Re-creates for the reader a person, a place, or an event, largely through language that appeals to the senses

Tells us how something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, and feels to the touch

Narration

Author’s purpose is to relate a series of events

Events usually related in chronological order

Has the form of a story, but the events are factual and actually recorded

Author depicts characters and may even use dialogue

Biography

An account of someone’s life, written by another person.

The focus of a biography:

The Character

His/Her Career

His/Her Place in History

Uniqueness and Universality of the Character’s Experience

Characteristics of a Good Biography

Accurate presentation of the life history of an individual (sometimes may be from birth to death)

Honest effort is made to interpret the life so as to offer a unified impression of the character’s mind and personality of the subject

AutobiographyA story of a person’s life as written by that person.

Characteristics of an autobiography:

Usually a chronological, narrative account of a person’s life

Author relates person’s life story to crucial historical events

Author offers personal evaluations of actions and speculates on the significance of certain actions and events

JournalForm of autobiographical writing including a day-by-day

chronicle of events, usually a personal and intimate record of events and thoughts kept by an individual.

DiarySpecialized journal that is a day-by-day chronicle of

events, usually a personal and intimate record of events and thoughts kept by an individual.

OratoryFormal speech intended to inspire some action. Carefully

prepared and delivered in an impassioned manner, the oration carries its greatest power in its emotional appeal.

PsalmLyric composition of praise, usually applied to sacred

themes

SermonFormal discussion, usually oral, of a serious subject for

the purpose of religious instruction or urgent advice and recommendations.

Aphorism or ProverbBrief statement of usually one sentence that expresses

some truth about life in terse, easily remembered form.

EpitaphCommemorative verses or lines inscribed on tombs or

headstones. This information usually includes the name of the deceased, the dates of birth and death, age,

profession, and some pious motto.

LettersCommunication in writing to another person or a group of persons; correspondence. A specialized form of letter, called an epistle, is a more formal document prepared for

public reading.

Elements of Nonfiction

Characters, Plot, and Setting

Like fiction, nonfiction has characters, plot, and setting. However, these elements are real, not made up. The main character in an autobiography or biography is called the subject. The subject’s words, thoughts, and actions are presented.

Elements of Nonfiction

Purpose

Different types of nonfiction have different purposes.

Biographies and autobiographies have the purpose of informing the reader. They use explanatory, descriptive, and narrative paragraphs.

Newspaper Editorials are intended to win readers over to a certain opinion. They use persuasive paragraphs.

Diaries can be used to both explain and persuade.

Elements of Nonfiction

Tone

The writer’s attitude toward his or her subject matter is called tone. A writer’s tone may be sympathetic, bitter, comical, hopeful, solemn, enthusiastic, etc.

Which selection do you enjoy reading the most?

Turtles poured out of the surf in wave after wave through the darkness.

Heaving, huffing, gasping, turtles plowed the coarse black sand with their

noses, laboring on to the shore.

National Geographic

Female sea turtles do not normally leave the water, except to lay their eggs. The

females often migrate thousands of miles or kilometers to reach their breeding beaches. They drag themselves onto a sandy beach, bury their eggs, and then

return to the sea.

World Book Encyclopedia

The jaguar is the biggest and strongest cat in the rainforest. The jaguar’s jaw is strong enough to crush a turtle’s shell. They also have very powerful legs for

leaping from branch to branch to chase prey.

Student Sample

As the sun disappears from the heart of the forest, the jaguar leaps through the

underbrush, pumping its powerful legs. It spies a gharial gliding down the river. The

jungle cat pounces, crushing the turtle with his teeth, devouring the reptile with

pleasure.

Student Revision

Sample

The macaw uses its sharp beak to strike intruders.

Improvement

Tearing, ripping, battering, the blue macaw strikes the intruder until it is

defeated.