Nonfiction is a form of literature that is based on REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCES. It is commonly said that nonfiction is based on FACT… BUT, experience is too complex and words have too many meanings and connotations for this to be true. Example: Aidan loves his new puppy. The man loves his wife.

FICTION A story created by an author’s imagination. Characters are invented to help move the story along. Plot is created to give the story structure and meaning. A story or explanation of something that has actually occurred. Involves real people, places, things and ideas. NONFICTION

Both usually have a purpose and an intended audience. Both usually reveal some kind of intended meaning or message. Both have elements that we can relate to on some level. Even though you have not directly experienced everything that you have read about, you can usually relate to a certain situation or you can use your experience of the five senses to help you understand.

A lot of the time, fictional stories/writings are about real issues or are based on real situations, so how do we know If a story about a boy and his dog was written by a woman who has never owned a pet, we know that the story is not autobiographical, but then how can we tell whether or not it is nonfiction? It sometimes helps to know the background of the author in order to determine whether you are reading fiction or nonfiction. Many times, if a story is nonfiction, there is usually some type of foreward or preface indicating this in the novel. BUT IF THERE’S NOT, HOW DO YOU KNOW?!

Nonfiction writing usually falls under one of four purposes: Exposition: To inform, clarify, explain. Persuasion: To convince the reader to think feel or act a certain way. Description: To recreate a person, place or event for the reader. Narration: To relate a series of events (tell a story).

Auto = self -> bio= Life -> graph(y)=writing Autobiography: One’s own entire life story. Many well-known figures in society have written and published their own autobiographies. (Benjamin Franklin, Britney Spears, George Foreman) Narrative = Story Autobiographical Narrative = A story from/about the author’s life.

We will also be looking at… Nonfiction Essays Biographies Newspapers/Magazines Letters Memoirs

Memoirs are a form of autobiographical nonfiction. Autobiographies usually tend to encompass the writer's entire life span while memoirs concentrate on certain moments or experiences that occurred within one’s lifetime. Usually written in first person. Usually focus on one significant event or a series of significant events. Memoirs have a way of making the everyday and ordinary seem extraordinary. Even the most insignificant of events may have had a big impact on the writer’s life.

Nonfiction essays usually fall under the category of exposition (to inform, clarify or explain something). These essays usually aim to make some kind of point or help the reader to understand or realize something.