CREATIVE

NONFICTION
Definition
Forms and Types
Elements
Literary Elements in Fiction
It is a genre that presents or
treats information using the
tools of fiction writing while
maintaining allegiance to
fact.
(Gutkind,2008)
 Literary Nonfiction
 Narrative Nonfiction

 Literary Journalism

 Imaginative Nonfiction
 Lyric Essay
 Personal Narrative

 Literary Memoir
 Fact
 Extensive research
 Reportage/reporting
 Personal experience and
personal opinion
 Explanation/Exposition
 Essay/Format
 Biography  True Narrative
 Autobiography  Literary
 Memoir Journalism/Reportage
 Journals  Speeches (Oratory)
 Diaries  Testimonio
 Personal essay  Letter
 Lyric essay  Food writing
 Reflective essay  Travelogue
 Blogs
 Characters: Characters in CNF are real
people.
 Dialogue: It is the conversation between
characters in narratives.
 Diction: It is the writer’s choice of words.
 Figurative Language: A type of language
that varies from the norms of literal
language, in which words mean exactly
what they say for the sake of comparison,
emphasis, clarity, or freshness.
 Plot: It refers to the sequence of events
that give a story its meaning and effect.
 Point of View: It refers to the perspective
from which a story is told.
 Setting: It is the story’s time and place.
 Style: It refers to the language
conventions used to construct a story.
 Narrative: It is a timeline that is either
linear or nonlinear, depending on how
the author tells the story.
 Symbol: It is a literary device that contains
several layers of meaning, often concealed
at first sight, and is representative of
several other concepts/traits that those
that are visible in the literal translation
alone.
 Theme: It is the meaning and concept we
are left after reading a piece of writing.
 Tone: It is the writer’s attitude towards his
or her subject matter.
 Flashback: It is a literary device in
which an earlier or past event is
inserted or the normal
chronological order of a narrative.
 Flash Forward: It is also known as
prolepsis. It is a literary device in
which the plot goes ahead of time
(i.e. A scene that interrupts and takes the
narrative forward in time from the current time
in a story.)
 Foreshadowing: It is a literary device in
which the author hints certain plot
development that perhaps will come later in
the story.
 Imagery: It refers to the “pictures” in which
we perceive with our mind’s eyes, ears, nose,
tongue, skin and through which we
experience the “duplicate world” created by
the poetic language.
 Motif: It is any element, subject, idea or
concept that is constantly present through
the entire body of literature.
 Gutkind, Lee. Keep It Real: Everything You Need to
Know About Researching and Writing Creative
Nonfiction. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.

 Solmerano, Thaddeus, et.al. Creative Nonfiction.

Manila: Fastbooks Educational Supply, 2017.
 CREATIVE NON-FICTION
BIOGRAPHICAL LITERARY, FAMILIAR,
NARRATIVE PERSONAL ESSAYS

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
NARRATIVES

• Full-length
biography(popular,
literary, historical • Literary Reportage
bio) • Intimate writings not for • Descriptive essay
• Profile publication (letters, • Reflective essay
• Character sketch diaries, journals,
• Interview story memoirs,
reminiscences)
• Formal autobiography
 BIOGRAPHY
• It narrates the history of a
person’s life written by someone
else.
 PROFILE
• It is a biographical narrative on a
single aspect of a featured
person’s life.
• It gives meaning to a subject,
enabling the readers to know the
subject.
 PROFILE

http://www.abigailtarttelin.com/sketchbook/lone-wolf-magazine-profile-return-of-the-literary-rock-star/
 CHARACTER SKETCH
• It is a form of biographical
narrative shorter than a profile (it
can be called as a miniature life
story.)
• It can be a visual sketch.
 CHARACTER SKETCH

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/568086940468105412/
https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/473370610805122074/
 INTERVIEW STORY
• It is a form of a biographical
narrative similar in length to a
newspaper or magazine article.
• It can be a product of just one
meeting between the interviewer
and the interviewee.
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY
• It is an account of one’s own life;
a narrative of major events.
• It is a biography of oneself.
 DIARY AND JOURNAL
• The terms are used
interchangeable since they are
used for recording personal
experiences, thoughts, and
feelings.
 DIARY AND JOURNAL
• However, a dairy is used to refer
to the day-to-day record of
specific events in an author’s life
while a journal is more intimate
than a diary.
 REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
• It is a kind of personal narrative
essay that aims to analyze the
significance of a past event
through serious thought using the
present point of view.
 REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
• It is sourced from memories
(repository of sensory
information, facts and figures
since infancy through personal
experiences).
 DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS
• It is a kind of creative non-fiction
that aims to represent the essence
of something through description
as the main rhetorical device (the
use of sensory details to describe
a place, person, or thing).
 DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS
Objective description: describes the subject
matter in a direct manner beyond the
realm of personal feelings and emotions.

Subjective description: also called

emotional description. It expresses the
writer’s personal feeling and impression
about the subject matter.
 LITERARY REPORTAGE
• It is a form of creative non-fiction
that presents verifiable data and
well-researched information.
• It is a hybrid between responsible
journalism and imaginative
literature.
 SPECIAL TYPES OF
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
TRAVEL WRITING NATURE WRITING

FOOD WRITING
 “To write well, read well.”
- Jose Dalisay, Jr.

https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/big-idea?sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=big%20idea
http://news-in-olympics-2012.blogspot.com/2010/04/
Aguila, A., Galan, R. & Wigley, J.
(2017). Telling the truth: The art of
creative nonfiction. Quezon City: C & E
Publishing.

REFERENCE
1. What is the distinguishing feature of the narrative?
2. How would you classify the narrative?
Would it be appropriate under other literary forms?
3. Cite two significant facts found in the narrative.
4. What is the theme of the narrative?
5. Cite one figurative language used by the writer.
6. Comment on the structure of the narrative.
7. Pick one passage from the narrative and comment on it.