FICTION VS. NONFICTION

1. FICTION VS. NONFICTION What is the difference?

2. Fiction - Prose writing that tells about characters and events from the author’s imagination. • ELEMENTS • Settingis the time and place where the story takes place. • Plotis the sequence of events that takes you through a story. The plot of a story includes the conflict , or problem, and then at the end, the resolution , or conclusion. • Characters are the people or animals that take part in the story’s action. A character’s traits, or qualities, can affect his or her thoughts, decisions, and actions. • Mood is the overall feeling that the work evokes in the reader. • Tone - the attitude of the author • Point of Viewis the perspective from which a story is told. • First-person point of view is the perspective of a character in the story. • Third-person point of view is the perspective of a narrator outside the story. • Themeis a message about life that a story conveys to its reader.

3. Types of Fiction Short Stories are brief works of fiction made up of plot, character, setting, point of view, and theme. Short stories usually focus on one main plot structured around one main conflict and can usually be read in one sitting. Novels are longer works of fiction. They contain the same elements as short stories—characters, plot, conflict, and setting. In addition to its main plot, a novel may contain subplots, or independent, related stories and conflicts. Novellas are works of fiction that are shorter than novels, but longer than short stories. Historical Fiction is literature that draws, in part, on real people and events to tell invented stories.

4. Elements of Nonfiction • Deal only with real people, events, or ideas. • Narrated from the point of view —or perspective—of the author, who is a real person. • Many things can affect the outcome of nonfiction writing other than the actual facts presented within the text. • Moodis the overall feeling that the work evokes in the reader. • Tone - the attitude of the author (may contain bias – look for word choice, information included/excluded, opinions) • Author’s Style consists of every feature of a writer’s use of language such as rhythm, language, and methods of organization.

5. Purposes of Nonfiction • Nonfiction is often written for specific purposes or reasons. Some nonfiction meets several of the following purposes: • To Persuade: Speeches and editorials are often written to convince an audience of a certain idea or opinion. • To Inform: Articles, reference books, historical essays and research papers present facts and information. • To Entertain: Biographies, autobiographies, and travel narratives are often written for the enjoyment of the audience.

6. Types of Nonfiction Writing The most common types of nonfiction writing: • Letters are written texts addressed to a particular person or organization. • Memoirs and journals contain personal thoughts and reflections. • Web logs —also known as “blogs”—are journals posted and frequently updated for an online audience.

7. Types of Nonfiction Writingcont’d • Media accounts are nonfiction works written for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio. • Essays and articles are short nonfiction works about a particular subject. They may follow the format of these types of writing: • Persuasive writing is meant to convince the reader to adopt a particular point of view or take a particular course of action. • Expository writing presents facts and ideas, or explains a process. • Narrative writing tells the story of real-life experiences. • Reflective writing addresses an experience and includes the writer’s insights about the event’s importance.

8. Types of Nonfiction Writingcont’d Biographies and autobiographies are life stories. • A biography is a life story written by another person. • An autobiography is the writer’s account of his or her own life.

9. You will write brief responses to each of the following topics. Each one should be at least one-half of a page but no more than one full page. • Identify yourself. • Include your likes, dislikes, prejudices, talents, shortcomings, personality traits, etc. • Tell the story of an event in your life that you consider to be very memorable. • Write about something, either abstract or concrete, which you hold to be of value. Tell why it is important to you. (e.g. A ring is a concrete item; honesty is abstract.) • Describe your family. Tell about parents, siblings, any important extended family, their ages, personalities, attitudes, hobbies, and occupations.

10. Author’s tone • is the writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject. This tone can often be described by a single adjective, such as formal or informal, serious or playful, friendly or cold. Voice • is a writer’s distinctive way of “speaking” in his or her writing. This voice may vary from work to work by the same writer, or it may represent a characteristic literary personality. Voice can be based on word choice, tone, sound devices, pace, and grammatical structure.

11. Elements of Nonfiction Writing Organization is the way a writer chooses to arrange and present information in a single piece of nonfiction. • Chronological organization presents details in time order—from first to last—or sometimes from last to first. • Comparison-and-contrast organization shows the ways in which two or more subjects are similar and different. • Cause-and-effect organization shows the relationship among events. • Problem-and-solution organization identifies a problem and then proposes a solution. • Main idea presents a main idea then supports it • List – simply lists details or facts about topic

12. Chronological order • You will know that you are reading a text in chronological order because you will see words like first, next, later, then, and finally

13. Chronological order • You will often see chronological order in directions: Have you ever made macaroni and cheese? It’s simple! First, boil some water and make some macaroni. Then, make your cheese sauce. After the cheese sauce is ready, mix it with the macaroni. Bake the entire thing in the oven. Finally, it’s time to eat!

14. Chronological order • You will often see chronological order in directions: Have you ever made macaroni and cheese? It’s simple! First, boil some water and make some macaroni. Then, make your cheese sauce. After the cheese sauce is ready, mix it with the macaroni. Bake the entire thing in the oven. Finally, it’s time to eat!

15. Pennsylvania has many historic sites. You can visit Revolutionary war sites, like Valley Forge. You can also visit important locations from the Civil War, like Gettysburg. Finally, you can also see the site of the first oil well in Titusville. Pennsylvania has many neat places to visit! Through the ages, Pennsylvania has seen many interesting events. The state was founded in 1681 by William Penn. Later, Pennsylvania was the site of important Revolutionary War battles. After that, Pennsylvania was home to new factories during the Industrial Revolution. Today, Pennsylvania continues to make history. Which paragraph is in chronological order?

16. Through the ages, Pennsylvania has seen many interesting events. The state was founded in 1681 by William Penn. Later, Pennsylvania was the site of important Revolutionary War battles. After that, Pennsylvania was home to new factories during the Industrial Revolution. Today, Pennsylvania continues to make history. Which paragraph is in chronological order? This is the paragraph in chronological order. Can you find the clue words that show this order?

17. Can you find the clue words? The cardinal and the cedar waxwing are two common birds. Both have crests on their heads. Both are common at birdfeeders. But the birds have some differences. The male cardinal is a bright red, while the waxwing is brown. The cedar waxwing often migrates from place to place. On the other hand, the cardinal stays in one place year after year.

18. Here they are! The cardinal and the cedar waxwing are two common birds. Both have crests on their heads. Both are common at birdfeeders. But the birds have some differences. The male cardinal is a bright red, while the waxwing is brown. The cedar waxwing often migrates from place to place. On the other hand, the cardinal stays in one place year after year.

19. Compare and contrast graphic organizer • To organize details from a paragraph in compare and contrast, use a Venn diagram

20. Cause and effect clue words • When authors write paragraphs to show causes and effects, they use words like cause, effect, as a result, consequently, and so

21. Can you find the clue words? The night’s snowstorm had many effects. People were out shoveling snow from their sidewalks. The power lines were draped with ice. Snow plows drove down every street. Children were the happiest of all. The unexpected snow caused school to be cancelled!

22. Can you find the clue words? The night’s snowstorm had many effects. People were out shoveling snow from their sidewalks. The power lines were draped with ice. Snow plows drove down every street. Children were the happiest of all. The unexpected snow caused school to be cancelled!

23. Another kind of text structure • Sometimes, an author will want to explain a problem, and then show one or more solutions • This kind of text structure is called problem and solution

24. Park School had a terrible problem. Every day at recess, students would argue over the slides. Teachers had to spend time every day taking care of the arguments. Finally, one teacher came up with a great solution. They bought another set of slides that everyone could enjoy. Can you find the problem and the solution in this paragraph? An example of problem and solution

25. Park School had a terrible problem. Every day at recess, students would argue over the slides. Teachers had to spend time every day taking care of the arguments. Finally, one teacher came up with a great solution. They bought another set of slides that everyone could enjoy. Here is the problem An example of problem and solution Here is the solution

26. Main idea paragraphs • In this kind of paragraph, the author offers a main idea statement, and then supports that statement with several details

27. Main idea paragraphs The pond was a beautiful place to visit. The falling leaves, all different colors, decorated the surface of the water. At the edges of the pond, small wildflowers grew. The golden forest glowed faintly in the distance.

28. Main idea paragraphs Main idea The pond was a beautiful place to visit. The falling leaves, all different colors, decorated the surface of the water. At the edges of the pond, small wildflowers grew. The golden forest glowed faintly in the distance.

29. Main idea paragraphs • Clue words in these paragraphs may include: • One reason, another reason, and for example

30. Now it’s your turn! • On the next few slides, you will read some paragraphs about the Great Chicago Fire • Your task is to decide on the text structure for each one • Understanding the text structure will help you to understand each paragraph

31. Chronological order Compare and contrast Cause and effect Problem and solution Main idea Daniel Sullivan was the first to notice the flames coming from the O’Leary barn at around 8:30 pm on October 8. A problem with the alarm box made it impossible for the people in the area to call for the fire department. By 9:30 pm, the entire block was blazing. In another 3 hours, there were fires all over Chicago. The heavy wind coming from the lake only made the fire bigger. It would be another day before the fire would be completely out. By that time, 17,500 buildings had been burned. What’s the text structure?

32. Chronological order Daniel Sullivan was the first to notice the flames coming from the O’Leary barn at around 8:30 pm on October 8. A problem with the alarm box made it impossible for the people in the area to call for the fire department. By 9:30 pm, the entire block was blazing. In another 3 hours, there were fires all over Chicago. The heavy wind coming from the lake only made the fire bigger. It would be another day before the fire would be completely out. By that time, 17,500 buildings had been burned. What’s the text structure?

33. Chronological order Compare and contrast Cause and effect Problem and solution Main idea Why was the Great Chicago Fire so disastrous? After all, Chicago had fire departments and fire alarms. One reason for the terrible fire is that the alarm malfunctioned. The local fire company noticed the fire by accident as it was returning from another fire. As another problem, a watchman who saw the flames directed other fire companies to a location that was nearly a mile away from the fire. Because of these two problems, a fire that could have been controlled rapidly spread across the city. Try another!

34. Problem and solution Here is the solution After the fire, thousands of people were left homeless. Many escaped the fire with nothing except the clothes on their backs. Providing all of these people with food, clean water, and shelter was a huge task.Luckily, the city quickly formed a Relief and Aid Society. This group started giving out the food donations that were pouring in from other cities. The society built places for people to live, gathered the tools that people needed to rebuild their houses, and even vaccinated 64,000 people against smallpox. What text structure is here?

35. By Monday night, the town of Chicago was burning. People described it as terrible, but amazing. The flames were brighter than anything people had ever seen. The harsh winds swept the fire across the city with terrible speed. For many who watched, it was a sight to remember for the rest of their lives. Chronological order Compare and contrast Cause and effect Problem and solution Main idea One more paragraph!

36. By Monday night, the town of Chicago was burning. People described it as terrible, but amazing. The flames were brighter than anything people had ever seen. The harsh winds swept the fire across the city with terrible speed. For many who watched, it was a sight to remember for the rest of their lives. Main idea Notice the main idea The rest of the sentences explain the main idea One more paragraph!

37. Copy what is on your card onto your paper.  Your card goes along with a certain text structure. When you hear the signal, you will get up and walk around the room to find others who have a card that goes along with the same text structure. Once you find your group, sit down and complete the activities below. • Our text structure is • Write one question to think about as you read this text structure. • Write some cue words that help you recognize this structure. • Draw a picture to represent the text structure.