Like fiction, nonfiction has characters, a plot, and a setting. However, these elements are real, not made up. Different types of nonfiction have different purposes. Biographies and autobiographies, for example, have the purpose of informing the reader. They use a combination of expository, descriptive, and narrative paragraphs to give information about a person's life. Memoirs are structured differently from formal autobiographies (which tend to encompass the writer's entire life span), focusing rather on the development of his or her personality. Other types of nonfiction, such as newspaper editorials, are intended to win readers over to a certain opinion using persuasion. Lastly, speeches and essays are an opportunity for the writer to express his/her thoughts on a topic whether persuasive, analytical, or informative.
The writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter is called tone. A writer's tone may be sympathetic, comic, hopeful, solemn, etc. It all depends on the author's purpose for writing the piece. As you read the selections in this module, try to determine the author's tone as well as the type of nonfiction writing.
Use the following self-assessment questions to review the various types of nonfiction.
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