Key Forms of

Nonfiction

Name _______________ Mrs. S’ class

Nonfiction

• Is writing that is about real people, places, and events

• Contains factual information that can be proven to be true

• Examples of nonfiction: biography, autobiography, informative articles, essays, interview, and functional reading

Biography

• Is a story of a person’s life told by someone else

• It is usually written in the third-person point of view (using pronouns such as she, he, her, and him)

• Person’s life that is being described is called the “subject”

• Get information by conducting interviews, read letters, books, and diaries

Autobiography

• Is the story of a person’s life, told by that person

• Are almost always written in the first-person point of view (using pronouns: I and me)

• Book length is usually long when it covers a large period in the writer’s life. Shorten types of autobiographies are: journals, diaries, letters, and memoirs

Informative Articles

• Provide facts about a subject• Examples are: newspapers,

magazine articles, and feature stories

• Other types of informational materials are found in textbooks, encyclopedias, and books on single subjects ( sports, car repair, and juggling….)

Essays

• A short work of nonfiction that deals with ONE subject

• 3 common types of essays• Expository: formal style that uses formal

language and explains information and ideas• Personal: informal and uses conversational

tones to express writer’s thoughts and feelings

• Persuasive: develops arguments and tries to persuade readers to adopt a viewpoint

Interview

• Is a conversation in which one person asks questions of another person to get information

• Question/Answer• Interviewer takes notes or records

conversation on audiotape or videotape or paper and pencil

Functional Reading

• Is necessary in everyday life• Examples include: reading flyers,

maps, food labels, recipes, lab procedures, instructional manual, or any multistep instructions.