CNF - FINALS

• Biography is a kind of narrative that deals with the life of a person.
• Classic biographies are about lives of popular figures, say national heroes or celebrities.
• The term autobiography is derived from the Greek words autos (self), bios (life), graphein (to write).
• An autobiography is a kind of biography that centers on the life of the narrator himself/herself.
• In autobiography, you tell about your life. In biography, you tell about somebody else's life.
• The autobiography shares certain characteristics with other types of creative nonfiction, primarily it's being in the first person.
• The autobiography deals with a chain of events and covers a longer period of time. Indicating information such as dates and places, therefore, is essential.
• Literary journalism is a type of creative nonfiction that is closely related to magazine and newspaper writing.
• Some references call literary journalism narrative journalism or immersion journalism for it requires a close connection to the subject of the piece.
• Literary journalism can largely be in the form of an essay in which case it is called the literary journalistic essay.
• Literary journalism shares some of the elements of traditional fiction such as dialogue, setting, characterization, and plot structure to make the narration vivid.
• Unlike the autobiography, the personal narrative, or the testimonio, literary journalism deals with another personality (it is not the author), because of which it may require some research on the character and the events in the narrative.
• In the PH, one of the most popular practitioners of the genre is the late Nick Joaquin, also known as Quijano de Manila, whose reportage pieces clearly deviate from straight journalism with his employment of literary devices and elements of fiction such as those cited earlier.
• When he won the Ramon Magsaysay awards, Joaquin said that the old distinction between literature and journalism no longer holds true, as the elements of the true genres can actually be fused in order to produce something more creative and interesting.
• Tips for writing literary journalism:

  1. be there
  2. record your dialogue
  3. edit dialogue in the spirit of the subject
  4. ask questions
• Personal narrative shares some aspects of the traditional structure of fiction such as character & setting.
• Like the other types of creative nonfiction, however, the details of such a narrative should not just revolve around events; they should also incorporate the narrator's personal (hence the term) thoughts and feelings.
• One should also employ literary devices used in traditional fiction such as figurative language, say, in describing a place or a character in the story.
• While the personal narrative should be about a real event, for example, the narrator may find it useful to use a figurative language, say, exaggerations. Such additions are aimed at making the narration more colorful, more vivid, and therefore, more effective.
• The personal narrative, of course, as the term itself suggests, is told from the first-person POV.
• But not like the autobiography which deals with a chain of events, the personal narrative often concerns a particularly happy, sad, humorous, or outrageous episode in one's life.
• How to write a personal narrative:

  1. choose your topic
  2. outline your paper
  3. create your introduction
  4. write the body of the paper
  5. create your conclusion
  6. edit and finalize your paper
• Essay is considered as one of the canonical genres of literature along with poetry, fiction, and drama.
• Types of Essay:

  1. narrative essay
  2. descriptive essay
  3. expository essay
  4. argumentative essay
  5. reflection/reflective essay
• Narrative essay tells a story.
• Descriptive essay paints with words.
• Expository essay makes an explanation.
• Argumentative essay expresses the author's opinion on a particular topic.
• Reflection or reflective essay expresses the writer's insights on a given subject matter.
• But unlike the argumentative essay whose main purpose is to convince the reader of the logic and validity of the author's argument, the reflection essay concerns itself, above all, with the author's introspection especially with respect to what he/she has learned from individual experiences.
• Reflective essay is a kind of writing that requires the author to inform the reader about his/her attitude, idea or impression regarding a given topic.
• How do you organize a reflective essay:

  1. introductory paragraph
  2. body paragraphs
  3. conclusion
• Introductory paragraph is your first paragraph in which identify the subject, give the general overview, and the thesis statement.
• Thesis statement will serve as the focal point of your paper.
• Body paragraphs include the reasons and why.
• In conclusion, you recap your thesis statement and reasons. Sum up your article with some closing reflective thoughts.
• How do you write a reflection essay:

  1. choose a topic idea
  2. study your subject
  3. brainstorm
  4. pick reflection questions
  5. answer the questions you selected
  6. identify the meaning of your experience
• Blog, a truncated version of the term "web log", is generally defined as a frequently (or regularly) updated journal or diary on the internet.
• A blog is not a genre. It is more a way through which information is shared, opinions are expressed, and stories are told.
• One may even say that the other types of creative nonfiction may be presented by way of a blog.