Nonfiction Notes
(from Elements of Literature and The Language of Literature Nonfiction sections)
I. Nonfiction= prose writing about real people, places, and events
A. mainly written to convey factual information
B. information may be shaped by the author’s own purpose and attitudes
II. Examples of nonfiction include: newspaper article, cookbook, letter, review, speech, true-life adventure story, advertisement, autobiography, biography, memoir, essay, journal, editorial, instruction manual, report
A. Autobiography= writer’s account of his/her own life; almost always told from the first person point of view
B. Biography= an account of a person’s life written by another person
C. Memoir= autobiographical writing; writer focuses on his/her involvement with noted people and/or significant events
D. Essay= a brief work of nonfiction that deals with a single subject
1. Formal essay= writers develop and order ideas in an impersonal manner
2. Informal essay= writers expression of ideas is less strict and often employs humor and anecdotes
A. Persuasive essay= writer tries to convince a reader to share a
belief, agree with an opinion, or to take some action
1. facts are selected and arranged in a way to get readers
to share a writer’s opinion
2. examples: newspaper editorial, political speech
explain information
1. facts are used as neutrally as possible
2. examples: report on a scientific discovery, instructions
opinions on a subject; usually written in an informal,
conversational style
event mostly through language that appeals to the senses
* examples: traveler’s journal, autobiographical essay of a
hometown
events, usually in chronological order
1. has the form of a story (often with characters and
dialogue)
2. examples: historical essay, account of a soccer game
IV. Thesis= theme of an essay
perception about life
opinion the writer wants the reader to understand
V. Objective versus Subjective Writing
A. Objective= facts which can be proved to be true by the
senses, the calendar, or the clock
* examples: the geographic location of a city, the time
of day
1. examples: feelings about an event, description of a
person
2. word connotation (associations that affect meaning)