Categories of Nonfiction

Categories of Nonfiction
General overview of the nonfiction genre

• Academic Articles
• News Articles
• Biographies
• Self-Help/How-To/Professional Advice
• Reviews
• Opinion pieces (commentaries/op-eds)
• Literary Essays
• Memoir/Personal Essay
Academic Articles

• Experts in particular fields conduct research and report the results in

several professional journals or magazines.
• In order to write these types of pieces, you must satisfy one or more of
the following:
o Be an "acknowledged expert" in the field
o Have the required credentials, including a PhD or have a professional
background in the field.
o Work as a co-author who is an expert in the field (often the "experts"
can't write very well and need a co-author).
• When you get to college, these articles will be your best sources for
information for your compositions and research. They are not of much use
in this class.
• This genre also includes textbooks
News Articles
• These articles published in newspapers and magazines are written by trained
journalists/reporters.
• The reporters are usually experts in their beats (areas of coverage), but rely
on actual experts to write their stories.
• Each story you read in a newspaper or magazine will generally have at least
three sources (interviews, published pieces).
• Articles begin with what's called a "lead"
o Lead: The first, or first few paragraphs of an article which explains the
entire piece. The lead makes it possible to understand the news without
having to read the rest of the article.
o Lead example: Ronnie Lee Gardner, the convicted double-murderer
executed by a firing squad in Utah in the pre-dawn hours Friday morning,
died in a manner that even the state that killed him no longer wants to
use. - LA Times
Biographies

• A description of another person's life and the times they

lived.
• One of the more popular forms of nonfiction today.
• In journalism, short biographies are known as "profiles"
Self-help/How-to/Professional advice

• These are some of the most popular genres in bookstores today.

• Religious books, such as The Purpose-Driven Life, The Power of
Now, and In Conversations with God are usually written by
religious folks, such as pastors, nuns, and priests.
• Self-help books are usually written by therapists and sometimes
by religious leaders.
• Health and fitness books are written by personal trainers,
nutritionists, or even celebrities.
• Professional advice books include how-to (garden, dance, do a
particular hobby), and parenting, family and relationship advice
books.
Reviews

• Movie, music, video game, book and restaurant reviews

are in nearly every publication. 
• The writers of these articles must see the movie, listen
to the album, play the video game, read the book, and
visit a restaurant before they write a review.
• Reviews must balance objectivity and subjectivity.
• If reviewing a movie or book, NEVER give away the
ending.
• Visit rottentomatoes.com to read several good movie
reviews. 
Opinion Pieces

• A 500-750 word article written by authors who feel

passionately about an issue and wants to persuade others
to see things the same way.
• Published in newspapers or magazines and Websites. 
• The writers of these pieces should be some type of
expert in the field or should bring something new to the
argument.
Literary Essays

• While the word "essay" might conjure bad feelings

regarding one-chunk and two-chunk paragraphs, an essay
is one of the more eloquent forms of writing. Instead of
a passionate plea (as is done in an opinion piece) or a
report (as is done in a news article), a literary essay
allows the writer to inform the reader and show off his
or her writing skills.
• You can write a literary essay about any topic.
• You should have a significant amount of knowledge about
your topic.
Personal Essay/Memoir

• In personal essays, the subject is you. More specifically, it is an essay

about one of your personal experiences or memories.
• Personal essays are written in narrative, or story-telling, form (otherwise
they would be considered literary essays). 
• These essays are always in the first person.
• In a personal essay, ANYTHING GOES. You may write about whatever
topic you choose.
• Take the essays by David Sedaris. One is about his mother locking him
out of his house, the other is about him quitting smoking.
• The subject must be interesting to a general audience.
• THESE ARE THE TYPES OF ESSAYS YOU WILL WRITE FOR THIS
CLASS.