Is non fiction fake

Answer 1

Non fiction means something that is factual (true) i.e. a biography or a book about dogs. Fiction means something is made up i.e. Harry Potter

Actually, it would be MUCH MORE ACCURATE to say that non-fiction is something that is PRESENTED as true. Not all non-fiction is true. Religious writing is non-fiction. Philosophy is non-fiction. Are all philosophies true? Scientific essays are non-fiction. Are they all correct? You can find any number of books on politics in the non-fiction section at a bookstore. Are these filled with nothing but truth all the time? Hardly.

It is simplistic to use an equation like "non-fiction=true", because plenty of non-fiction is rubbish. Also, it is not good for students to be taught that anything found in a non-fiction book is completely reliable and beyond question. It should be read critically. Not that everything should be questioned and treated wth great skepticism, but much non-fiction should be read with skepticism.

Answer 2

It could be either, depending on how much of it is based on the truth. For example, nearly every Law & Order episode comes from true crime stories. I watch a lot of Law & Order, and I also watch a lot of true crime shows. Many times I will be watching a Law & Order episode, and I will realize that I just saw the true version of the same case a few months ago, on a true crime show. Or, I will be watching a true crime show, and I'll realize that I've seen the fictionalized version of the same story on Law & Order.

But the Law & Order writers change so many of the facts, that it becomes fiction. For example, writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelley was murdered in her studio apartment a few years ago by an illegal immigrant, after she complained about the noise from the construction that was going on. She had threatened to call the police, and he was afraid he'd be deported.

Months later, a Law & Order episode about it comes out. But in the Law & Order episode, it wasn't the illegal immigrant who killed her. It was his boss. He was afraid that if the police were called, they'd find out he was hiring illegals to work for him.

Thus, even though all of their episodes are truly "ripped from the headlines," they are still able to legitimately put the disclaimer that, "This story is fictional and is not intended to depict any real person or event," at the beginning of each episode.

The other thing is, all writers get their inspiration from real life. Occasionally a great idea will just come to you, seemingly out of the blue, and you honestly have no clue where it came from. But for the most part, writers don't make up fictional stories out of the blue. They take a grain of truth, and they stretch it, expand it, twist it, and shape it, until it becomes fiction. For example, the uncle of your lead character, Uncle Willy, might be psychologically a combination of your dad, your high-school gym teacher, and your friend Paul, while physically he resembles some guy you saw on a bus one day five years ago.

And finally, even when authors or screenwriters do their very best to provide an accurate account of what actually happened, it will still be only an imitation of the truth. For one thing, unless the author/screenwriter was actually present at the events in question, he/she can't know for sure what REALLY happened.

Furthermore, real life is not nearly as dramatic and poignant as fiction. If the events were depicted EXACTLY as they really happened, it wouldn't make a very good story. Writers need to cut out the irrelevant parts, and focus on the important parts, otherwise the story will be boring.

Movies and books also have themes: messages or observations about life, also known as the point of the story. Real life doesn't have a message or a point to make. So, when writing a book or movie, you need to have characters saying or doing things in such a way that makes the reader/viewer understand these themes, these points you are trying to make.

For example, say you write a story based on the crimes of a real serial killer. But as you are writing, you realize that the story would be so much more poignant if the killer showed a tiny hint of remorse at the end. In real life, this killer has shown no remorse. But it would make a better story if he did. So, in your story, he DOES have remorse.

The bottom line is, if it were really a completelytrue story...then it would be a documentary. All books and movies that claim to be based on true stories are at least a little bit fictionalized.

The best way to figure out how much of a movie/book is true is to read as much as you can about the true story, and compare it to the movie/book.

Answer 3

Nonfiction means real and fiction means not real.

Answer 4

Non-fiction books are true. Fiction is false.

Answer 5

Yes it is.