Unit 3: Introduction to Nonfiction

Typical forms of fiction are short stories and novels.

Nonfiction is writing about real people, places, things, and events. Autobiographies, biographies, journals, essays, histories, and newspaper and magazine articles are all types of nonfiction.

An autobiography is the story of a person’s life written by that person. It typically covers the whole of a person’s life up to the time of writing.

A more focused type of autobiography is the memoir, which usually deals with a specific period of a person’s life, such as childhood.

A biography is the story of a person’s life told by another person.

An essay is a short nonfiction work that makes a point about a single subject.

The point that the writer is making is called the thesis.

A personal essay is a short nonfiction work on a single topic related to the life of the writer. The author of a personal essay may tell a story or an anecdote, or reflect on and share feelings about something in his or her life.

In an argumentative essay the writer’s goal is to persuade the reader to accept an opinion or point of view. Newspaper editorials and petitions are common examples of argumentative writing. Writers of argumentative essays might use a variety of persuasive techniques to make an argument, such as appealing to logic through reason and fact, and emotion through logical fallacies.