Forms and Types of Creative Non fiction
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Definition of Autobiography
Autobiography is one type of biography, which tells a life story of its author, meaning it is a written record of the author’s life. Rather than being written by somebody else, an autobiography comes through the person’s own pen, in his own words. Some autobiographies are written in the form of a fictional tale; as novels or stories that closely mirror events from the author’s real life. Such stories include Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, and J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. In writing about personal experience, one discovers himself. Therefore, it is not merely a collection of anecdotes – it is a revelation to the readers about author’s self-discovery.
Examples of Autobiography in Literature
Example #1: The Box: Tales from the Darkroom (by Gunter Grass)
A noble laureate and novelist, Gunter Grass, has shown a new perspective of self-examination by mixing up his quilt of fictionalized approach in his autobiographical book, “The Box: Tales from the Darkroom.” Adopting the individual point of view of each of his children, Grass narrates what his children think about him as their father and a writer. Though it is really an experimental approach, due to Grass’ linguistic creativity and dexterity, it gains an enthralling momentum.
Example #2: The Story of My Life (by Helen Keller)
In her autobiography, The Story of My Life, Helen Keller recounts her first twenty years, beginning with the events of the childhood illness that left her deaf and blind. In her childhood, a writer sent her a letter and prophesied, “Someday you will write a great story out of your own head that will be a comfort and help to many.”
In this book, Keller mentions prominent historical personalities, such as Alexander Graham Bell, whom she met at the age of six, and with whom she remained friends for several years. Keller paid a visit to John Greenleaf Whittier, a famous American poet, and shared correspondence with other eminent figures, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Generally, Keller’s autobiography is about overcoming great obstacles through hard work and pain.
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BIOGRAPHY
Definition of Biography
A biography is simply an account or detailed description about the life of a person. It entails basic facts, such as childhood, education, career, relationships, family, and death. Biography is a literary genre that portrays the experiences of all these events occurring in the life of a person, mostly in a chronological order. Unlike a resume or profile, a biography provides a life story of a subject, highlighting different aspects of his of her life. A person who writes biographies, is called as a “biographer.”
Examples of Biography in Literature
Example #1: Shakespeare: A Life (By Park Honan)
This biography is the most accurate, up-to-date, and complete narrative ever written about the life of William Shakespeare. Park Honan has used rich and fresh information about Shakespeare in order to change the perceptions of readers for the playwright, and his role as a poet and actor.
This book completely differs from other biographies that imagine different roles for him, commenting on his sexual relationships and colorful intrigues. Though detailed psychological theories and imaginative reforms about the famous playwright could be amusing, in fact, they damage the credibility of the sources. Therefore, many attempts have been made to know about Shakespeare, but this one is a unique example.
Example #2: Arthur Miller: Attention Must Be Paid (By James Campbell)
This biography is written in the form of a drama, presented in just two acts. In the first act, the author shows the famous dramatist, Arthur Miller, in his early success, having the love of the most beloved woman in the world, and resisting tyranny. However, in the second act of this biography, the author shows that the hero was badly assaulted and ridiculed by a rowdy mob called critics, who are expelled from the conventional theater. He ends his book with rhetorical details related to a revitalization in the fortunes of the playwright.
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LITERARY
Literary Terms
Literary terms refer to the technique, style, and formatting used by writers and speakers to masterfully emphasize, embellish, or strengthen their compositions. Literary terms can refer to playful techniques employed by comedians to make us laugh or witty tricks wordsmiths use to coin new words or phrases. They can also include the tools of persuasion that writers use to convince and drive audiences to action. With their carefully crafted speeches geared towards both logical and emotional thinking, they challenge our everyday modes of thinking.
Literary terms also include powerful figurative language that writers use to summon emotion ranging from guilt to anger to bliss, and to allow us to see the world in new and magical ways. Words can be arranged to give poems, songs, and prose alike, rhythm and musicality. They can animate a story with such wealth of detail, character development, and action that as readers, we are taken by a story, and feel as if the people on the page are real. Literary terms have a wide range of application, from the poet’s beauty, to the speaker’s persuasion, to the novelist’s story development.
The importance of Literary Terms
Literary terms are important in a wide variety of ways. They allow writers and speakers to make comments on society, politics, and trends. Rhetorical Devices can be used to strengthen arguments which persuade and convince audiences. Poetic figurative language can summon emotions and visions of nature and the world in unique and compelling ways. Literary terms have the power to create serious, comedic, or whimsical moods via tools of persuasion, poeticism, and wordplay.
When to use Literary Terms
This depends. The variety of uses for literary terms spans across genres and is remarkably wide-ranging based on the goals or needs of the writer. Below we have categorized this vast subject.
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JOURNALISM/REPORTAGE
By: Richard Nordquist
Literary journalism is a form of nonfiction that combines factual reporting with some of the narrative techniques and stylistic strategies traditionally associated with fiction. Also called narrative journalism.
In his ground-breaking anthology The Literary Journalists (1984), Norman Sims observed that literary journalism "demands immersion in complex, difficult subjects. The voice of the writer surfaces to show that an author is at work."
Classic Examples of Literary Journalism
EXAMPLE #1
First published in 1931, A Hanging is one of George Orwell's best-known essays. To test your understanding of Orwell's narrative, take this brief quiz, and then compare your responses with the answers on page two.
EXAMPLE #2
At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, an estimated magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit San Francisco, lasting for approximately 45 to 60 seconds. While the earth rolled and the ground split, the wooden and brick buildings of San Francisco toppled. Within half an hour of the San Francisco earthquake, 50 fires had erupted from broken gas pipes, downed power lines, and overturned stoves.
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires killed an estimated 3,000 people and left over half of the city's population homeless. Around 500 city blocks with 28,000 buildings were destroyed during this devastating natural catastrophe.
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PERSONAL NARRATIVES
Definition of a Personal Narrative
A personal narrative can be defined as,
“A personal account which offers details, analysis and a personal opinion from a particular happening or event, experienced by the writer”.
Each one of us has experiences stuck fast into our memories, which are creditable of sharing with the audience and in case of narrative writing a writer gets an opportunity to assume and write about themselves.
PERSONAL NARRATIVE EXAMPLES
Personal Narration
Personal narration is an amazing way to demonstrate and share your life experiences with others. Personal narrative topics always deal with the things related to personal life of the writer. You enclose things that occur around you.
The end goal of is to give it a life or sense that produces an effect on the readers. Remember, a good narration always creates dramatic effects on the readers either make them laugh or give them pleasure or fright.
Personal narratives by high school students or personal narratives written by teens may have different stories based on their life experiences and age. However, the basic structure and method are always the same.
Structure of a Personal Narrative Sample
Personal experiences or narrative stories can be written in different ways. The three most commonly adaptive structures include chronological approach, reflective approach or flashback sequence. Your selection for the structure always depends on the story you are going to tell. A brief description of each structure is described here,
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TRAVELOGUE
travelogue
- a lecture on travels, usually accompanied by the showing of pictures
- a film, usually short, about a foreign or out-of-the-way place, esp. one that emphasizes the place's unusual or glamorous aspects
- a lecture on travels, usually accompanied by the showing of pictures
- a film, usually short, about a foreign or out-of-the-way place, esp. one that emphasizes the place's unusual or glamorous aspects
Travelogue Samples
What is a reflective essay (essay definition)
A reflective essay is a paper that entails a writer to expound about their personal experience and relate to the audience appropriately through writing. The experience matters along with personal ideas, opinions and even feelings about the situation and how the situation affected the author or others. A reflective paper is usually self-centered in that a writer has to speak from the first point of view for the events under description.
Many students fail to understand the meaning of reflective essay and therefore cannot write a reflective paper template which is clear to examiners. A reflective paper is all about relating a current situation with some past events. A reflection is creating of an image which shares attributes with the real object, same way to reflective writing, you are required to describe a past event and show the reader how it repeats itself later on. As an author there are some of the key points that you should have to yourself to come up with good content for your essay:
- You have to create a link between your writing, yourself and the surrounding. You have to mention to the reader how the three aspects relate to each other.
- Applying your senses is also necessary, as one has to explain what they have seen before, what they have heard and what they have read about the theme under discussion.
- Application of the knowledge acquired. To come up with a good reflection essay the writer has to know how to apply the knowledge they have acquired in class with the real world.
- You should write the text in first person narration because a reflective essay is more subjective to the writer and therefore the events should have happened in their lives in one way or another. It’s more of a testimony narration.
Many examiners at different levels of education usually involve the students in writing of reflective papers because it helps them to reflect on what they study and its application in the real world. Some of the important characteristics of reflective writing include:
– It helps students reflect on the lectures that they have been taught in class and apply it in the real world. Learning about a concept is one thing and applying it is another thing, so it is good for students to develop a mindset where they can understand how to go about when it comes to the real application of the concepts they learn in class.
– It improves the creativity of the students – for you to reflect what you have studied and applied you have to be creative because in most cases things are usually not straight as they are in class, there is some creativity needed.
– It helps is keeping records – learning about a concept is not enough, you have to reflect on it so that you can remember it lest it gets out of your mind.
Reflective essay examples
There are different examples of reflections that you can use in encryption of your reflective essay. One of the reflections is personal reflection essay. In a personal reflective essay, a writer is expected to give a narration about their experiences and how it impacts their lives. It is good to go through various sample essays because it improves your ability to handle different topics without a problem. Exposure to different essays structure examples enables you to advance in the techniques of writing.
You can also detect errors made by other authors and correct them when it comes to your writing. Due to the modern technology, there are different resources on the internet where you can get access to reflective essay examples. You can get this structure examples in articles, journals, and even magazines. There are also educational sites that contain samples of reflective essays, and these can also help to improve your prowess in writing.
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TRUE NARRATIVES
A true narrative essay, remember is a story, based on actual events. You are required to compose a true narrative essay about an incident that you experienced or observed. The form of the true narrative is undefined; the purpose in telling the story is to express a point or observation.
Examples of Narrative:
When your friend tells a story about seeing a deer on the way to school, he or she is using characteristics of a narrative.
Fairy tales are narratives. The plot typically begin with "Once upon a time ..." and end with "happily ever after."
Novels that you read are narratives. For example the Harry Potter series is a set of books that relate the story of Harry's education as a wizard at Hogwarts, and his fight against the evil Voldemort.
Another novel, Charlotte's Web, tells the story of how a young pig's life is saved by a spider who writes words about him in her web.
Plays also have narrative plots. For example, Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two young lovers whose families' hatred of each other leads to their untimely deaths.
Another play, Macbeth, tells the story of the ambitious Macbeth and his wife, who plot to kill the king, and then instead of gaining power, their plot is found out.
Sometimes, poetry can be narrative. For example, "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe tells the story of a man whose young wife died, but he goes and sits in her tomb to be near her.
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BLOGS
What is a Blog?
Definition of blog
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.
What is the purpose of a blog?
There are many reasons for starting a personal blog and only a handful of strong ones for business blogging. Blogging for business, projects, or anything else that might bring you money has a very straightforward purpose – to rank your website higher in Google SERPs, a.k.a. increase your visibility.
As a business, you rely on consumers to keep buying your products and services. As a new business, you rely on blogging to help you get to these consumers and grab their attention. Without blogging, your website would remain invisible, whereas running a blog makes you searchable and competitive.
So, the main purpose of a blog is to connect you to the relevant audience.
Another one is to boost your traffic and send quality leads to your website.
The more frequent and better your blog posts are, the higher the chances for your website to get discovered and visited by your target audience. Which means, a blog is an effective lead generation tool. Add a great call to action (CTA), and it will convert your website traffic into high-quality leads.
But a blog also allows you to showcase your authority and build a brand.
When you use your niche knowledge for creating informative and engaging posts, it builds trust with your audience. Great blogging makes your business looks more credible, which is especially important if your brand is still young and fairly unknown. It ensures presence and authority at the same time.
Blog structure
The appearance of blogs changed over time, and nowadays blogs include different items. But, most blogs include some standard features and structure. Here are common features that a typical blog will include:
- Header with the menu or navigation bar
- Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts
- Sidebar with social profiles, favorite content, or call-to-action
- Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy, contact page, etc.
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TESTIMONIO
Testimonio is generally defined as a first-person narration of socially significant experiences in which the narrative voice is that of a typical or extraordinary witness or protagonist who metonymically represents others who have lived through similar situations and who have rarely given written expression to them
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