Reading Literary Non-Fiction

What is literary non-fiction?

Literary nonfiction

employs literary techniques

and artistic vision (usually
associated with fiction or
poetry) to report on actual
persons, places, or events.
In other words, Creative

nonfiction writers do not make

things up; they make ideas
and information that already
exist more interesting.

What are examples of literary NonFiction?

Fiction
Poems, short stories,
novels
Entertaining
Plots
Mostly narrative
Range of authors
craft techniques

Literary NonFiction
Biographies,
essays, speeches,
etc.
Entertaining and
Informational

Non-Fiction
Articles, research
papers, science
journals
Informational

Varied styles and

structures

Statistics, graphs,
comparisons,
observations

Mixed text

Factual statements

Range of authors
craft techniques

Range of authors
craft techniques

Whole Class Example:

The Medicine (February 22, 2011)
You stalk about the house, I can hear your labored breathing. I call to
you, ask if you need anything, but you cannot hear me. Your hearing
went long ago, before you were sick.
You look like a different person, your hair thin, clean shaven. You
resemble your brothers more than ever; the same gaunt neck and angled
teeth. You look more like an old man now than I can remember; these
past months have added years to your face with a speed that is
mortifying.
I cant help but think that your thin, cow-licked hair is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.
They deign to discuss what is happening to you in front of us. Even so it
is more or less clear, the riddles and euphemisms dont hide your frailty.
They talk about the poison being pumped into your veins as if it is elixir.
As if is is not wracking the body which has turned against you.
The medicine, they say. The medicine.

Reviewing Our Understanding of the Genre

How does The Medicine fit the classification for

literary non-fiction?

Use your chart to find the authors craft evident

in this piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)
thin, cow-licked hair
is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.

I hear your labored

breathing.

You look like a

different person.

Nonfiction Elements: Evidence

(facts, comparisons, etc)

Interpretation

Use your chart to find the authors craft evident

in this piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)

Nonfiction Elements: Evidence

(facts, comparisons, etc)

thin, cow-licked hair

is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.

They talk about the poison being

pumped into your veins as if it is
elixir.

I hear your labored

breathing.

You look like a

different person.

Interpretation

Use your chart to find the authors craft evident

in this piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)

Nonfiction Elements: Evidence

(facts, comparisons, etc)

Interpretation

thin, cow-licked hair

is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.

They talk about the poison being

pumped into your veins as if it is
elixir.

She has cancer &

is undergoing
chemotherapy.

I hear your labored

breathing.

You look like a

different person.

Use your chart to find the authors craft evident

in this piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)

Nonfiction Elements: Evidence

(facts, comparisons, etc)

Interpretation

thin, cow-licked hair

is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.

They talk about the poison being

pumped into your veins as if it is
elixir.

She has cancer &

is undergoing
chemotherapy.

I hear your labored

breathing.

these past months have added years to

your face with a speed that is
mortifying.

You look like a

different person.

Use your chart to find the authors craft evident

in this piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)

Nonfiction Elements: Evidence

(facts, comparisons, etc)

Interpretation

thin, cow-licked hair

is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.

They talk about the poison being

pumped into your veins as if it is
elixir.

She has cancer &

is undergoing
chemotherapy.

I hear your labored

breathing.

these past months have added years to

your face with a speed that is
mortifying.

She is dying.

You look like a

different person.

Use your chart to find the authors craft evident

in this piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)

Nonfiction Elements: Evidence

(facts, comparisons, etc)

Interpretation

thin, cow-licked hair

is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.

They talk about the poison being

pumped into your veins as if it is
elixir.

She has cancer &

is undergoing
chemotherapy.

I hear your labored

breathing.

these past months have added years to

your face with a speed that is
mortifying.

She is dying.

You look like a

different person.

You resemble your brothers more than

ever; the same gaunt neck and angled
teeth. You look more like an old man
now than I can remember.

Use your chart to find the authors craft evident

in this piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)

Nonfiction Elements: Evidence

(facts, comparisons, etc)

Interpretation

thin, cow-licked hair

is like that of a small
child, a baby duck.

They talk about the poison being

pumped into your veins as if it is
elixir.

She has cancer &

is undergoing
chemotherapy.

I hear your labored

breathing.

these past months have added years to

your face with a speed that is
mortifying.

She is dying.

You look like a

different person.

You resemble your brothers more than

ever; the same gaunt neck and angled
teeth. You look more like an old man
now than I can remember.

Even though shes

still alive, its like
shes already
gone.

Group Example: The Falling Man

The photograph
was taken as a
man jumped out
of the burning
twin towers on
Sept. 11th, 2001.

Look at your Handout: The Falling Man

In the picture, he departs from this earth like an arrow. Although he has not chosen his fate,

he appears to have, in his last instants of life, embraced it. If he were not falling, he might very well be
flying. He appears relaxed, hurtling through the air. He appears comfortable in the grip of
unimaginable motion. He does not appear intimidated by gravity's divine suction or by what awaits
him. His arms are by his side, only slightly outriggered. His left leg is bent at the knee, almost
casually. His white shirt, or jacket, or frock, is billowing free of his black pants. His black high-tops
are still on his feet. In all the other pictures, the people who did what he did -- who jumped -- appear
to be struggling against horrific discrepancies of scale. They are made puny by the backdrop of the
towers, which loom like colossi, and then by the event itself. Some of them are shirtless; their shoes fly
off as they flail and fall; they look confused, as though trying to swim down the side of a mountain.
The man in the picture, by contrast, is perfectly vertical, and so is in accord with the lines of the
buildings behind him. He splits them, bisects them: Everything to the left of him in the picture is the
North Tower; everything to the right, the South. Though oblivious to the geometric balance he has
achieved, he is the essential element in the creation of a new flag, a banner composed entirely of steel
bars shining in the sun. Some people who look at the picture see stoicism, willpower, a portrait of
resignation; others see something else -- something discordant and therefore terrible: freedom. There
is something almost rebellious in the man's posture, as though once faced with the inevitability of
death, he decided to get on with it; as though he were a missile, a spear, bent on attaining his own
end. He is, fifteen seconds past 9:41 a.m. EST, the moment the picture is taken, in the clutches of pure
physics, accelerating at a rate of thirty-two feet per second squared. He will soon be traveling at
upwards of 150 miles per hour, and he is upside down. In the picture, he is frozen; in his life outside
the frame, he drops and keeps dropping until he disappears.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN#ixzz1H0q2Ty3H

Discuss & Record the 4 Questions

What is happening in the text?
How does this affect me?
How does the author/text evoke this response?
Why does the author/text want this response?

Authors Craft
Use your chart to find the authors craft evident in this
piece of non-fiction.
Literary
Elements:
Description
(Imagery)

Nonfiction Elements:
Evidence (facts,
comparisons, etc)

Interpretation

Connecting to our Unit Theme: Borders/Boundaries Are there borders/boundaries which should be honored?

Reasons for Yes

Many people were angered by

the photographs taken of people
jumping, as a sign of
insensitivity to the victims.

Reasons for No

Should the photographer

have taken the
photograph?

Your Answer:

What is revealed about the photographer by the fact that he took

this photo?

Final Thought

What is revealed about yourself that you think he

should/shouldnt have taken the photo?