NonfictionLiterary Elements

Forms of nonfiction

• Biography• Autobiography• Memoir• Essay• Speech• Informational text

Biography

• Story of a person’s life told by someone other than the person it is written about

Autobiography

• The story of a person’s life, written by that person

Memoir

• Type of autobiography that focuses on one incident or period in a person’s life.

• Usually based of that individual’s memories of, and reactions to, historical events.

Essay

• A short work that presents a single main idea, or THESIS, about a particular topic

• Narrative, expository, descriptive, or persuasive

Speech

• A public address that was originally delivered orally• Many historical speeches were recorded in writing and

are widely read today.

Informational Text

• Aims to convey or explain information

Author’s purpose

• When writing nonfiction, the author always has a goal.1. Expository – inform – news or research2. Narrative – express - memoir3. Descriptive – portray – travel brochure, personal

account4. Persuasive – convince – editorial, petition

Allusion

• A reference to a well-known person, event, object, or work from history.

Argument

• an address or composition intended to convince or persuade; persuasive discourse.

Bias

• A personal judgment about something

Coherence

• The logical arrangement and progression of ideas

Colloquialism

• a word or phrase appropriate to conversation and other informal situations

Euphemism

• substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt

• Ex – pass away instead of died

Parallelism

• A comparison – providing equal details and in a similar manner.

Thesis

• The main idea that is supported in a work of nonfiction