Elements of Fiction

& Non-fiction
What is Fiction?
 Fiction works include made-up characters, and
a made-up series of events, called the plot.
 Fictional writing is told (narrated) by a speaker
called the narrator.
 Fiction is told from a certain perspective, or
point of view.
 First-person point of view is the perspective of a
character in the story.
 Third-person point of view is the perspective of a
narrator outside the story.
 Works of fiction often include a theme, or
message, about life.
Types of Fiction
 Novels- long works of fiction.
 Elements included- characters, plot, conflict,
and setting.
 In addition to the main plot a novel may
contain one or more subplots, or
independent related stories.
 Novellas- shorter than novels but longer
than short stories
 Short Stories- brief works of fiction.
 Same elements as novels and novellas but
tend to focus on one main plot with a single
conflict.
Elements of Nonfiction
 Nonfiction deals only with real people,
events, or ideas.
 Narrated from the point of view, or
perspective, of the author, who is a real
person.
 Nonfiction presents facts or discusses
concepts
 It may reflect the historical context of the
time period, including references to major
social and cultural information.
Types of Nonfiction
 Biographies- tell the story of someone’s life from the
perspective of another writer
 Autobiographies- tell the story of the author’s life and
reflect the writer’s thoughts and feelings about events.
 Letters- are written forms of communication from one
person to another.
 Journals & Diaries- records of daily events and writer’s
thoughts & feelings about them. Can be private or
public.
 Essays & articles- brief written works about a specific
topic. Purpose might be to explain, persuade, or
inform.
 Informational Texts- written documents such as
textbooks, applications, instructions, and articles.
NONFICTION TEXT
STRUCTURES
 Description – It shares the who, what,
when, where, why, and how of a
topic/subject. It often features sensory
and descriptive details to help the reader
visualize the information
 Sequence and Order – Chronological
texts present events in a sequence from
beginning to end. How-to texts organize
the information in a series of directions.
NONFICTION TEXT
STRUCTURES
 Compare and Contrast - Authors use
comparisons to describe ideas to
readers. Similarities and differences are
shared.
 Cause and Effect -Informational texts
often describe cause and effect
relationships. The text describes events
and identifies reasons (causes) for why
the event happened.
NONFICTION TEXT
STRUCTURES
 Problem Solution - The text introduces
and describes a problem and presents
one or more solutions.
Nonfiction Text Features
Feature Purpose
 Diagram  Labeled picture that show
the parts of something
 Label  Word that tells about the
picture
 Photograph  Picture that shows how
things look in real life
 Sentence that tells about
 Caption a picture
 Tell interesting
 Fun Facts information
Nonfiction Text Features
Feature Purpose
 Types of Print  Show important words
 Chart that shows events
 Timeline in order
 Picture that shows the
 Map location of things or
places
 Gives the topics/headings
 Table of Contents and beginning page
number of each section
Nonfiction Text Features
Feature Purpose
 Tells what page to find
 Index information in a book. It is
in ABC order.
 Lists new or important
words and shows or tells
 Glossary what they mean

 Tells you what the section

 Heading is about