Creative Nonfiction

Quarter 2 – Module 2:
Feature Story
Creative Non-Fiction – Grade 11/12
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 2 – Module 2: Feature Story
First Edition, 2020

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of
the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
wherein the work is created shall be necessary for the exploitation of such work for a profit.
Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of
royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders.
Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their
respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership
over them.

Published by the Department of Education, SDO Nueva Ecija

Schools Division Superintendent: Jessie D. Ferrer, CESO V
Assistant Schools Division Superintendents: Mina Gracia L. Acosta, PhD, CESO VI
Ronilo E. Hilario

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Edmar D. Azurin

Editor: Ma. Checilia S. Bagsic
Reviewer: Mira Pearl A. Baldoviso
Josefina D. Roque
Layout Evaluator: John Darryl R. Caysido
Cover Designer: Mark G. Asuncion
Management Team: Jayne M. Garcia, EdD
Ma. Checilia S. Bagsic, PhD
Beverly T. Mangulabnan, PhD
Eleanor A. Manibog, PhD

Printed in the Philippines by Department of Education – Region III – Schools Division

Office of Nueva Ecija

Office Address : Brgy. Rizal, Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, 3101

Telefax : (044) 940-3121
E-mail Address : nueva.ecija@deped.gov.ph
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written for the learners. After going
through this module, the learner is expected to:
1. Present a commentary/critique on a chosen creative nonfictional text
representing a particular type or form (HUMSS_CNF11/12-IIb-c-17)
2. Know a feature article and its conventions
3. Write a feature story
4. Write a short commentary about a written feature article

What I Know

Write the letter of your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What is an article from the newspaper or magazine that does not

follow the inverted pyramid style of writing? Its facts are written
creatively and the writer may use figurative languages to discuss the
topic well.
a. Opinion article
b. Editorial article
c. Feature article
d. News article

2. Which among the following is not a characteristic of a feature article?

a. nonfiction and factual
b. well researched
c. has a catchy title
d. none of these

3. Which among the following types of feature tells the readers the step-
by-step process of doing something?
a. How-to-do-it feature
b. Personality feature
c. Past-Events feature
d. News feature

1
4. This is a type of feature that highlights the characteristics of a
person that make his/her life story worthy to share. His/her traits
and physical attributes are also highlighted to make him/her known
to the readers.
a. How-to-do-it feature
b. Personality feature
c. Past-Events feature
d. News feature

5. Ana likes to write a feature story but she wants to write it with the
elements of creative writing and hard news reporting. Which among
these types can she write?
a. How-to-do-it feature
b. Personality feature
c. Past-Events feature
d. News feature

2
 Lesson

1 Feature Story

Journalism plays a vital role in people’s lives. Through it, they can get
an update of what’s happening in the world they live in. Journalists could
write or present the latest news to the people in different ways. One of these
is through writing feature stories. This lesson will teach you about a feature
story and its conventions.

What’s In

In the previous lesson, you learned about autobiography. Let’s try to

review some important information from your past lesson by doing the activity
below. (Review)

Read each statement carefully. Write T if the statement is true. If false,

write F. Use a separate sheet of paper for your answers.

__________1. An autobiography is a type of a self-written story of one’s

life.

__________2. Ana wants to write a story about her life but she wants to
focus on her high school life only. She can write a memoir.

__________3. A personal essay is written with a sense of intimacy and a

conversational manner.

__________4. Rudy wants to write an essay telling of his sins and

mistakes in the past so readers could learn from them.
This is an example of an autobiography.

__________5. Autobiography requires the writers to narrate their lives

starting from childhood to adulthood.

3
 What’s New

Some say that the feature section is the heart of a newspaper. Think of
some qualities of a human heart that you think could be linked to the qualities
of a feature article. Write your answers on your answer sheets.

What is It

Feature stories or articles are written to capture the readers’ interest.

These stories can talk about certain issues that are relevant people in a “not
hard” way. Unlike news or editorial articles, feature articles appeal on human
emotions. The purpose of these stories is to give the readers a well-detailed
description of a chosen topic.

4
 Features do not follow an inverted pyramid style. These are written as
if the writer is narrating a story to help the readers grasp the important details
of the whole article. Facts are also shared creatively.

To help us further understand features, here are the characteristics of

a feature story from 2010yeagleyenglish.pbworks.com.

 Evokes an emotional reaction: joy, sympathy, anger, frustration,

contentment, or some other emotion
 Gives depth and meaning to complicated issues or news items, thus
clarifying and interpreting events
 Follows the techniques of creative writing; for example, short story
elements
 Avoids the pyramid structure of a straight news story
 Uses an introduction(lead) that attracts readers
 Ends with a closing that connects back to the beginning and leaves the
reader with something to think about
 Uses a tone and style appropriate to its subject
 Uses catchy titles, headings/subheads
 Uses layouts which may include bullets, various fonts/styles (bold,
italics), and white spaces
 Is well researched
 Is nonfiction and factual

Types of Feature Stories

Here are some of the common types of feature stories that can be read
in newspapers, magazines, journals, etc.

Personality Feature. This type of feature highlights a single individual where

the writer gives interesting information about that person’s life. This must
contain a vivid picture of the individual’s personality traits or physical
features and a description of things that could make that person interesting
and unusual. A writer must take time doing some research about that person
to present him or her to the readers. You can say that a personal feature is
well written if the readers felt they met the person face to face and knew him
or her personally after reading the essay.

How-to-do-it feature. It is one of the most famous types of feature that

explains how to do something. It carefully instructs the readers on the step
by step process of making a certain thing. This must include the recipe or
materials that will be needed.

5
News Feature. This is a type of feature that focuses on a hard news subject.
This combines the feature writing style and the style of writing hard news. It
also requires an interview of the people involved in the issue to further
enhance the story.

Human Interest Feature. This type of feature shares some unusual and
worth sharing aspects of the life of an ordinary person. It could tell about
triumph over a great problem, love, hate, struggle, faith, or anything that is
relevant and catches the interest of the readers.

Past-Events Feature. This highlights the significant and historical events or

celebrations of a place but it is written from the angle of human interest. This
type of essay helps readers learn something new from the past.

The essay from the Philippine Daily Inquirer that you will read below is
an example of a Human Interest Feature.

My Mother, 59, in the New Normal

by Fernebert L. Ganiban

It was 3:30 in the morning and the light was still on in

Introduction the living room as I made my way to the bathroom. I was
or lead surprised to see my mother still at work on her laptop, knowing
that she was already on it when I went to bed at 11 p.m.

She told me later in the morning that she had been awake all
Body that time because she was having difficulty familiarizing herself with
the tool they would be using for the next day’s webinar. She was also
busy editing modules submitted to her.

In the introduction, we can already see to whose eye (point of view) the story
is told. It’s the son.

My mom is a division supervisor in English at the Department of

Education in our city. She is 59 years old and is planning to retire next year.
Since teachers were tasked to construct modules or create online presentations
for their subjects due to the pandemic, it has become harder for my mom to do
her job.

6
 She is tasked to proofread localized modules submitted by the teachers
in different grade levels in our division. It became her responsibility to make
sure that the contents in the modules for Grades 1 to 12 were accurate and
comprehensive. Thankfully, efficient teachers were willing to help her edit these
supplemental modules.

Truth be told, technological advancements have immensely improved our

ways of communication and made it possible for us to continue with our work
at home amid the pandemic. However, not everyone can easily adjust,
especially those who grew up when computers and the internet did not exist.

Don’t get me wrong, my mom is computer-literate and knows the basic

tools. But she has been having a hard time adapting to the pace of the 21st
century and the new normal. It has become a daily routine for her to call me or
my sister to assist her in locating files her colleagues had sent in Google Drive.
We would be around, too, whenever she joined a webinar, to assist her with
what to click to install an application needed for their meeting or to download
the file needed for the presentation. My mom would stay up late at night to ask
us to coach her on the tools she needs and the step-by-step process to make
certain applications work. She even has a small notebook to take down notes
so she won’t have to call us anymore if, in the future, she’d have to do the same
process again.

At her age, my mom’s eagerness to learn and adapt to this new normal
is inspiring. Not just her, but every teacher in DepEd who has a similar
experience. Their passion for teaching did not stop just because the
conventional way of doing it has abruptly ended. They painstakingly pour all
their efforts into giving their best for their students. (Figurative language)

At this point, most schools are in the process of printing their modules
and activity sheets, just like what is happening in our school now. Some are
preparing their online presentations for those who will opt to have a blended
style of learning or online class. We are not yet 100-percent prepared, but I
know we are getting there.

In the body, the character, the 59-year old mother is fully revealed. Also,
her struggles in the new normal as a supervisor are seen.

7
 To students who will be getting their modules or will be
Conclusion attending online classes starting Oct. 5 (and even those who
already have started), please bear in mind that every page of
your module and each slide in the presentation is a product of your teachers’
combined efforts. Reciprocate their efforts by giving your best in
comprehending and answering them. Each teacher has played a vital role in
making this mission of reaching and teaching Filipino children possible despite
the highly contagious virus in our midst. Salute!

The writer ended his article with a message addressed to the students.
This paralleled to the introduction because in the first paragraph, we can
see the mother devoting so much time working for the sake of learners.

Questions
1. What is the essay all about?
2. What are his mother’s job and her struggles in the ‘new normal’?
3. How could he and his sister help their mother with her struggles?
4. What are the things that schools do to give education to students at
this time of pandemic?
5. What is the advice of the writer to the students?

Elements of Human Interest Features

The elements of a Human Interest feature are just the same as other
Nonfiction texts. You have already learned some of its important elements in
week 3. These are plot (introduction or lead, body and conclusion), point of
view, character, and figurative language.

Let us go back to our lesson on the Essay and recall these elements.

Lastly, features are best made depending on the writer’s clarity and
creativity of presenting facts about the subject. There is no exact formula or
pattern in writing features because it can be written in different ways; yet, for
as long as it is newsworthy, relevant, factual, can arouse readers’ emotional
reactions, and can embody human life these can be called features.

8
 What’s More

Activity 1. Cross it out

Read the statements below. Select and cross out the statement/s that
could not describe feature stories.

1. Features are entertaining.

2. Writers can choose different topics. Even events that happened in
the past can be used as topics.
3. Features also follow the techniques of creative writing.
4. Features do not follow the inverted pyramid pattern of writing like
that of straight news.
5. Writers can invent facts to make the story more creative and
interesting.

Activity 2. Identification

Identify which type of Features is defined in each statement below.

Write your answers on the spaces provided for.

________________________1. This talks about the important and historical

events at a certain place which could provide new and interesting information
to the readers.

________________________2. This shares an unusual story of the common

people: their successes, struggles, defeat, etc. which leaves the readers
lessons in life.

________________________3. A hard news subject is the focus of this feature. It

combines the style of hard news and feature writing.

________________________4. It instructs and teaches the readers on how to do

something or come up with an output or product.

________________________5. The purpose of this feature is to highlight the

personality of a certain individual and describe him/her not only physically
but also show his/her traits that could make him/her worth knowing and the
story of his/her life worth sharing.

9
 What I Have Learned

Using the concept map that follows, define feature stories in your own words

1.______________

2._______________ feature 4.__________________

3._________________

What I Can Do

Write a feature story about the struggles that you have had during this
Covid-19 Pandemic. Share how you have coped with it and the lessons you
learned. You will be graded using the criteria given below.

Creativity----- 40 %
(words, style)

Narration----- 40 %
(clarity)

Impact--------- 20%
100%

10
 Assessment

Pair Work.

Exchange the feature you have made with your partner and write a 2-
paragraph commentary about his/her work. You can also give your
suggestions on how he/she could improve it. The checklist below may also
help you do this task.

Feature Story Yes No

Is the title catchy and

creative?

Is all information
presented from the
beginning till the end
relevant to the topic?

Did the writer use

descriptive words and
figurative languages to
convey his/her ideas?

Did the writer narrate

the story?

Did the story affect you

after reading the story?

Did I learn something

from the story?

Final comment

11
 Additional Activities

Read a feature story of your choice and give a 2-paragraph commentary

about it. You may also use the checklist from the previous activity as guide.

12
 13
What I Know What's More Assessment
1. C ACTIVITY 1 1. Answers may vary.
2. D
3. A 1. ____
4. B 2. ____
5. D 3. ____
4. ____
5. X
ACTIVITY 2
1. Past-Events Feature
2. Human Interest
feature
3. News feature
4. How-to-do-it Feature
5. Personality Feature
Answer Key
References
Electronic Sources

Ganiban, Fernebert. “My Mother, 59, in the New Normal.”2020 .

https://opinion.inquirer.net/133255/my-mother-59-in-the-new-
normal#ixzz6d3Sr50Gb. November 9, 2020

http://harwoodp.people.cofc.edu/WMMCh13and14.pdf

Integrated Publishing. http://www.tpub.com/journalist/19.htm

Pbworks. “Characteristics of a Feature Article.” 2020.

http://2010yeagleyenglish.pbworks.com/f/characteristics_feature_artic
le.doc

14