❤ CREATIVE NONFICTION REVIEW Recalling a moment in which you felt a strong spiritual or identifiable energy. You try to describe the scene in vivid detail by writing it, with special attention to the senses. Will you be producing an example of a creative nonfiction in the above situation? Since what you are trying to describe or to share is your own experience with a special attention to the senses and that you will impart it to others to understand your feelings in your own worldview, it is a creative nonfiction. 2 You want to write about your favorite trip or journey, and how that high level of happiness was eventually threatened. Will you be producing an example of a creative nonfiction in the above situation? Because what you are attempting to do is to write what you have observed, recorded, and thus shaped a moment from real life, you are to produce an example of creative nonfiction. 3 Zedd is fond of reading stories about magic spells, mythical creatures and fabled kingdoms. The stories sometimes include witchcraft and wizardry, dragons and unicorns. Are the kind of stories Zedd is reading examples of creative nonfiction? Those stories are creative but because those are fantasies and just products of the writer’s imagination, those stories are not creative nonfiction. 4 Zedd is fond of reading stories about magic spells, mythical creatures and fabled kingdoms. The stories sometimes include witchcraft and wizardry, dragons and unicorns. Are the kind of stories Zedd is reading examples of creative nonfiction? Those stories are creative but because those are fantasies and just products of the writer’s imagination, those stories are not creative nonfiction. 5 Close Reading on Creative Nonfictional Texts MODULE 2, WEEK 2 6 Creative Nonfiction also tells true stories Prose (usually, though sometimes poetry), uses literary devices/is more creative and artistically-oriented than "regular” nonfiction, often told in first person, the narrator is often the author or a persona of the author, but not always. 7 When reading a work of Creative Nonfiction, it is important to remember that the story is true. This means the author does not have as much artistic freedom as a fiction writer or poet might have, because they cannot invent events which did not happen. It is worthwhile, then, to pay attention to the literary devices and other artistic choices the narrator makes. Readers would be apt to consider: what choices were made here about what to include and what to omit? Are there repeating images or themes? How might the historical context influence this work? 8 Creative Nonfiction Basic Elements When reading creative nonfiction, consider the following aspects of the text: 1. Setting - where does the story takes place? What do we know about this location? How is it described, and to what effect? 2. Plot - what happens in the story and in what order? How does the order of the events impact their meaning? 9 3. Characters - who are the people (or sometimes animals or other entities) in the story? What kinds of characters are they? How are they characterized? 4. Figurative Language - how does the author effectively use language as an artistic tool to render the story? What metaphors, similes, or descriptive imagery does the author use to make the story immersive, and why? 10 Guided Practice “April 15th, 1802” by Dorothy Wordsworth Thursday, 15th. It was a threatening, misty morning, but mild. We set off after dinner from Eusemere. Mrs. Clarkson went a short way with us but turned back. The wind was furious, and we thought we must have returned. We first rested in the large boathouse, then under a furze bush opposite Mr. Clarkson's saw the plough going in the field. The wind seized our breath. The lake was rough. There was a boat by itself floating in the middle of the bay below Water Millock. 11 We rested again in the Water Millock Lane. The hawthorns are black and green, the birches here and there greenish, but there is yet more of purple to be seen on the twigs. We got over into a field to avoid some cows—people working. A few primroses by the roadside—wood sorrel flower, the anemone, scentless violets, strawberries, and that starry, yellow flower which Mrs. C. calls pile wort. When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow Park we saw a few daffodils close to the waterside. We fancied that the sea had floated the seeds ashore, and that the little colony had so sprung up. 12 But as we went along there were more and yet more; and at last, under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful. They grew among the mossy stones about and above them; some rested their heads upon these stones, as on a pillow, for weariness; and the rest tossed and reeled and danced, and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind, that blew upon them over the lake; they looked so gay, ever glancing, ever changing. 13 This wind blew directly over the lake to them. There was here and there a little knot, and a few stragglers higher up; but they were so few as not to disturb the simplicity, unity, and life of that one busy highway. We rested again and again. The bays were stormy, and we heard the waves at different distances, and in the middle of the water, like the sea.... All was cheerless and gloomy, so we faced the storm. At Dobson's I was very kindly treated by a young woman. The landlady looked sour, but it is her way.... William was sitting by a good fire when I came downstairs . He soon made his way to the library, piled up in 14 a corner of the window. He brought out a volume of Enfield's Speaker, another miscellany, and an odd volume of Congreve's plays. We had a glass of warm rum and water. We enjoyed ourselves and wished for Mary. It rained and blew when we went to bed. 15 Close Reading Analysis of the Passage 1. Setting - where does the story takes place? What do we know about this location? How is it described, and to what effect? The setting is established early in the short story, as a "threatening, misty morning" in someplace called "Eusemere." The term "threatening" is interesting, as it sets the mood with a kind of conflict in terms of the weather. It appears this is a rural area, because there is a farmer with a "plough going in the field." 16 Again, we have some threatening imagery, as she states the "wind seized our breath," which again makes the weather seem like it is a kind of personified villain. This is clearly a very beautiful natural setting, full of various flowers like "primroses" and "woodsorrel," violets, and so forth. While the setting feels threatening and suffocating, the setting changes once the "gay" and dancing. The setting is then described again in a threatening way, as "stormy," "cheerless and gloomy." The story's setting at the end appears to be a hotel or business. 17 2. Plot - what happens in the story and in what order? How does the order of the events impact their meaning? The plot of the story is kind of simple. It appears to be chronological: it starts with the narrator setting out on a walk from Eusemere. The conflict is that they want to go on a walk, but the weather is "threatening." Despite this weather, they continue their way until they found the daffodils 18 The climax of the story is when they must fight their antagonist, the wind ("so we faced the storm"), and finally arrive at what seems to be a hotel called "Dobson's." Dorothy and William sit reading by the fire, missed someone named Mary, and then they went to bed. 19 3. Characters - who are the people (or sometimes animals or other entities) in the story? What kinds of characters are they? How are they characterized? • Dorothy Wordsworth is the narrator. We do not get a description of her, but we can tell that she knows a lot about botany, as she seems to be able to identify lots of flowers. She seems to "rest" a lot on the walk. Probably the most developed of characters (round and dynamic) because she perseveres through the stormy weather and seems somewhat changed by the happy daffodils. 20 • Mrs. C. Flat and static character. We do not get a lot of information about this character except that she calls a certain plant "pile wort." • Wind/stormy weather. Seems to be a personified antagonist, because it is described as "threatening" and that it "seized" their breath • Daffodils. Personified as dancing, happy flower friends, who "rested their heads" on stones like "pillows" and dance in the stormy weather. 21 • Sour landlady. Flat & static character, not a lot of description except for being "sour." • Young woman. Flat & static character. We just know she treated Dorothy "kindly." • William. Reader. Someone close to narrator. Cozy by fire. • Mary. Someone close to narrator that apparently, they "miss." 22 4. Figurative Language - how does the author effectively use language as an artistic tool to render the story? What metaphors, similes, or descriptive imagery does the author use to make the story immersive, and why? It is interesting how the human characters receive barely any description, but the natural landscape is described in very specific detail. This emphasis bubbles up in the personification of the landscape. As described in the section on setting, it seems interesting how the weather and flowers are personified or anthropomorphized (that is, non-human entities described with human characteristics). 23 The weather is described as a kind of antagonist, "threatening," "cheerless and gloomy." It even seems violent, in the sense that it "seized" the breath of Dorothy and William. Then the flowers are described almost like friends, reeling and dancing, "resting their heads" from weariness that might mirror the resting that Dorothy and William take throughout the story. They "rested, again and again." It seems as if Dorothy is projecting her feelings onto the environment, and that the daffodils helped her get through whatever 24 "weariness" she might be feeling. As the above analysis shows, even a relatively short work of literature has alot to analyze. This is just one interpretation among many possible interpretations. The idea is to closely examine a story to determine how the way it is written (setting, plot, character, figurative language) influences its meaning to you (interpretation). There are not necessarily "right" or "wrong" answers. More so, there are answers supported by the text and those that are not. For now, keep in mind those questions about setting, plot, characters, and figurative language. Apply them to whatever stories you read. Take notes as you read. This material could form the basis of your first 25 literary analysis essay! ACTIVITY Read the following reading texts and answer the questions that follows: Text 1 The room was silent. As she walked to the oak podium, the carpet muffed the sound of her footsteps. Beyond the windows, there was only blue, and she remembered her own days as an undergraduate, days when she sat, pen in hand, far at the back of a room, filled with excitement. 26 Now, she cleared her mind of the other things occupying her mind, things she could not tell anyone in this room about, things that shaped her own unwritten story. The problem that obsessed her receded to the end of a long and distant tunnel, and what she needed to do now was the only thing that came into focus. “Welcome to Writing Creative Nonfiction,” she said. “I’m Tilar Mazzeo, and together we’ll be exploring what it means to write a great story.” 27 Text 2 The studio was oddly silent. She could see only the legs of the cameramen, hunched over the cameras, with their empty glass camera eyes staring back at her like space aliens. As she walked across the stage to the oak podium, the carpet muffed the sound of her footsteps, and the spotlight blinded her for a moment. Beyond the false windows, there was only a blue panel, meant to suggest the sky, and she remembered her own days as an undergraduate. Her shoes hurt, and she wished she had chosen another pair this morning. 28 But of course, she could not say that. She put that to the back of her mind. “Welcome to Writing Creative Nonfiction,” she said. “I’m Tilar Mazzeo, and together we’ll be exploring what it means to write a great story.” 29 Questions: 1. Which of the two reading texts can be a great example of creative nonfiction? 2. Do a close reading of your chosen text and analyze it based from the following aspects: a. Setting b. Plot c. Characters d. Figurative Language 30 Just as how the daffodils empower Dorothy in today’s story, we must also find ways on how to continuously protect ourselves against stress and anxiety. And one best way is by looking at the beauty of nature. Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. Expose yourself to nature, it is good to your health. 31 THANKS!
