Cnf 1

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• Creative Nonfiction
• Grade Level/Section:
• MODULE 1 – CNF
• Subject Teacher:
• 5 CLASSIFICATION OF CATEGORIES OR GENRES IN LITERATURE

  • Prose Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Drama
  • Non-Fiction
  • Creative Non-Fiction
• Prose Fiction


  An imaginary story, usually written down. Uses variety of techniques such as narrative and wide range of length. It deals with imaginary or invented by the author. Focus on one or few major characters; change in the story (character development)
• Prose Fiction


  • novels
  • short stories
  • fables
  • fairy tales
  • legends (encompasses films, comic books and video games)
• Poetry


  Literary art where the evocative qualities of language are brought out in lieu, or together with the language's apparent meaning. Communicates beyond language (imagery, figurative language, sound effect devices)

  
• Poetry


  • Ode by the Greek poet Pindar
• Drama


  Literary work which is designed to be acted out on a stage performed by actors before an audience. Presents imaginary events
• Prose Fiction: Drama = Focus on a single character or a small number of characters
• Non-Fiction


  Differs from nonfiction prose. Refers to any kind of prose writing that is based on facts. Deals with real people, things, events, and places. Major goal/s: truth in reporting; logic in reasoning
• Creative Non-Fiction


  Creative nonfiction differs from fiction because it is necessarily and scrupulously accurate and the presentation of information, a teaching element to readers, is paramount
• Forms of Creative Non Fiction

  • Nonfiction narratives
  • Personal essay
  • Autobiography
  • Memoir
  • Journal
  • Diary
  • Lyric essay
  • Literary journalism: travel writing, food narratives, art-trip appreciations, reading accounts, among others
• Essay


  A genre (Fr. genre "kind, sort, style") of writing developed through time; the "essay" concept as first introduced by Michel de Montaigne ("essais," French for attempts). A dynamic form of mind inquiry that usually emanates from a personal perspective, although in the long run, was used to expound on the key ideas of humanity, moral issues, and political positions; eventually turned itself into a "literary genre"; also became part of popular writing since it had turned itself into widely used mode in newspapers and magazines
• Insights about the essay from Montaigne

  • The essay is a sustained meditation: a voice in a journey towards an insight to experience. At large, the essay is a meditation on writing about the self, and why it may also constitute a legitimate form of writing
  • The essay is an exercise (trial) of self-reflection: in the essay, a person must emerge with wisdom about the self and about life, and not with "vainglory"
  • The essay concretely narrates the experience as reflected on. It is basically, a story observed
  • The essay is an art: however, it may make things of beauty, but should not be just the "making of beauty". It has to have a purpose, as developed in the essay, "Of the vanity of words"
• Modes of Development in CNF

  • Description: Capturing the senses, embodying the sensorium
  • Narration: Narrative plays with time. When you narrate, you actually capture time through language
• The "Creative" in CNF


  • To write great creative non-fiction, a writer must tell a fact-based story in an imaginative way
  • Non-fiction writers must be dedicated to preserving the truth of their stories—the who, what, why, where, when, and how
  • The creativity enters through the use of perspective, which, like a camera lens, allows the writer to focus the reader's attention and engage his or her imagination
  • Nonfiction writers have a sort of contract with readers: We are not allowed to make anything up. We must be rigorous reporters of lived experience. Our impulses must be documentary
  • Creative nonfiction stories also offer something fiction cannot: the power of true human experience
• The Importance of Facts

  • Fiction, by definition, is a written work that is based on the writer's imagination. Fiction does not have to be true. Non-fiction, therefore, is the opposite. It is writing that is true to facts and history
  • On any given day, you might encounter many types of non-fiction: You might read the news in the morning; read a popular autobiography on your lunch break; and review e-mails, memos, and meeting minutes throughout your day at work
  • These are very different kinds of writing, but all of them are what we used to call, in a general way, good journalism—a "who, what, why, where, when, and how," fact-based approach to writing
  • Traditionally, university creative writing departments have been the place to learn fiction and poetry writing. Today, many schools are offering programs in creative non-fiction as well. It is the fastest growing part of the creative writing world—and the fastest growing part of the market for books too
  • Creative non-fiction gets a bit tricky because the "creative" part means the writer is using the techniques of fictional storytelling. Unless the writer has warned you, the reader, that he or she is indulging in some creativity, you have the right to assume everything in the story is true—and the right to get angry if it is not
  • Non-fiction writers have a sort of contract with readers: We are not allowed to make anything up. We must be rigorous reporters of lived experience. Our impulses must be documentary
  • Despite this, the opportunities for creativity in non-fiction writing are immense. When writing is done at the highest level of craftsmanship—when the way of telling the story is just as important as the story itself—we often call that literature
  • All the strategies for telling a great story are the same, whether you are writing a novel or a work of non-fiction: You must set a vivid scene that lets your reader see every detail. The difference is that details are historically accurate