NON-FICTION PROSE

Bryn Thomas.

The novel, short stories, epic poetry we believe to be essentially the literature
of the past. The 'literature' of the modern age, in our opinion, is non-fiction
prose.

Non-fiction prose is the engine of communication. It is what drives the machinery

which provides information, imparts knowledge, introduces and discusses thoughts
and ideas of all kinds. It can deal with any topic from filling a kettle to the
meaning of life. It is the medium of advertising, sales catalogues, instruction
manuals, and the labels on tin cans and breakfast cereals boxes; of news reports,
editorials, magazine articles, and weather forecasts; of reviews, criticisms, and
travelogues; of biography, history, and philosophy. It can be purely utilitarian,
journalistic, or belletristic, with infinite variation along the way.

The purpose of non-fiction prose is to arrive either at a conclusion - which may

or may not be stated - or to permit a judgment to be made, or a reasoned inference
to be drawn from what is presented. This holds true even when such prose in
question exists purely for the purpose of imparting information such as, for
example, a list of ingredients printed on a bottle of ketchup. Even here we may
form a judgment, or draw an inference of whether what is described will be of
benefit to us or at the least do us no harm, providing our education has armed us
with the ability to know the difference between citric and prussic acid.

The structure upon which much non-fiction prose is built is in a sense pyramidal.
Its basic raw materials are facts and observation which can be laid down either as
a raft of unadorned information known to have objective reality, like a bus
operator's time-table, or tidied into neat packets of information which are
strategically placed to bring the reader to a conclusion.

Non-fiction prose falls into three basic catagories: Exposition, Pursuasion, and
Narative (or description).

Exposition
Exposition tells us how things are. It presents facts and ideas as clearly as it
can in a balanced account. It tells us how, what and why. It provides the
unvarnished truth. Explaining or revealing something may change a person's mind by
improving his knowledge and understanding, but the chief intent of Exposition is
not to change minds but to convey information.

Persuasion
If Exposition tells us how things are, then Persuasion tells us how they ought to
be, at least in the view of the writer.

Persuasion is writing designed to change minds, shape attitudes, to formulate or

change opinions, and even further to influence belief and stimulate action.
Advertisers who want sales, politicians who want votes, generals who require
sacrifice from those they command, citizens who want social reform rely mostly on
persuasion.

Persuasion is more complex than Exposition because it appeals to emotion as often

as to reason. It therefore concentrates on psychology as well as logic. In this
respect it is potentially dangerous and we should all be aware of the procedures
that apply to this form of writing not only as writers but more importantly as
readers.

Narrative and Description

During the process of explaining how things are, or suggesting how things ought to
be, the writer will frequently need to recount a sequence of events, telling what
happened first, what followed, with the ultimate result, if any. So too might he
wish to enliven his account, adding vividness, colour, perspective, and emotion,
by saying how things looked, how they sounded, how they felt.

Recounting the sequence of events, and describing what was seen or heard or
otherwise sensed, are virtually inseparable and elements of both will be found in
Persuasion, and in all but the most utilitarian of expository writing.

Exposition, Persuasion, Narrative (Description) should not be thought of as

separate compartments into which non-fiction prose is pigeon-holed. Each should be
thought of as a rhetorical device intermingled by the writer to achieve his
particular aims.
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Persuasive Dangers
Persuasion intends to make the best case possible for the cause espoused. In
achieving this end the writer is expected to present the most convincing argument
and the best possible evidence in support of his cause, and in doing so is
permitted to aim at not being clear, suppressing information or obscuring material
that argues against him, emphasising only what works in his favour, and generally
misrepresenting the truth of the matter in hand.

Furthermore, it is considered permissible not only to ridicule opposing arguments

and evidence, but also to denigrate and disparage the persons making them.

It is also considered legitimate for the writer to flatter his readers by

appealing to their vanity, or otherwise manage their thinking by reinforcing
prejudices, encourage fears and manipulate anxieties. Such maneuvering is the code
of practice adopted by practitioners of an activity known as Public Relations,
also known as Spin Doctors in honour of their ability to skew the truth. Such
tactics have become the vernacular of politicians and the absolute life-blood of
politics - here defined as "the subtle insistence on getting one's own way."

If the reader is to avoid this form of control it is essential that with every
piece of writing he ask: How sincere is the author? and: How responsible is he?
The reader should also attempt to discern what the writer hopes, personally, to
gain from persuading the reader to his way of thinking. Is he cynically
manipulating the minds, and subsequently the actions, of others for selfish
purposes? If not for selfish reasons, then on whose behalf is he writing?

The more skillfully persuasive of writers are aware that these questions will be
asked of them, and consequently take great pains to ensure the clues they leave
are not too easily detected. It takes a quick eye and a sharp mind and constant
vigilance to detect subtle attempts to make readers accept and believe in a
reality that does not truly exist.

This is not a new phenomenon. To the eternal discredit of human intelligence,

reason, and wisdom it is something which has shaped the world, and continues to do
so. Tyranny depends on it.