Nonfiction Notes I Nonfiction prose writing about real
Nonfiction Notes
I. Nonfiction= prose writing about real people, places, and events A. mainly written to convey factual information B. information may be shaped by the author’s own purpose and attitudes II. Examples of nonfiction include: newspaper article, review, speech, story, advertisement, autobiography, memoir, essay, journal, and editorial.
A. Autobiography—writer’s account of his life; in first person), B. Biography—account of a person’s life C. Memoir— “my story”—usually discusses one part of a person’s life D. Essay= a brief work of nonfiction that deals with a single subject 1. Formal essay= writers develop and order ideas in an impersonal manner 2. Informal essay= writers expression of ideas is less strict and often employs humor and anecdotes
III. Kinds of Essays A. Persuasive essay= writer tries to convince a reader to share a belief, agree with an opinion, or to take some action B. Expository essay= writer’s primary purpose is to convey or explain information C. Personal essay= expresses a writer’s thoughts, feelings, or opinions on a subject; usually written in an informal, conversational style
D. Descriptive essay= writer tries to recreate a person, place, or event mostly through language that appeals to the senses E. Narrative essay= writer’s purpose is to relate a series of events F. Reflective essay= the author reflects upon an event that occurred within his or her life; generally shows a lesson learned by the author.
IV. Objective versus Subjective Writing A. Objective= facts which can be proved to be true by the senses, the calendar, or the clock 1. examples: the geographic location of a city, the time of day B. Subjective= details that may be true, but are verifiable only by reference to your own state of mind 1. examples: feelings about an event, description of a person 2. word connotation (associations that affect meaning) 3. May lead to bias—most writing will have some sort of bias within it.
Close Reading Notes
3 levels of reading 1 Reading on the line—find meaning directly in the text. You may answer question such as “who, ” “what, ” and “where. ” 2 Reading between the lines—interpret what is in the text. You may consider what a passage represents, suggests, or personifies. You are also analyzing what you are reading. You may interpret, classify, compare, contrast, and even find patterns.
3 Reading beyond the lines—move beyond the text to connect to universal meaning. You may consider how the text relates to your life. You will consider what kind of perceptions about life the author is communicating to you.
Close reading • Becomes easier the more you do it • Very helpful on the ap exam, ACT, any standardized test—both the free response and the multiple choice. • Helps you to understand the text itself as well as what the text suggests. Talking with the text • Annotation • Dialectical journal
Annotation • Write in the margins; include questions, comments, and mark words you don’t know. Dialectical journal • Like annotation, but more organized. • Include note taking (or the piece of the text you are referring to) and note making (what you want to say about that piece of text). • Include a page and paragraph number so you know where to find it in the book.
SPEECH ANALYSIS • You need three things: a speaker, a message, and an audience. • When you analyze a speech, you focus on the interaction between those three things. • You need to identify the speaker, his claim, and his target audience. • Identify the logic and the fallacies in logic.
Reading a Speech subject INTERACTION audience speaker
SOAPSTone • • • S-subject O-occasion A-audience P-purpose S-strategies T-tone
Strategies • Diction (word choice) • Syntax (sentence structure) • Tone • Logos (logical appeals) • Ethos (ethical appeals) • Pathos (emotional appeals) • Organization – anecdotes, comparsion/contrast, • Structures- (repetition) • Figurative language (hyperbole, understatement, irony, verbal irony, allusions, metaphor, simile, personification, etc. ) • Imagery
Type of appeals Appeals to… Emotions= pathos • Passion, not logic, stirs most people. Use carefully! “Sob stories” should be avoided. Ethics=ethos • Effective arguers not only possess good character, but also argue in ways that reveal that good character. • Your test of evidence can establish your ethos, or credibility, as well as that of your sources. Logic=logos • See logical appeals!
In speeches, look for logical reasoning! • Logical reasoning will rely on – Facts as evidence – Research – Tradition (or precedent) – Authorities – Cause and effect – Analogies (comparisons) – Logic by sign (physical evidence)
Faulty Logic (fallacy) A. Appeal to popular opinion 1. Everyone else is supporting it so it’s right (band wagon) 2. Popularity doesn’t equal correctness or rightness 3. Tells nothing about the topic B. Appeal to tradition 1. should leave the status quo alone because it’s always been that way. 2. “progress” must progress (progress for progress’ sake) 3. tradition doesn’t mean it is right C. 1. 2. Hasty generalizations Jumping to conclusions Problem: don’t have all the facts
D. 1. 2. Ad Hominem (against the man) The idea isn’t worthy because of the source test of evidence E. Slippery slope 1. Suggests that taking one good measure will lead to undesirable measure (one good decision could lead to a series of bad choices) F. Appeal to authority (begging the question) 1. when you treat the claim as if it was evidence (the claim is what you’re trying to prove) 2. just because you say it doesn’t make it true
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