LITERARY NON-FICTION & ACTIVITY

Literary Non-Fiction combines three things: 1. History (reality), 2. Non-fiction

& 3. Fiction. Basically, LNF works to blend all three of these elements together to
create a story based on real events, people, or places.
While the majority of the piece is based in truth and facts, a few items may
be fictionalized because the author is making their best guess on events that may
have happened.
For example: A student may write a story about Abraham Lincoln (real person) and
his assassination (real event); however, some of the conversations written into the
story may be fictionalized because the writer was not there to know what the real
conversations were like.
However, most of the time the writing is based in pure fact and nothing
needs fictionalization.
For example: Consider a biology text-book- it is based in fact and there is no need
for fictional additions.

STYLES OF LNF INCLUDE:

Travel writing

Nature writing

Science writing

Sports writing

Biography

Autobiography

A Memoir

An interview

EXAMPLES (you do not need to take notes on the examples):

1. Travel Writing: details an experience that you personally have had when as you
traveled somewhere
a. talks about real places seen
b. full of descriptive details
c. talks about feelings while traveling
2. Nature Writing: details an experience in nature
a. full of descriptive details & emotions evoked
b. Could be as simple as a detailed description of a walk through a forest, or
watching the waves lap up on shore at a beach.
3. Science Writing: scientific, or science experiment
a. full of facts

LITERARY NON-FICTION & ACTIVITY

b. Follows hypothesis to conclusion

4. Sports Writing: details the happenings at a sports event

a. Details include- location, sports players names and numbers (when
applicable)
b. Should be filled with excitement
c. Can be an event youve gone to in the past (Ex. The time my dad took me
to the [insert football teams name here] game at [insert stadiums name
here].
d. This can also be a piece written about a past game that sounds like
something one might find in a sports section of the newspaper.
5. Biography: details about someone elses life
a. Gives name, date born & death (if applicable)
b. Details childhood years & schooling
c. Details teens through old age noting important events
d. Lists places lived & people they married or children they had
6. Autobiography: details about your life
a. See notes a-d from biography
b. Can be about a specific time or event in your life
7. Memoir: a personal account of a biography
a. writing a biography about someone you know/knew and giving your
feelings about the subject
8. An Interview: a list of questions asked and answers given
a. questions listed first, are usually a sentence in length. They ask something
important
b. the answers given are usually in paragraph format. Spelling is key here,
but semantics can vary depending on what they interviewee says.

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ACTIVITY: for this activity, you will choose one of the 8 types of LNF and complete
it in a minimum of 1000 words. Let your instructor know what your choice is going
to be. You can use the rest of this blank space to brainstorm ideas.