Genres of Literature Non-Fiction

Genres of Literature Non-Fiction

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Non-Fiction

Characteristics of the genre

Fill in the Blanks

How do you know its nonfiction, other than it is true?

Non-Fiction is

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Writing that is true. 

Presents and explains ideas or events

This genre presents real facts about real people and real places.

No part of this is made up or imagined.

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Types of Non-Fiction

• Informational or persuasive writing

• Essays and articles

• Letters

• Memoirs or Journals

• Biographies and Autobiographies

• Media Accounts

Informational and Persuasive writing

Persuasive- meant to convince the reader to adopt a particular point of view or course of action.

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Informational or Expository- presents facts and ideas or explains a process.

Essays and Articles and Media Accounts

Essay or Article- nonfiction work about a particular subject.

Media Accounts- nonfiction works written for newspapers, magazines, televisions, or radio

Letters and Memiors or Journals

Letters- written texts addressed to a specific person or organization. Memoirs and journals- personal thoughts and reflections. These can be Reflective- address an experience and include the writer’s insights about the event’s importance.

Open Ended

What is an autobiography?

Open Ended

What is a biography?

Autobiograpy versus Biography

• Biography- life story written by another person.

• Autobiography- the writer’s account of his or her own life

Multiple Select

Which is a purpose for writng? (check all that apply)

• To entertain

• To get good grades

• To Persuade

• To inform

• To get out of trouble

Author's purpose: P.I.E.D.

• To Persuade

• To Inform

• To Entertain

• To describe

To Persuade

To Persuade: are often written to influence the opinions or actions of an audience

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ex: editorials, speeches and reviews 

To Inform

To Inform: present facts to increase the knowledge an understanding of an audience.

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ex: articles, news reports and instructions 

To Entertain

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To entertain:are written for the enjoyment of an audience.

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ex: Humor columns and many biographies and autobiographies  Some times memiors can be written to enterain

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To Describe

To describe: are written to help a reader understand the look, feel, experience of a person, place, or event. 

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ex: Some essays or articles 

Elements of Non-FIction

• Tone: expresses an author’s attitude toward the subject and the readers. This is communicated with the author’s choice of words and details.

• Perspective- the author’s point of view on the subject including: His or her opinions The source of the information ( i.e. General research, or personal experience) 

• Theme: The underlying meaning of the story; the big idea of what the author is trying to convey or express.  can apply to fiction and nonfiction

Elements of Non-Fiction contd

Structure: how the text is organized

- Chronological- presents details in time order (first to last OR last to first) - Compare and Contrast- shows ways in which two or more subjects are similar and different.

- Cause and Effect- shows the relationship among events.

- Problem-Solution- identifies a problem and then proposes a solution

Text Features

• Captions

• Glossary

• Graphics or Charts

• Photographs

• Index

• Labels

• Maps

Text Features

• Subtitles

• Special print (bold or italics)

• Table of Contents

• Headings and Sub-headings

• Dates

Open Ended

What questions do you still have about non-fiction texts?