LITERARY
NONFICTION
UNIT
Introduction: Purpose, Diction, Tone, Syntax
Quick Write:
Why do people read/ write? Give
as many reasons as possible. Also,
generally speaking, why do you
read/write?
Your little sibling has just snuck into your room (AGAIN) to steal
something he/she has no business with (i.e. your iPad).
Establish a clear tone for each of the purposes implied below.
Write down these messages.
• You decide to present your case to your parental figure,
attempting to persuade him/her to your side to effect change
(i.e. keep the brat out of your stuff)
• You talk to your little sibling and want to scare him/her into
staying out of your room
• You vent to your friend about the little sibling’s offenses
• You write an essay in English class on sibling rivalry, and choose
the example with your sibling as an anecdote for the essay
• Definition: The quality of writing that sets the
writer apart as a human and not a
robot/machine
• Components:
• Word Choice (AKA Diction)
• Sentence Structure (AKA Syntax)
• Tone (established by diction as necessitated by
purpose)—attitude toward topic/ reader
• Emotions (or lack thereof)– how do you affect your
reader?
Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about
that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk,
the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge Signed it. And
Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to
put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.
Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what
there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been
inclined, myself, to regard a coffin nail as the deadest piece of
ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the
simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s
done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that
Marley was as dead as a doornail.
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
First the colors.
Then the humans.
That’s usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.
***Here is a small fact***
You are going to die.
I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic,
though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my
protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitelycan be cheerful. I can be
amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that’s only the A’s. Just don’t ask me to be
nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.
***Reaction to the aforementioned fact***
Does this worry you? I urge you—don’t be afraid. I’m nothing if not fair.
Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
“You don’t know about me, without you have read a book
by the name of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” but that
ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain,
and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he
stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I
never seen anybody but lied, one time or another, without it
was Aunty Polly—Tom’s Aunt Polly, she is—and Mary, and
the Widow Douglas, is all told about in that book—which is
mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.”
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie’s baseball
mitt. It was a very descriptive subject. It really was. My
brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was
left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it,
though, was that he had poems written all over the
fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green
ink. He wrote them on it so that he’d have something to
read when he was in the field and nobody was up at
bat. He’s dead now. He got leukemia and died when
we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You’d have
liked him.
JD Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
I don't think that there is a favorite kid in our family. There are three of us
and I am the youngest. My brother is the oldest. He is a very good football
player and likes his car. My sister is very pretty and mean to boys and she
is in the middle. I get straight A's now like my sister and that is why they
leave me alone.
My mom cries a lot during TV programs. My dad works a lot and is an
honest man. My Aunt Helen used to say that my dad was going to be too
proud to have a midlife crisis. It took me until around now to understand
what she meant by that because he just turned forty and nothing has
changed.
My Aunt Helen was my favorite person in the whole world. She was my
mom's sister. She got straight A's when she was a teenager and she used to
give me books to read. My father said that the books were a little too old
for me, but I liked them so he just shrugged and let me read.
Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
TRUE STORIES, WELL TOLD
In some ways, creative nonfiction is like jazz—it’s a rich mix of
flavors, ideas, and techniques, some of which are newly invented
and others as old as writing itself. Creative nonfiction can be an
essay, a journal article, a research paper, a memoir, or a poem;
it can be personal or not, or it can be all of these.
The words “creative” and “nonfiction” describe the form. The
word “creative” refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques
fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present
nonfiction—factually accurate prose about real people and
events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner. The goal is to
make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that your readers are
as enthralled by fact as they are by fantasy.
https://www.creativenonfiction.org/about
• Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the
Wilderness
• Truman Capote, In Cold Blood
• Pat Conroy, The Water is Wide
• Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
• Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting
By in America
• David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day
• Danny Wallace, Yes Man
• Richard Wright, Black Boy
• Personal memoirs begin in the late 20th century (1980 onward,
for those of you who don’t know how to count centuries)
• Literary representations of memory (not of
history)
• [T]he best memoirists allow their life experiences to shed light on
a culture, a historical moment, a time, a place, a social problem,
a political issue that remains timely. –Natalia Rachel Singer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Night by Elie Wiesel
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave
Eggers
Marley and Me by John Grogan
A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
• Write the way you talk. Stop trying to
impress people.
•This does not mean you can write
poorly—you still need to think through
your writing and revise/edit your drafts.
But you want your personality to shine.
• Be simple and clear.
• Write honestly. Don’t censor yourself.
Let’s look at this example from a
memoir and explore how the author is
being authentic.
We will try to identify elements of his
style, too.
In Houston, where I grew up, the only change in the
weather came in late October when cold is sent down
from Canada. Weathermen in Dallas would call
weathermen in Houston so people knew to bring their
plants in and watch after their dogs. The cold came down
the interstate, tall and blue, and made reflections in the
mirrored windows of large buildings, moving over the
Gulf of Mexico as if to prove that sky holds magnitude
over water. In Houston, in October, everybody walks
around with a certain energy as if they are going to be
elected president the next day, as if they are going to
get married.
• For our unit on literary nonfiction, you will read several
examples of memoirs, and then compose your own memoir.
• Sure, you could be lame and write a brief memoir about
your first day of kindergarten (which you don’t even really
remember).
• But why would you want to do that when you could dig
deeply into memories of experiences that shook the
foundations of your being? That molded you into the young
adult you are now?
• Whether you seek to fill the minimum of the assignment or
to pull brilliance from your past, here are the details:
• Your memoir must be at least two pages long
• Conventions should be followed, but can be stretched for creative
purposes (i.e. use a sentence fragment for effect). Don’t try to
excuse bad grammar as “creative writing.” You won’t fool me.
• First-person narration is a must. It’s a memoir, after all.
• Exercise those literary techniques. Throw in some dialogue, and be
creative in your story-telling. Follow your VOICE.
• Tell the truth!
• Avoid unnecessary details, but make sure to finish painting the
scene for the reader. Have a purpose, and convey your message
completely but concisely.
• Write first, edit later. Don’t worry about your grammar while
you’re getting your ideas on the page. But please, do edit later.
Seriously. Do it.
• ROUGH DRAFT—WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 4
• FINAL DRAFT—WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 11
Some vocabulary to know…
• Dialogue= character conversation
• An essential part of most short stories and novels. It is always
better to show or have happen than to explain or to describe,
and dialogue is one way to “show” and not “tell.”
• Dialogue Tags= identify who is speaking
• Examples of common dialogue tags include:
I said
She said
Fred said
Mark commented
Sallie yelled
muttered Janice
said Max
asked William
All talking needs to be surrounded by
quotation marks (").
"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your
bedroom," he wheezed at Harry.
The comma has to go inside the quotation
marks.
Instead of using a period at the end of the
speech, use a comma if you are going to tell
who is talking.
"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said
the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've
got yer mum's eyes.”
If you use a question mark, you don't need a
comma too.
"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing
like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If
any dog needs exercise, that one does.”
If you use an exclamation mark, you don't
need to change to a comma.
"A stone that makes gold and stops you ever
dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it!
Anyone would want it.”
If you have interrupted speech, to let the reader
know who is speaking, a comma is needed
before the break, and after the speaker's name.
"Professor," Harry gasped, "your bird - I couldn't
do anything - he just caught fire –”
If someone is thinking about something, but doesn't
say it out loud, you can either use quotation marks or
not. Either way is acceptable.
Of course, he thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking
about the stupid dinner party.
Rowling chose not to use quotations around Harry's thoughts.
She could just have easily used them like this...
"Of course," he thought bitterly, "Uncle Vernon was talking
about the stupid dinner party.”
The “Art” of Good Writing
• Helps the reader experience the story
• How?
• Well-chosen details– “Theory of omission”– what you leave
out is as important as what you include
• See Hemingway’s “Iceberg Principle”
If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing
about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if
the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those
things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The
dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only oneeighth of it being above water.
• VIVID scenes
• Don’t do it all the time—it takes more words and time to
develop
TELLS
SHOWS
Mr. Bobweave heaved
Mr. Bobweave was a
fat, ungrateful old man. himself out of the chair. As
his feet spread under his
apple-like frame and his
arthritic knees popped and
cracked in objection, he
pounded the floor with his
cane while cursing that
dreadful girl who was late
again with his coffee.
“Good writers …let us see people and ideas in action
rather than depend on qualifiers. They give us specifics:
strong nouns, precise verbs, actions we can see and hear,
reactions we can feel. An apple is big, red, round, crisp,
shiny, and juicy. Unless this is a commercial for McIntosh
apples, so what? Instead, a writer would try to show
something about the apple only if there’s something to be
shown—if a quality of the apple reflects some meaning in
the sentence or story. For example: I gobbled the green
apples I found in the clearing. Now we have specific: hunger,
unripe apples, a forest setting: now the apple beings to
have a significance we can understand (Atwell, p. 165).
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strong diction (word choice)
Vivid images
Inference
Metaphor
Understatement
Unreliable Narrator
Ambiguity
Dialogue
Describe a young boy who is
waiting in line to go on a ride at
an amusement park for the first
time in his life. Do not use the
words excited, fun, or line.
Any suggestions for situations?
Don’t ALWAYS show instead of telling.
A balance of the two is very important
to avoid being too dramatic and
wordy. As you read your work, make
sure you are choosing the best details
to use, and avoid unnecessary
words/descriptions.
• An author’s diction is the word choices
he/she makes to convey a particular tone
(attitude)
• Diction is one part of an author’s voice, or
personality
• Diction is also an important part of Show,
Don’t Tell—the words you choose to
convey the thought can either show or tell
• There are SO MANY WORDS in the English
language—choose the words that best fit your
purposes/ desired tone
• Some authors spend hours/days/weeks agonizing over
a single word choice (particularly in poems)—do you
care enough about your words? Should you?
• Consider how your word selection(s) fit in their
position(s)– is that the best word for that phrase? That
sentence?
• Consider also CONNOTATION and DENOTATION
• Denotation: the literal, “dictionary definition” meaning of a word
• Connotation: the commonly understood, subjective cultural
association of meaning with a word, in addition to the dictionary
definition
• For example, we use many different terms for young people. While “little one” and
“brat” both literally refer to a young person, “little one” usually has a positive
connotation (association), whereas “brat” typically has a negative connotation. You
wouldn’t want to compliment a young mother by calling her child a “cute little brat.”
(Child usually has a neutral connotation).
• Other examples:
• “Stink” versus “aroma”
• “Reckless” plan versus “daring” plan
• “Easygoing” friend versus “lazy” friend
• Answer with “arrogance” versus answer with “confidence”
For the following images, write
as many words as possible with
POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, and
NEUTRAL connotations.
• Verbs add power to stories, and can
create description more effectively than
relying on adjectives (which can clutter
writing).
• Let’s read this blog post by Donald Miller
(creative nonfiction writer) to discover
more…
“My father shakes his head. Doctor says he’ll have to take her to
examine her and Dad signs a paper. My mother begs for another
few minutes with her baby but the doctor says he doesn’t have all
day. When Dad reaches for Margaret my mother pulls away
against the wall. She has the wild look, her black curly hair is damp
on her forehead and there is sweat all over her face, her eyes are
wide open and her face is shiny with tears, she keeps shaking her
head and moaning, Ah, no, ah, no, till Dad eases the baby from her
arms. The doctor wraps Margaret completely in a blanket and my
mother cries, Oh, Jesus, you’ll smother her. Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
help me. The doctor leaves. My mother turns to the wall and doesn’t
make a move or sound. The twins are awake, crying with the hunger,
but Dad stands in the middle of the room, starting at the ceiling. His
face is white and he beats on his thighs with his fists. He comes to the
bed, puts his hand on my head. His hand is shaking. Francis, I’m
going for cigarettes.”
Write about an interaction
from the book you’re reading
(or your life), using VERBS to
describe…choose the most
effective words possible
• Syntax= sentence structure
• Like diction, it’s important that you
vary your syntax to keep your
readers engaged.
• Choose the best possible phrasing
• Part of your VOICE/STYLE
• Review the sheet of suggestions for
varying your syntax.
• Keep this sheet! You should refer to it
throughout the semester.
Follow the directions on the
back of your sheet to
practice varying your syntax.
Write a page description of your
best friend. Consider his/her
appearance, personality,
hobbies/interests, family life, etc.
Try to be as creative as possible
and use strong diction/syntax.
Without talking, each group
member writes one sentence of a
story…pass clockwise until time
is up.
• Begin with the line “I remember” or
“I don’t remember” and write for 15
minutes.
OR
• Freewrite about any topic you
choose for 15 minutes.
SUDDEN
FICTION
UNIT
Information, Plot, Example
• Says all it can in as few words as it can—under 2,000
words
• May not include all elements of plot
• Sudden “point of attack”
• Freedom/variety within tight boundaries
• Ideally created in one sitting
• Should be read like a poem—
slowly
• Focus on specific mood, image, character
quirk, scene, theme, etc.
• Events as symbols
• Use 1-2 characters in one setting for one
conflict and one theme…begin conflict in
first sentence
• Aim for the gut…throw an emotional punch
“Oh yes, the reader says: a couple quarreling
in a sidewalk restaurant, a nine-year-old boy
stealing a Scripto in Woolworth's, a woman
crying in the bathtub. We've seen that before.
We know where we are. Don't give us details;
we don't need them. What we need is surprise,
a quick turning of the wrist toward texture, or
wisdom, something suddenly broken
or quickly repaired. Yes, we know these people.
Now just tell us what they do.” (SF. p.229)
According to Steve Almond, "readers are drawn
to stories not because of your dazzling prose, but
because they wish to immerse themselves in a
world of danger. More precisely, in the heart of
a particular character on the brink of emotional
tumult... readers don't want typical. They turn to
fiction for that particular slice of life when typical
blows up or breaks down and gives way to the
inherent chaos of the human heart.”
This Won’t Take But a Minute, Honey
• Start in the middle
• Don’t use too many characters
• Deliberate on the title
• Make your last line super
important…twist? Punch line?
• Write long, then cut short…sculpt it!
Sudden Fiction
Example–
“Just Before Recess”
by James Van Pelt
SUDDEN FICTION ASSIGNMENT
For our unit on sudden fiction, you will work to compose a 500-1500 word story
that follows the conventions of the genre. Your rough draft is due Wednesday,
October 2, and the final draft will be due Friday, October 4.
Your story should include the following components:
•Dialogue—with the proper punctuation
•Powerful and concise language (diction) and sentence structure (syntax)
•Narrative arc (plot) for SF—troubling conflict, Iceberg Principle, etc.
•Characterization—only significant details included
•Proper grammar and mechanics
•Strong and effective use of imagery
Your story will be graded based on the above components. It will be graded with
our 10 point system:
GRADE
EXPLANATION
100
EXCELLENT MASTERY
90
ABOVE AVERAGE
80
MASTERY LEVEL
70 OR BELOW
BELOW MASTERY
• Characterization—process of revealing personality of a character
• Character- a person in a work (sometimes animals are characters)
• Ways to reveal character:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Speaking
Appearance
Inner thoughts and feelings
What other characters think/say about the character
Actions
Tell us directly: cruel, kind, sneaky, etc.
• Indirect Characterization- (first 5 ways) we have to use our own
judgment to decide what a character is like, based on the evidence
the writer gives us.
• Direct characterization- (#6) we don’t have to decide; we’re told
How does the
appearance of each
character indicate
personality?
• PROTAGONIST—The character the
story revolves around
• ANTAGONIST—The character or
force that opposes the protagonist
• Characters are classified as:
• Static- one who does not change much
• Dynamic- character changes as a result of the story’s events
• Flat- has only one or two traits
• Round- like a real person, has many different character traits
(usually protagonists)
• Motivation- the fears or conflicts that drive a character
(ex: vengeance, fear, greed, love, boredom)
• Motivation plays a role in characterization as well—by analyzing
motivation, we can make judgments re: character traits
Static—always mean
Dynamic—changes
Flat—pretty much
just evil
Round—stubborn, tenderhearted, playful, loyal, etc.
•Read “The Bank Robbery”
and look for elements of
characterization.
1. Fill in the Character Development
Questionnaire to create your own character.
2. Place your character in a predicament. Start
with what might be considered the end of the
rising action/ beginning of the climax. Quickly
explore and conclude the problem. Aim for
about a page of writing.
“Sunday in the
Park”
Read the story in groups of 3-4, and discuss how
the author uses characterization to intensify
the conflict—be prepared to share
1) Couple stranded on a rural road with a
broken-down car
2) Friend #1 reveals a lie he/she told
Friend #2, either purposefully or
accidentally
USE YOUR CHARACTER IN THE SITUATION
• Describe yourself using only six words.
• Examples:
•Red hair. People expect me feisty.
•Half Jewish. Half Italian. Totally Stuffed.
•Miss being blond. People expect less.
•Yesterday wounded. Today healing.
Tomorrow peace.
•My life is no longer mine.
•What is [happiness]?
•You can insert another emotional
noun here– i.e. regret; joy; guilt;
anxiety; contentment, etc.
•Only write on one side…all
words must fit!
Now, cut unnecessary words from your
explanation. Rewrite the prompt with
fewer words/ sentences on the back of
the card, taking up NO MORE THAN ½
OF THE ORIGINAL SPACE.
• Language that appeals to the senses
• I sit in a small booth next to Jane, her hip against my hip. Our
coats are all bunched up across from us along with Tiny. Her hair
is falling in all these big curls on her shoulders, and she’s
wearing this non-weather appropriate top with thin straps and
quite a lot of eye makeup.
• I awake to the sound of my alarm clock, blaring rhythmically,
and it seems as loud as an air siren, shouting at me with such
ferocity that it sort of hurts my feelings. I roll over in bed, and
squint through the darkness: It’s 5:43 in the morning. My alarm
doesn’t go off until 6:57. And only then do I realize: That sound
is not my alarm clock. It is a car horn, honking, sounding some
kind of terrible siren song through the streets of Evanston, a
howling warning of doom.