Argumentative Informational/Explanatory Narrative Types of Nonfiction Argumentative Informational/Explanatory Narrative

Nonfiction Genre About REAL: People Places Ideas Experiences Ex. President Obama or Mr. Stewart Places Ex. London, England or MFMS Gymnasium Ideas Ex. worship or knowledge Experiences Ex. moving to a new town or earning an A+ on a test

Common Forms of Nonfiction Letters and Journals Contain personal thoughts and reflections Biographies The life story of someone written by another person Autobiographies The writer’s account of his/her own life Memoirs The writer’s record of experiences from of his/her own life

Common Forms of Nonfiction Media Accounts Works written for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio Essays Medium in length Discussion of a topic Can tell a lot about the author Express author’s personal feelings

Common Forms of Nonfiction Articles Small in length Focus on the facts of a subject Express an author’s bias their strong opinions on a topic

Audiences and Purposes Essays Found in Magazines Attract readers looking for information and inspiration

Audiences and Purposes cont. Articles Found in newspapers and encyclopedias Attract readers looking for facts

Types of Writing Argumentative Writing Attempts to convince the reader to think about or act on something or accept a writer’s opinion using evidence for support Informational/Explanatory Writing Presents facts, discusses ideas, or explains a process

Types of Writing cont. Narrative Writing Conveys a real experience

Elements of Nonfiction Writing Organization Presents information clearly and logically It makes sense! Compare/Contrast Cause/Effect Problem/Solution Chronological Order Author’s Purpose Information is related to the author’s reason for writing

Purposes of Nonfiction To EXPLAIN Tells you how to do something Describes someone/something To ENTERTAIN Provides an escape Something to do for fun during free time

Purposes of Nonfiction To INFORM Gives you information To PERSUADE/ARGUE Attempts to change your view/opinion about something

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?