What are characteristics of nonfiction?

Answer 1

Characteristics of a Biography:

· Accurate presentation of the life history from birth to death of an individual

· Honest effort is made to interpret the life so as to offer a unified impression of the character, mind and personality of the subject

Biographies focus on:

· The character

· His/her career

· His/her place in history

· Uniqueness and universality of the character's experience

Purposes for writing nonfiction:

· To entertain

· To inform

· To explain

· To persuade

Nonfiction may include:

1. Exposition (explains a subject)

· Writer's main purpose is to inform

· Most objective type of nonfiction

· Facts are presented as neutrally as possible

· Author's opinion on the subject DOESN'T intrude with the factual information

2. Persuasion

· Attempts to influence the reader's ideas of actions

· Major purpose is to convince the reader to think, feel, or act in a certain way

· Writer selects and arranges facts so that the reader will share the writer's opinion

· Successful only if the reader believes that the facts support the writer's opinion

3. Description

· Presents a picture or an impression of a subject

· Re-creates for the reader a person, a place or an event, largely through language that appeals to the senses

· Tells us how something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, and feels to the touch

4. Narration

· Author's purpose is to relate a series of events

· Events are usually related in chronological order

· Has the form of a story , but the events are factual and actually recorded

· Author depicts characters and may even use dialogue

Purposes for writing nonfiction:

· To entertain

· To inform

· To explain

· To persuade

Answer 2

Nonfiction is based on facts, real events, and information. It aims to inform, explain, or persuade readers about a particular topic. Nonfiction can include a wide range of genres such as essays, biographies, memoirs, and news articles.