Non-fictional Narrative
Writing
Make it personal!
Fictional –Not true
Non-fictional – true
Narrative – tells a story
Non-fictional narrative- tells a true
story
Examples of nonfictional narrative
writing:
 Biography
 Autobiography
 Memoir
 Narrative essay
 speech
BIOGRAPHICAL
Tell someone else’s story
Sea Biscuit: An
American Legend, by
Laura Hillenbrand
Left For Dead, by Pete
Nelson
Arthur Ashe
Remembered, John
McFee
Rosa Parks, Douglas
Brinkley
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL:
Tell your own story
 The preface of
Left For Dead,by
Hunter Scott
 “The Washwoman,”
by Isaac Singer
 “The Rights to the
Streets of
Memphis,” by
Richard Wright
Memoir examples:
 “Old Shoes,” Karen
Thornton
 “Body surfer, “Jude
Thornton
 “The Bouquet,”
Naomi Levy
 “The Talk,” Gary
Soto
Narrative Essay
May focus on persuasion, but by telling
personal experiences
*some informal editorials
*“A Few words,” Mary Oliver
*”Never Do That to a Book,” Ann Fadiman
*“The Talk,” (humorous essay) Gary Soto
*Your pet peeve editorial was a narrative essay
“On Summer,” Lorraine Hansberry
VOICE
…Is the verbal expression of who you are.
A writer’s voice reflects his or her personality
Your writing voice is the fingerprint of your writing
expression. It is your style, your way, your method, your
word fashion. No one else will “sound” like you do when
you write.
DEVELOP YOUR STYLE
By working hard during voice lessons in Mrs. Thornton’s
ninth grade English class. You are worth it!
Narrative Writing
and the Writer’s Voice
Work hard to establish five basic elements of voice:
1. Diction-word choice
2. syntax- sentence structure
3. Detail – the addition of information
4. Imagery and figurative language- appeal to the senses
5. Tone: attitude of author
Elements of voice or style in more
detail
 1. DICTION- This is your word choice and provides
the foundation of expression. Be clear with your
diction. Precise diction makes clear what the
reader means. Word choice is important in order to
create mood, provide accurate information, supply
imagery, or express specific emotion.
 2. DETAIL – This is your use of facts, observations and
examples. Use of detail enables the reader to
“participate” with you as he reads.
Imagery
– This is the language used to present a sensory
experience to the reader. There are five senses imagery
can help the reader to use. They are seeing, hearing,
touching (tactile), tasting, and smelling. Imagery is
created through detail, description, and figurative
language.
For example, a simile (figurative langauge) IS imagery.
Descriptive words ARE imagery.
Details CAN provide imagery.
SYNTAX
--This is your choice of sentence structure, your
arrangement of words. Syntax controls your focus or
message. Variations of syntax can cause tension or
provide relief. Syntax reveals the individuality of the
writer.
Examples of particular choices of sentence structure :
-Often begins sentences with prepositional phrases
- -Often uses compound-complex sentences often
- -Uses parallel structure often
- -Uses short statements mixed with long ones…
TONE
Tone is expressed by your own qualities, your persona,
your attitude! The tone is you coming off the pages and
into the head of the reader. It is the way the reader “gets”
you and your personality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXeINWQ5VHM&fea
ture=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
Grammar lesson focus: dependent clauses begin with a
subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun (after,
before, which, that, if, while, as if, as, because, who,
though, where, since, although…)
A subordinating conjunction always connects a
dependent clause to an independent clause, so we call
the sentence COMPLEX .
Which sentence is complex?
 1. After we set out for the park, the rain began to pour.
 2. After the rain, we went home.
 3. The rain came and we went home.
Is the following punctuation correct?
 The rain began to pour after we set out for the park.
Today’s Grammar Lesson:
An essential appositive does NOT need
commas
Non-essential appositive: The apple, picked this
afternoon, tasted yummy in my salad.
Essential appositive: The actor Dennis Quaid
will be signing autographs in the foyer
This is the format that an English student will use
when writing a paper. MLA requires specific fonts,
margins, headers, and a particular way of citing
sources. FYI, if you are writing a science or social
studies paper, you may be asked to use APA
(American Psychological Association) format,
which is slightly different.