(TUL) Lesson Topic 4: Bringing Nonfiction Home

Lesson Topic 4: Bringing Nonfiction Home

Making Connections

  • An adult and two children stand in front of a waving American flag. The people have dark skin and dark hair. One child holds a book and the other holds a ball. The adult has her arm around both children. The adult is wearing a red tank top. The boy is wearing an orange t-shirt, and the little girl is wearing a yellow t-shirt. Nonfiction and fiction texts do have similarities. Both genres have the purpose of telling a story. The only difference appears in the fact that nonfiction tells a true story, and fiction tells a make-believe story.
  • Also, because nonfiction is real, we can often relate to the events in the texts. Sometimes, nonfiction just reports facts such as medical experiments or news reports. The best way to read nonfiction is to try to connect your own thoughts or experiences with what the author reveals; then, you become closer to the text, and you can gain a deeper understanding.
  • Nonfiction texts are important because they help people understand certain facts happening in a person's life or in a time period. For example, if you did not know the background information about the Civil Rights Movement, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 might not make as much sense, or the novel might be more difficult to comprehend.
  • Nonfiction texts can provide the historical context of a novel, which helps the understanding of political and social events of a time period that may be relevant to understanding the meaning of the story.
  • Along with the historical context, nonfiction might provide the cultural context which is how readers understand the behaviors, beliefs, and characteristics of a particular social, ethnic, or age group that may be relevant to understanding the meaning of the story.
  • Often, autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs provide information in chronological order. Chronological order is the arrangement of events following one after another in time. Putting events in order can help readers keep the information straight in their minds.

Now that you have studied the differences among the various genres of nonfiction, you will have the opportunity to put the knowledge you have gained into practice. Copy the terms and definitions corresponding to the key words in order to study for your test.

 

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