Creative

Non-Fiction
Introduction to Literature Genres
 Learning Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, the student will be able to:
1. Identify dominant literary conventions of a particular genre;
2. Compare and contrast how the elements are used in the different genres;
3. Analyze and interpret the theme and techniques used in a particular text;
4. Create samples of the different literary elements based on one’s experience;
5. Write a draft of a short piece using any of the literary conventions of genre;
6. Peer-edit each other’s draft; and
7. Revise the draft of a short piece using any of the literary conventions of a genre.
 Understanding Conventions of
Traditional Genres
 Literature may be classified into five categories or genres: (1)
Prose fiction, (2) Poetry, (3) drama, (4) Nonfiction, (5)
Creative nonfiction.
 While all are art forms, each with its own requirements of
structure and style, usually the first three are classified as
imaginative literature. The genres of imaginative literature have
much in common, but they have also distinguishing
characteristics.
 1. Prose Fiction
 Is an imaginary story, usually written down, that someone tells
in everyday, natural language. It generally uses a variety of
techniques such as narrative and has a wide range in terms of
length. It deals, in part or in whole, with information or events
that are not factual, but rather, imaginary or invented by the
author. Works of prose fiction usually focus on one or a few
major characters and undergo some kind of change as they
interact with other characters and deal with problems.
 2. Poetry
 Is a literary art where the evocative and aesthetic
qualities of language are brought out in lieu, or together
with the language’s apparent meaning. It is writing that
communicates economically, intensely, and intimately
through and beyond language, relying heavily on
imagery, figurative language, and sound effects devices.
Sunflower

Stand tall like a sunflower

Feel the warmth on your face.
Breathe in the fresh air
As your petals gently sway.

As the sun starts to set,

The sunflower hangs down.
It’s brightly colored petals
Touching the ground.

It rests in the dark

Until the sun says “good day”
Then rises to greet it as it’s petals gently sway.
 3. Drama
 Is a literary work which is designed to be acted out
on a staged performed by actors before an audience.
Like prose fiction, drama may focus on a single
character or a small number of characters, and it
presents imaginary events as if they were happening
in the present, to be witnessed by an audience.
 4. Non-fiction Prose
 Refers to any kind of prose writing that is based on
facts, well-written prose that deals with real people,
things, events, and places. The story must conform to
what is true and cannot be manipulated by the
writer’s imagination. Major goal of nonfiction prose
are truth in reporting and logical in reasoning.
 5. Creative nonfiction
 It is a genre of writing that uses
literary styles and techniques to
create factually accurate
narratives.
 Identifying Elements of the
Different Genres
 Literature contains hidden treasures, filled with mysteries
to be revealed and intrigues to be discovered. Interpretative
skills are the tools that are essential to finding these
treasures, and the reader who develops and practices
interpretative skills will uncover the many secrets of
meaning and experience literature has to offer.
 Meaning
 What is the work about? What is the theme?
 What effect or impression does the work have on the
reader?
 What is the argument or summary of the work?
 What is the writer’s intent?
 Form
 How has the writer organized the literary work to achieve
the effect or express the meaning?
 How is the work structured or planned? As prose or
poetry? As topics or scenes? As a long narrative, several
short stories, or episodes?
 Into what genre could the work be placed?
 What method of organization or pattern of development
was used within the structure of the work?
 Voice and Tone
 Who is telling the story?
 How is the speaker or narrator characterized or his character revealed? By action or
by description/ expressed or implied?
 From what perspective is the story told? By a person outside of the story or by
someone actually involved in the narrative?
 Is the speaker (the one telling the story) and the author or writer of the work the same
person? Or different from one another?
 What is the author’s attitude toward the material, subject, or theme?
 Is the tone playful? Serious? Angry? Formal? Pleading? Joyful?
 What is the atmosphere of the work (the way in which the mood, setting, and feeling
blend together to convey the prevailing tone)?
 Character and Characterization
 Who are the people in the work?
 How do dialogue (what he or she says) and action (what he or she does) reveal a
character’s personality traits?
 Is there a principal character?
 What is the character’s motivation?
 Is the character’s personality revealed directly by the speaker telling the reader or
indirectly by the character’s own words and deeds?
 In a non-narrative work, how would you characterized the speaker or the writer?
How would you characterize the work itself?
Language (Uses and Meanings)
 What figure of speech does the writer use, and what effect do they have on the
meaning of the selection?
 How does the writer use diction (word choice) to convey meaning?
 What is the impact of the words, phrases, and lines as they are used in the
selection?
 Did the writer intend the words used to convey the meaning normally
assigned to those words (denotations)?
 Did the writer intend that some words would imply additional, associated
meanings foe the reader?
 Does the language of the selection include any elements of propaganda?
Understanding
Prose, Poetry,
and Drama
 Prose
 Is expression (whether written or spoken)
that does not have a regular rhythmic
pattern. Prose does have rhythm, but its
rhythm lacks any sustained regularity and
is not meant to be scanned.
 Be Drunk
By Charles Baudelaire
You have to be always drunk. That’s all there is to it – it’s the only way.
So as not to feel the horrible burden of times that breaks your back and bends
you to the earth, you have to continually drunk.
But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.
And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch,
in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again, drunkenness already
diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock,
everything that is flying, everything that is groaning… will answer you. “It is
time to be drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be
continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish.”
 Although visually made to look like prose especially its concluding part,
this prose poem contains major poetic elements;
Personification – wind, wave, star, bird, clock will answer you
Apostrophe – ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird….
Asyndeton – everything that is flying, everything that is groaning …
Alliteration – burden of time that breaks your back and bends…
 Also presents the intensity of meaning characteristic of poetry, such as:
Symbolism – drunk is being passion and lust for life
Hyperbole – you have to be always drunk
 Poetry
 Is expression that is written in verse,
often with some form of regular rhythm.
The basis of poetic expression is a
heightened sense of perception or
consciousness.
 Prose
Most everyday writing is in prose form.
The language of prose is typically straightforward
without much decoration.
Ideas are contained in sentences that are arranged into
paragraphs.
There are no line breaks. Sentences run to the right
margin.
The first word of each sentence is capitalized.
Prose looks like large block of words.
Poetry
Poetry is typically reserved for expressing something
special in an artistic way.
The language of poetry tends to be more expressive or
decorated, with comparisons, rhyme, and rhythm
contributing to a different sound and feel.
Ideas are contained in lines that may or may not be
sentences. Lines are arranged in stanzas.
Poetry uses line breaks for various reasons – to follow a
formatted rhythm or to emphasized an idea. Lines can
run extremely long or be as short as one word or letter.
Traditionally, the first letter of every line is capitalized,
but many modern poets choose not to follow this rule
strictly.
The shape of poetry can vary depending on line length
and the intent of the poet.
 Drama
 Is a story intended to be acted out on a stage. Some critics
include pantomime (silent acting), but others specify that
drama requires dialogue. Drama also requires a plot, a
setting, and characters.
 Drama is divided into two very broad categories: tragedy
and comedy.
 Tragedy
 Is a drama in which a character is brought to a
disastrous end in his or her confrontation with
a superior force, but also comes to understand
the meaning of his or her deeds and to accept
an appropriate punishment.
 Comedy
 Is a work intended to interest, involve, and amuse the
reader or audience, in which no terrible disaster occurs and
that ends happily for the main characters. High comedy
refers to verbal wit, such as puns, whereas low comedy is
generally associated with physical action and is less
intellectual. Romantic comedy involves a love affair that
meets with various obstacles but overcomes them to end in
a blissful union.
 What is Creative Nonfiction?
 Is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create
factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other
nonfiction, such as academic or technical writing or journalism, which
is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not written to entertain based on
writing style or florid prose.
 Merges the boundaries between literary art (fiction, poetry) and
research nonfiction (statistical, fact-filled, run of the mill journalism). It
is writing composed of the real, or of facts, that employs the same
literary devices as fiction, such as setting, voice/tone, and character
development.
“Creative nonfiction writers
do not make things up; they
make ideas and information
that already exist more
interesting and often more
accessible.” – Lee Gutkind
 Five Essential Element of Creative
Nonfiction
1.Creative nonfiction has a “real life” aspect. the writer constructs
a personal essay, memoir, and so forth, that is based on personal
experience. He also writes about real people and true events.
2.Creative nonfiction is based on the writer engaging in personal
“reflection” about what he/she is writing about. After gathering
information, the writer needs to analyze and assess what he/she
collected. He then must evaluate it and express his thoughts, views,
and opinions. Personal opinion is permissible and encouraged.
3. Creative nonfiction requires that the writer
complete “research”. The writer needs to conduct
research to learn about the topic. The writer also needs to
complete research to discover what has been written
about the topic. Even if a writer is crafting a personal
essay, he will need to complete secondary research, such
as reviewing a personal journal, or primary research, such
as interviewing a friend or family member, to ensure that
the information is truthful and factual.
4. Creative nonfiction is “reading”. Reading while
conducting research is not sufficient. The writer must read the
work of the masters of his profession.
5. Creative nonfiction is “writing”. Writing creative
nonfiction is both art and craft. The art of creative nonfiction
requires that the writer uses his talents, instincts, creative
abilities, and imagination to write memorable creative
nonfiction. The craft of creative nonfiction requires that the
writer learn and deploy the style and techniques of creative
nonfiction in his/her work.
 Major Works of Modern Creative
Nonfiction
 (2002) Joseph Esptein, Snobbery: The American Version
 (2004) Susan Orlean, My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s
Been Everywhere
 (2005) Alan Bennett, Untold Stories
 (2005) Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking
 (2008) Julian Barnes, Nothing to be Frightened Of
 (2008) Sarah Vowell, The Wordy Shipmates
 (2010) Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of
America’s Greatest Migration
 (2010) Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival,
Resilience, and Redemption
Careers in Creative
Nonfiction
 The fastest-growing Genre
 The Memoir Craze
 Literary Journalism
A.Creative nonfiction F. biography
B.Journal G. Literary
Journalism
C.Personal essay H. Trade
articles
D.Memoir I.
Nonfiction novels
Chapter 2: Principles,
Elements, Techniques,
and Devices
 Elements of Creative Nonfiction
 Fact – the writing must be based on fact, rather than
fiction. It cannot be made up.
 Extensive research – the piece of writing is based on
primary research, such as an interview or personal
experience, and often secondary research, such as
gathering information from books, magazines, and
newspaper.
 Reportage/reporting – the writer must be able to
document events or personal experiences.
 Personal Experience and personal opinion –
often, the writer includes personal experience,
feelings, thoughts, and opinions.
 Explanation/Exposition – the writer is required
to explain the personal experience or topic to
the reader.
 Essay Format – creative nonfiction is often
written in essay format.
 Literary Elements Used in Creative
Nonfiction
 The following is a list of the most common literary devices that writers incorporate into
their nonfiction writing:
1. Character/s 8. Foreshadowing 14.
Point of view
2. Detail 9. Imagery
16. Style
3. Dialogue 10. Motif
17. Symbol
4. Diction 11. Narrative
18. Theme
5. Figurative language 12. Order 19.
Tone
 1. Character/s
 Every story has character, but in nonfiction, these characters are
real people. In order to make the work relatable or emphatic,
nonfiction authors often follow the same conventions as fiction
authors and develop characters that catch the reader’s attention.
The author describes physical descriptions, personality traits and
detailed histories to give the characters depth and relatability.
 The nonfiction piece often requires a main character. If a writer is
creating his/her memoir, then the writer is the central character.
 2. Detail
 Details provides pieces of information. Writers of
biography and autobiography use details to give the
actual facts about a person’s life. Biographies do more
than just relate details, however. The details you choose,
arrange, and examine help communicate your own
opinions and character as well as those as your subject.
 3. Dialogue
 Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written
or spoken conversational exchange between two or more (“dia”
means through or across) people.
 it is the conversation between characters in a narrative. It is the
lines or passages in drama which are intended to be spoken.
 In fiction and creative nonfiction, dialogue is typically enclosed
within quotation ,arks. In plays, character’s speech is preceded
by their names.
 Functions of Dialogue
 It moves the action along in a work and it also helps to characterized the
personality of the speakers, which vary depending on their nationalities,
jobs, social classes and educations.
 It also gives literature a more natural, conversational flow, which makes it
more readable and enjoyable.
 By showcasing human interaction, dialogue prevents literature from being
nothing more than a list of descriptions and actions.
 Dialogue varies in structure and tone depending on the people participating
in the conversation and the mood that the author is trying to maintain in his
or her writing.
 4. Diction
 Diction is the writer’s choice of words. The author chooses
each word carefully so that both its meaning and sound
contribute to the tone and feeling of the literary work.
 The author must consider a word’s denotation – its definition
according to the dictionary and its connotation – the emotions,
thoughts and ideas associated with and evoked by the word.
 5. Figurative Language
 Figurative language is a type of language that varies from the norms of literal
language, in which words mean exactly what they say for the sake of comparison,
emphasis, clarity, or freshness.
 Also knows as the “ornaments of language” figurative language does not mean
exactly what it says, but instead forces the reader to make an imaginative leap in
order to comprehend an author’s point. It usually involves a comparison between
two things that may not, at first, seem to relate to one another and can facilitate
understanding because it relate something unfamiliar to something familiar.
 To comprehend figurative language, it will require you to use your imagination to
figure out the writer’s point or meaning.
 6. Flashback
 Is a literary device in which an earlier or past event is inserted into the present
or the normal chronological order of a narrative. Various methods may be used
to present this literary device. Among them are: recollections of character,
narration by the characters, dream sequences, and reveries.
 Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s
primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory. Here’s an example
of flashback as a memory:
a woman is about to get married. As she puts on her veil, she remembers
her fiancé three years before, swearing he would make her his wife someday. A
tear comes to her eye and she prepares to walk down the isle.
 7. Flash Forward
 Or prolepsis is a literary device in which the plot goes ahead of
time: example, a scene that interrupts and takes the narrative
forward in time from the current time in the story.
 Generally, a flash forward represents expected or imagined
events in the future interjected in the main plot revealing the
important parts of the story that are yet to occur. It is an opposite
of flashback or analepsis.
 8. Foreshadowing
 Is a literary device in which author hints certain plot developments that perhaps
will come to be later in the story. It is the presentation of material in a work in
such a way that later events are prepared for. The purpose of foreshadowing is to
prepare the reader or viewer for action to come.
 To foreshadow an event in a story, the audience is given direct and/or subtle
clues about what will happen. Imagine this scene:
A professionally dressed woman hurriedly leaves the house, slamming the
front door. She frantically searches for her keys in a bottom of a giant purse while
balancing a briefcase under her other arm. She finds her keys, gets in the car and
begins backing out the driveway, and then slams on the brakes. “I feel like I’m
forgetting something,” she says. She shrugs and drives away.
Now, imagine the same situation, reenacted with a slight
differences:
A professionally dressed woman hurriedly leaves the
house, slamming the front door. She frantically searches for
her keys in a bottom of a giant purse while balancing a
briefcase under her other arm. She finds her keys, gets in the
car and begins backing out the driveway. As the car drives
away, the camera moves back towards the front door and into
a house, where a USB stick is sitting on a shelf next to the
front door.
 9. Imagery
 Refers to the “pictures” which we perceive with
our mind’s eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and
through which we experience the “duplicate
world,” created by poetic language. This is a
device by which the poet makes his meaning
strong, clear, and sure.
 10. Motif
 Is any element, subject, idea or concept
that is constantly present through the
entire body of literature. Using a motif
refers to the repetition of a specific theme
dominating the literary work.
11. Narrative
 Nonfiction writing usually follows a time line
for a narrative that is linear or nonlinear,
depending on how the author tells the story.
Authors can choose to tell a history from start
to finish or jump from one time to another to
create parallels to other characters or events.
 12. Order
 Order is the arrangement of events in a work of literature.
It is the structure of something is the way that thing is put
together; in nonfiction, it’s the way things are organized.
The way you organize information impacts how your
audience receives it. There are six informational structures
that will help you organize your information in a clear,
easy-to-follow manner.
 Six Informational Structure
 Importance – use importance to rank details from least to most, or
from most to least. Traditional words and phrases signal shifts in
thought and are used to guide your audience through blocks of
information.
 Example: more important, most important, a more effective, good,
better, best.
 Chronological – use time order to arrange details in a story or
process in the order in which they happen.
 Example: first, next, then, before, later, second, finally, last.
 Problem-solution – use problem-solution order to explain a
problem, outline a solution, or argue for or against a solution.
 Example: at risk, a major problem, one symptom, should be
saved, must not happen, to fix this, the best solution, please
support.
 Cause-Effect – use cause-effect organization to show the
relationship between events or conditions. You may focus on
one cause and their one effect, or many causes and many
effects.
 Example: as a result, because, consequently, since, therefore,
then, due to the fact that.
 Comparison-Contrast – use of comparison-contrast organization
to show similarities and differences between two things.
 Example: also, both, but, by contrast, even though, like,
likewise, however, similarly.
 Classification – use classification to break a subject into
subgroups or categories. Then discuss the unique properties of
each category.
 Example: another kind of, the first subgroup, a second
category, a third variety, a final type, the most popular, a
common type, a rare kind of.
 13. Plot and Plot Structure
 Refers to the series or sequence of events that give a story its meaning
and effect.
 The plot is built around the series of events that takes place within the
definite period. It is what happens to the characters. No rules exist for
the order in which the events are presented.
 There are five parts to a good plot:
1. Beginning – the story begins and characters are introduced
2. Rising Action – something happens to make the story more interesting;
the characters have a problem.
3. Climax – the most suspenseful part of the story; the
characters must finally face their problems and make
decisions.
4. Falling Action – the character has made a decision
about how to handle the problem, and now the story is
coming to a close.
5. End – the story concludes as the action comes to an
end.
 14. Point of View
 Refers to the perspective from which a story is told. When a
character in the story is telling the story, it is first-person point
of view. When the story is told by a narrator outside of the
story, it is called third-person point of view.
 Omniscient – means “all-knowing”. If the narratoe has an
omniscient point of view, then he knows what is going on in
the minds of all of the characters at all times. The reader gets to
know what every character is thinking and feeling.
 First person point of view:
When the bus came, I got on, carrying my pink backpack. It was the first day
of school, and I was nervous. I smiled, though, when I saw my best friend Kevin
sitting in the back.
 Third person point of view:
When the bus came, Sharon got on, carrying her pink backpack. It was the
first day of school, and Sharon was nervous. She smiled, though, when she saw her
best friend Kevin sitting in the back.
 Omniscient point of view:
When the bus came, Sharon got on, carrying her pink backpack. It was the
first day of school, and Sharon was nervous. She smiled, though, when she saw her
best friend Kevin sitting in the back. Kevin was nervous, too. So, he was thrilled to
see Sharon. Maybe this day would not be so bad after all.
 15. Style
 Refers to the language conventions used to construct the
story. A writer can manipulate diction, sentence structure,
phrasing, dialogue, and other aspects of language to
create style.
 Style is a manner of expression of a particular writer,
produced by choice of words, grammatical structures, use
of literary devices, and all the possible parts of language
use.
 16. Symbol
 Is a literary device that contains several layers of
meaning, often concealed at first sight, and is
representative of several other aspects/concepts/traits
than those that are visible in the literal translation
alone. It is using an object or action that means
something more than its literal meaning.
Figurative Language
Used in Creative
Nonfiction
 Adage
 An adage is a short, pointed, and memorable saying that is
based on facts, and which is considered a veritable truth by the
majority of people.
 Often repeated sayings and quotes become adages that pass on
to many generations.
Examples: “A penny saved is a penny earned,”
 “Appearances often are deceiving.”
 “Things are not always what they seem.”
 Allegory
 Is a symbolism device where the meaning of a greater, often
abstract, concept is conveyed with the aid of a more corporeal
object or idea being used as an example. Usually a rhetoric
device, an allegory suggest a meaning via metaphoric examples.
 The declaration of ex-US president G.W. Bush was
allegorical when he used the term “Axis of Evil” for three
countries and later the term “allies” for those countries that
would wage war against the “Axis.”
 Chiasmus
 A chiasmus is a figure of speech in which two or more clauses are
related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to
make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted
parallelism.
 “The Sabbath was made for man, not man made for the
Sabbath.”
 “Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you.”
 “Do I love you because you’re beautiful? Or are you beautiful
because I love you?”
 Litotes
 A litotes is a figure of speech consisting of an
ironical understatement in which affirmative is
expressed by the negation of the opposite.
 A million dollars is not a little amount.
 He is not unaware of what you said behind his
back.
 He is not the kindest person I’ve met.
 Oxymoron
 An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which
two opposite ideas are joined to create an
effect.
 Awfully perfect
 Bittersweet
 Open secret
 Original copies
 Rhyme
 Rhyme is a type of echoing which utilizes a
correspondence of sound in the final accented
vowels and all that follows of two or more
words, but the preceding consonant sounds
must differ.
 Bear and care