NNF - Module Overview

Introduction

The definition of personal identity is who you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you are viewed by the world, and the characteristics that define you. Identities differ from individual to individual. Experiences, culture, and relationships are what inform and create personal identity. Autobiographies, biographies, memoirs, and even historical fiction novels serve as a way to explore and understand details about an author's personal identity. Similar to other pieces of nonfiction, the purpose of narrative nonfiction is to teach, inform, or persuade readers about life experiences or historical issues. In this module, we will read and analyze various pieces of narrative nonfiction. Following our study, you will have the opportunity to craft your own narrative essay in order to reflect on and explore your own personal identity.

Essential Questions

  1. Can I use evidence to support my claims about what I think a text says?  
  2. Can I determine a central idea of a text and find evidence throughout the text to analyze it?
  3. In what ways does an author reveal and develop a central idea in a text?

Key Terms

Biography: An account of a person's life written by someone else

Autobiography: An account of a person's life written by that person

Memoir: A record of a specific event or experience written by a person having intimate knowledge of the event or experience and based on personal observation

Historical Fiction: A narrative story based on true facts or real people but might include some fictional characters or situations

Diary: A record of events or information of a personal or private nature

Journal: A record of events or information and does not have to be personal or emotional

Narrator: The person who tells the story

Audience: The assembled spectators or listeners at a public event, such as a play, movie, concert, or meeting

Purpose: The reason an author decides to write about a specific topic

Rhetoric: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing; the ability to convince someone to do or believe something

Ethos: A type of rhetoric that uses the credibility or ethical appeal of a writer or speaker  to persuade an audience

Pathos: A type of rhetoric that is an appeal to the emotions and attempts to convince an audience by creating an emotional response

Logos: A type of rhetoric that is an appeal to logic and is a way of persuading an audience by reason

Anecdote: A short story used to engage the audience that serves to make the listeners laugh or ponder over a topic

Bias: The way the audience or reader already feels about a topic or person before prior to reading or listening to the person's ideas—may be favorable or unfavorable

Propaganda: Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view

Key Terms Review

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