READING NONFICTION : READING NONFICTION Types and Purposes WHAT IS NONFICTION? : WHAT IS NONFICTION? The subject of nonfiction is real
The author writes about actual persons, places and events.
The writer may just report facts
The writer may also include personal opinions
Often there is a mixture of both
Readers must read critically CRITICAL READING : CRITICAL READING Look at writer’s background
Look at writer’s purpose
Look at writer’s attitude
Look at writer’s audience JOURNALISM : JOURNALISM Newspapers
Online sources TYPES OF JOURNALISM : TYPES OF JOURNALISM Interviews
Editorial Cartoons ESSAYS : ESSAYS TYPES OF ESSAYS : TYPES OF ESSAYS Formal Essay
A prose discussion on a serious topic in a serious manner, usually rigidly structured and organized. Informal Essay
A prose discussion on any topic in a light, humorous, amusing manner; often loosely organized, rambling and casual in approach. CHARACTERISTICS OF ESSAYS : CHARACTERISTICS OF ESSAYS Essays in general
Incomplete in its discussion of topic
A literary whole CHARACTERISTICS (CONT.) : CHARACTERISTICS (CONT.) The Formal Essay
Purpose: to inform, explain, convince
Tone: serious, rhetorical, balanced
The Informal Essay
Tone: conversational, sometimes witty and humorous HUMOR AND THE ESSAY : HUMOR AND THE ESSAY Wit
Ability to show, with sympathy, the things in life and human behavior that are funny. SATIRE : SATIRE A literary work in which vices, follies, stupidities, abuses, etc., are held up to ridicule and contempt.
A pointing out of the difference between how things are and how they ought to be. OTHER TYPES OF ESSAYS : OTHER TYPES OF ESSAYS Comparison and Contrast Essays
Cause and Effect Essays PERSONAL CHRONICLES : PERSONAL CHRONICLES DIARIES AND JOURNALS : DIARIES AND JOURNALS Diaries: a private form of writing with no further intended audience
Journals: varying styles and topics. Give a glimpse of the writer’s value of his or her world LETTERS : LETTERS Private Letters
Ask for information
Audience and Purpose influence tone. PERSONAL REFLECTIONS : PERSONAL REFLECTIONS Personal Reflections must be memorable and significant and :
Give character insight
Lead to an unexpected conclusion
Show how a lesson was learned
Awaken feeling of pity, compassion, joy and nostalgia AUTOBIOGRAPHY : AUTOBIOGRAPHY Written by the subject for publication
Author has some purpose for writing
To arouse awareness
Simply to entertain MEMOIRS : MEMOIRS A TYPE OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAOL WRITING, DEALING WITH THE RECOLLECTIONS OF PROMINENT PEOPLE OR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN A PART OF OR HAVE WITNESSED SIGNIFICANT EVENTS.
CONSIDERED BOTH AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY : BIOGRAPHY The accurate presentation of a life story from birth to death of an individual.
Historical biographies include strands of an individual’s life interwoven with historical persons, places and events. OTHER TYPES OF NONFICTION : OTHER TYPES OF NONFICTION Speeches
Miscellaneous writing ELEMENTS OF NONFICTION : ELEMENTS OF NONFICTION Characters, Plot, and Setting. Like fiction, nonfiction has characters, plot, and setting. However, these elements are real, not made up. The main character in an autobiography or biography is called the subject. The subject's words, thoughts, and actions are presented. MORE ELEMENTS : MORE ELEMENTS Purpose. Different types of nonfiction have different purposes. Biographies and autobiographies, for example, have the purpose of informing the reader. They use explanatory, descriptive, and narrative paragraphs. Other types of nonfiction, such as newspaper editorials, are intended to win readers over to a certain opinion. They use persuasive paragraphs. Sometimes a piece of writing combines purposes. AND MORE ELEMENTS : AND MORE ELEMENTS Tone. The writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter is called tone. A writer's tone may be sympathetic, It may be bitter, It may be comic, hopeful, solemn, or anything the writer likes. HOW TO READ NONFICTION : HOW TO READ NONFICTION Try to separate Facts from Opinions.
The writer has chosen facts that present a certain picture of the subject.
Think about what might be missing as well as what is there. MORE READING TIPS : MORE READING TIPS Think about the writer's purpose.
Is the writer trying to win you over to his or her opinion?
Learn to appreciate how well a writer says something, even when you don't agree.
Be a critical reader. FINAL READING TIPS : FINAL READING TIPS Be aware of the writer's tone.
Frequently a writer reveals much about himself or herself by the tone he or she uses.
This is especially important in autobiographical writing