Narrative Informative/Explanatory Argumentative Types of Nonfiction Narrative Informative/Explanatory Argumentative

Essays Medium prose (piece of written language) Explore ideas Argue a point of view Interpret a piece of the world or a person’s experiences Found in some magazines and essay collections Attract readers looking for inspiration and information Express the author’s personal feelings, sometimes telling a lot about the author

Article A brief prose (a written piece of language) Focuses in on the facts of a subject Appears in newspapers, journals, and encyclopedias Attract readers looking for facts Expresses the author’s bias (slant on a topic)

A more literary or personal article is called an essay.

Newspaper article Brief essays about news items that appear regularly in print

Blog Brief essays about current events Purpose is to provide an alternate, personal window into those events Like journals Lists the most recent entries first Audience—people returning to the site want to locate entries easily

Elements of Nonfiction Organization Author’s tone Voice

Organization A way a writer chooses to arrange and present information in a single piece of nonfiction.

Organization Chronological organization—presents details in time order—from first to last—or sometimes from last to first. Comparison-contrast organization—shows the ways in which two or more subjects are similar and different. Cause-and-effect organization—shows the relationship among events. Problem-and-solution organization—identifies a problem and then proposes solution.

Author’s tone The writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject (formal or informal, serious or playful, friendly or cold).

A writer’s distinctive way of “speaking” Voice A writer’s distinctive way of “speaking” in his or her writing.

Types of Nonfiction Writing Letters—written texts addressed to a particular person or organization. Memoirs and journals—contain personal thoughts and reflections. Web logs “blogs”—journals posted and frequently updated for an online audience. Biographies and autobiographies—life stories. Biography—a life story written by another person Autobiography—the writer’s account of his or her own life

Types of Nonfiction Writing Media accounts—works written for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio.

Essays and articles—short nonfiction works about a particular subject Argumentative writing—attempts to convince the reader to adopt a particular point of view or take a particular course of action. Informative/Explanatory writing—presents facts, discusses ideas, or explains a process Narrative writing—tells the story of real-life experiences, sometimes addressing an experience which includes the writer’s insights about the event’s importance

Purpose for Nonfiction To inform To explain To reflect To persuade To entertain

Author’s Viewpoint What the author thinks and feels about his/her subject. Identifying an author’s viewpoint is important because the reader can: Understand why the author is interested in the subject Understand what the author thinks about the topic Understand what the author may want the reader to think

Author’s Viewpoint Readers can often establish what the author’s viewpoint is by: Thinking about the facts and opinions given in the text Thinking about the language used by the author Determining the author’s purpose for writing

Author’s Viewpoint Ask yourself these questions as the reader: What opinions or belief statements are evident in the article? What evidence did the author include to support his/her opinions? What words/phrases did the author use to present the information? Why did the author write this selection?