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

2. About real people, places,
Nonfiction Genre
About real people, places,
ideas, and experiences

3. Common forms of Nonfiction
Letters and journals—contain personal thoughts and reflections
Biographies and autobiographies—life stories
Biography—the life story of someone that is written by another person
Autobiography—a writer’s account of his/her own life
Memoir—a writer’s record of experiences from his/her own life

4. Common forms of Nonfiction
Media accounts—works written for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio
Essays and Articles—short works written about a particular subject

5. Essays Medium prose (piece of written language) Discussion of a topic
Sometimes tell a lot about the author
Express author’s personal feelings

6. Articles A brief prose (piece of written language)
Focuses in on the facts of a subject
Express an author’s bias (slant on a topic)

7. Audiences and Purposes
Essays
Found in well-known magazines and essay collections
Attract readers looking for inspiration and information
Articles
Appear in newspapers
Attract readers looking for facts

8. Essays and Articles Types of writing
Argumentative—Attempts to convince the reader to think about or act on something or accept a writer’s opinion using evidence for support
Informational/Explanatory—Presents facts, discusses ideas, or explains a process
Narrative—Conveys a real experience

9. Elements of Nonfiction writing
Organization—presents information clearly and logically
Author’s purpose—information is related to the author’s reason for writing

10. Organization
Chronological—presents details in time order (from first to last) or sometimes from last to first.
Comparison/Contrast—shows the ways in which two or more subjects are similar and different.
Cause-and-Effect—shows the relationship among events.
Problem-and-Solution—identifies a problem and then proposes a solution.

11. Purpose for Nonfiction
To explain
To entertain
To inform
To persuade/argue

12. 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

13. 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

14. Author’s Viewpoint Ask yourself these questions as the reader:
What opinions or belief statements are evident in the text?
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?