Quarter 4 READING AND WRITING CREATIVE NONFICTION

LESSON 5
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Read the specific directions carefully before answering the exercises and
activities. Accomplish this module on or before the specified date of the teacher. For online consultations,
please refer to the given schedule.

ESSENTIAL LEARNING PURPOSE: At the end of these lessons, I am expected to:

A – Define the 5 Rs of writing Creative Nonfiction through oral recitation;

M – Appreciate a peer’s work by writing a mini critique; and
What do I need
T – Write a draft of creative nonfiction piece based on memorable real-life experience.
to know?

Before going further in our discovery with the qualities of good writing, let us see if you can do the
following exercise. I know you can do it! This will help you to better understand the topic.

Direction: Enumerate at least 5 types of Creative Nonfiction and define each type based on your
What I know?
understanding. (10 pts)
REVIEW
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

HOLY TRINITY COLLEGE OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY | SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM 1
MODULE IN CREATIVE NONFICTION | HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
 Creative nonfiction (CNF) is a form of storytelling that employs the creative
writing techniques of literature, such as poetry and fiction, to retell a true story.
Creative nonfiction writers don’t just share pithy anecdotes, they use craft and
technique to situate the reader into their own personal lives.

The CNF genre is wildly experimental, and contemporary nonfiction writers are
pushing the bounds of literature by finding new ways to tell their stories. While a CNF writer might
retell a personal narrative, they might also focus their gaze on history, politics, or they might use
creative writing elements to write an expository essay. There are very few limits to what creative
nonfiction can be, which is what makes defining the genre so difficult—but writing it so exciting.

HOW TO READ AND ANALYZE CREATIVE

NONFICTIONAL TEXT
When you read a Nonfictional text, your task doesn’t end there. You have to analyze the
message of the text you’re reading so you can connect it to other references.

The following are helpful guides:

• What is the GENRE of the text?
• Is the LANGUAGE persuasive, informative, or descriptive?
• Is the INFORMATION in the text factual, opinionated, or a mixture of both?
• How is the text presented/STYLE? e.g. are there pictures used? Are the words long or short? Is the
text written in bullet points or short paragraphs?
• Does the writer/speaker use a passionate TONE to persuade or to show how strongly they feel about
the topic?

Remember that Creative Nonfiction stories are true. That means the authors have less wiggle
room than, say, poets, dramatists or fiction writers because they cannot invent scenes. They have an
obligation to portray the truth and to be factual. So instead, creative nonfiction authors get creative in
how they tell the story.

Writing a Mini Critique

Critique is a literary technique that means to critically evaluate a piece of literary work, or a
political or philosophical theory in detail. A critique could be a critical essay, an article evaluating a
literary piece, or a review. It may be just like a summary that identifies the central issue, raises
questions, takes notice of theoretical and experimental approaches, and reviews the significance
of the results. Apart from that, its purpose is to highlight both the shortcomings as well as
strengths of a literary piece or a work of art. Moreover, critical evaluation or assessment requires
sufficient knowledge about the subject matter.

 INTRODUCTION - Write the title and genre, author and his/her background, and an overview
of the literary work.
 BODY - Point out its strengths and weaknesses. Write about the structure of the text. Are the
paragraphs well organize and coherent? Is there a development of literary elements? Does it
use factual information? And other qualities concerning form and content.
CONCLUSION - Opinions about the literary piece; points you agree with and points you don’t
agree with; and your overall impression about the literary work.

HOLY TRINITY COLLEGE OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY | SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM 2
MODULE IN CREATIVE NONFICTION | HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
 THE 5 R’s OF WRITING CREATIVE NONFICTION
CNF pioneer Lee Gutkind developed a very system called the “5 R’s” of creative nonfiction
writing. Together, the 5 R’s form a general framework for any creative writing project. They are:

 Write about Real life - Creative nonfiction tackles real people, events, and places—things
that actually happened or are happening.

 Conduct extensive Research - Learn as much as you can about your subject matter, to
deepen and enrich your ability to relay the subject matter. (Are you writing about your tenth
birthday? What were the newspaper headlines that day?)

 (W)Rite a narrative - Use storytelling elements originally from fiction, such as Freytag’s
Pyramid, to structure your CNF piece’s narrative as a story with literary impact rather than
just a recounting.

 Include personal Reflection - Share your unique voice and perspective on the narrative you
are retelling.

 Learn by Reading – The best way to learn to write creative nonfiction well is to read it being
written well. Read as much CNF as you can, and observe closely how the author’s choices
impact you as a reader.

Guidelines for Writing Creative Nonfiction

Not only must the aspiring writer of creative nonfiction learn the techniques, but he/she also
requires a good understanding of the guidelines. The following are 12 guidelines for writing any
type of creative nonfiction:

 Research the topic. Both primary (interview, personal experience, or participant observation)

and secondary research (books, magazines, newspaper, Web)
 Never invent or change facts.  An invented story is fiction.
 Provide accurate information. Write honestly and truthfully. Information should be verifiable.
 Provide concrete evidence. Use facts, examples, and quotations.
 Use humor to make an important point.
 Show the reader what happened, don’t tell them what happened. To do this, dramatize the
story.
 Narrate the story. A story has an inciting incident, goal, conflict, challenges, obstacles, climax,
and resolution.
 Write about the interesting and extraordinary. Write about personal experiences, interesting
people,  extraordinary events, or provide a unique perspective on everyday life.
 Organize the information. Two common techniques are chronological or logical order.
 Use literary devices to tell the story. Choose language that stimulates and entertains the
reader, such as simile, metaphor, imagery.
 Introduce the essay or other work with a hook. Its purpose is to grab the readers’ attention
and compel them to reader further. Popular hooks include a quotation, question, or thought-
provoking fact.
 End the creative nonfiction piece with a final, important point. Otherwise the reader will
think, “So what!” “What was the point? It was an interesting story, but how does it apply to me

HOLY TRINITY COLLEGE OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY | SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM 3
MODULE IN CREATIVE NONFICTION | HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
 or my life?”

Before going further, let us see if you can answer this exercise. I know you can do it! This will help
you to determine your prior knowledge about this topic. Good luck!
Short Quiz
Directions: Based on your understanding, compare the difference between writing fictional stories
WHAT’S
and creative nonfictional texts. Write your insights in the table below. (10 pts)
MORE?
FICTION CREATIVE NONFICTION

Explorer! Let us now test what you have learned in our adventure! I know you can answer these
questions! Good luck!
Direction: Look back and reminisce one of your fondest memories when face to face classes
were still allowed. Write a short memoir about your most unforgettable moments in school before
the pandemic. (20 pts)
ASSESSMENT

HOLY TRINITY COLLEGE OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY | SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM 4
MODULE IN CREATIVE NONFICTION | HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
 RUBRIC

5 3 1 POINTS
CONCEPT Memoir focuses on Memoir focuses on Author does not
a single moment a single moment seem to be aware
that seems that seems kind of of the significance
significant to the significant to the of the moment.
author’s life. author’s life.
STYLE & Author consistently Author sometimes No effort is made
TECHNIQUE “shows” the “shows” the to reveal the
significance of the significance of the significance of the
events through events through events to the
engaging details, details, compelling reader.
compelling language, and a
language, and a balance of action,
balance of action, thoughts, and
thoughts, and dialogue
dialogue.
FORMAT Memoir is neatly Memoir is neatly Format of memoir
done and done and is not appropriate
published in an published in an and piece is not
appropriate and appropriate format. published neatly.
attractive format
and could be used
as a model for
others.
ENRICHMENT Explorer! Please take time to watch the following videos attached in this section before you proceed to
the next lesson. For now, you may take your break.

Video link:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFZyQ-zkCJw
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stkzQwt2V7s

Glatch, S. (2020, September 8). Creative Nonfiction: What It Is and How to Write It. Writers.Com.

REFERENCE https://writers.com/what-is-creative-nonfiction

Hood, D. (2013, October 12). Writing Creative Nonfiction. Find Your Creative Muse.

https://davehood59.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/writing-creative-nonfiction/

Video Project Rubric. (2018, January 31). Studylib.Net. https://studylib.net/doc/15992019/video-

project-rubric

HOLY TRINITY COLLEGE OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY | SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM 5
MODULE IN CREATIVE NONFICTION | HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES