MODULE 5:

ARCHIPELAGIC LIFE, OR
CREATIVE NONFICTION
Group 4
Barrion, Ma. Hezekian
Casabuena, Trixie Janine M.
Laquian, Angel Maulett
Malabanan, Chezka Ellaine T.
Talangan, Rychelle A.
12- Nobel
HISTORY
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HISTORY
• The term “creative nonfiction’ is credited to Lee Gutkind.

• Lee Gutkind defines the form simply, succinctly, and

accurately as “true stories, well told.”

• The words “creative” and “nonfiction” describe the form.

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 WHAT IS
CREATIVE NONFICTION
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WHAT IS CREATIVE NONFICTION?
- or essay, is one of the most popular genres of literature in the Philippines
- short piece of writing on a particular subject, sometimes also defined as an account of
historical, personal, and academic events
- a genre that answers to many different names, depending on how it is packaged and
who is doing the defining. Some of these names are: Literary Nonfiction; Narrative
Nonfiction; Literary Journalism; Imaginative Nonfiction; Lyric Essay; Personal Essay;
Personal Narrative; and Literary Memoir.
- is even, sometimes, thought of as another way of writing fiction, because of the way
writing changes the way we know a subject.
- is fact-based writing that remains compelling, undiminished by the passage of time,
that has at heart an interest in enduring human values: foremost a fidelity to accuracy,
to truthfulness. 5
WHAT IS CREATIVE ABOUT NONFICTION?
“The creativity lies in what you choose to write about, how you go
about doing it, the arrangement through which you present things, the
skill and the touch with which you describe people and succeed
in developing them as characters, the rhythms of your prose, the
integrity of the composition, the anatomy of the piece, the extent to
which you see and tell the story that exists in your material, and so
forth. Creative nonfiction is not making something up but making the
most of what you have.”
(John McPhee, "Omission." The New Yorker, September 14, 2015)

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 FORMS AND TYPES OF
CREATIVE NONFICTION
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FORMS AND TYPES OF CREATIVE NONFICTION

1. Autobiography 7. Reflective or Reflection Essay

2. Biography 8. Reportage
3. Blog 9. Testimonio
4. Critique 10.Travelogue
5. Peer Critique 11.True Narrative
6. Personal Narrative

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1. AUTOBIOGRAPHY
• Autobiography is one type of biography, which tells a life story
of its author, meaning it is a written record of the author’s life.
• Some autobiographies are written in the form of a fictional tale;
as novels or stories that closely mirror events from the author’s
real life.
• Such stories include Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, and
J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.

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2. BIOGRAPHY
A biography is simply an account or detailed description about the life of a person. It
entails basic facts, such as childhood, education, career, relationships, family, and death.
Biography is a literary genre that portrays the experiences of all these events occurring in
the life of a person, mostly in a chronological order. Unlike a resume or profile, a
biography provides a life story of a subject, highlighting different aspects of his of her life.
A person who writes biographies, is called as a “biographer.”
Examples:
• Shakespeare: A Life (By Park Honan)
• Arthur Miller: Attention Must Be Paid (By James Campbell)
• The Life of Samuel Johnson (By James Boswell)
• The Bronte Myth (By Lucasta Miller)
• Why this World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector (By Benjamin Moser) 10
3. BLOG
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational
website displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with latest
posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or even a group of
writers share their views on an individual subject.
Famous Bloggers Around The World:
• Gary Vaynerchuk – GaryVaynerchuk.com
• Rand Fishkin – SEOmorz.org
• Pat Flynn – SmartPassiveIncome.com
• Brian Clark – Copyblogger.com
• Andrew Sullivan – thedishdaily.com
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4. CRITIQUE
Critique is a literary technique that means to critically evaluate a piece of literary work,
or a political or philosophical theory in detail. A critique could be a critical essay, an
article evaluating a literary piece, or a review. It may be just like a summary that
identifies the central issue, raises questions, takes notice of theoretical and experimental
approaches, and reviews the significance of the results. Apart from that, its purpose is to
highlight both the shortcomings as well as strengths of a literary piece or a work of art.
Examples:
• The Guardian (By Philip Hope-Wallace)
• Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (By Harold Bloom)
• The Daily Telegraph (By Victoria Lambert)

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5. PEER CRITIQUE

Peer critique, a specialized form of critique, is the common

practice of writers reviewing and providing constructive
criticism of each other's work. Most fiction writers use some
form of peer critique as part of their process of writing.

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6. PERSONAL NARRATIVE
Personal narrative is a form of writing in which the writer relates one
event, incident, or experience from his/her life. Personal narratives allow
you, the writer, to share your life with others, vicariously experiencing the
things you describe.

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7. REFLECTIVE OR REFLECTION ESSAY
A reflective essay is an essay in which the writer examines his or
her experiences in life. The writer then writes about those
experiences, exploring how he or she has changed, developed or
grown from those experiences.

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8. REPORTAGE
Reportage sometimes refers to the total body of media coverage of a
particular topic or event, including news reporting and analysis: "the
extensive reportage of recent events in x." Reportage is also a term for an
eye-witness genre of journalism: an individual journalist's report of news,
especially when witnessed firsthand, distributed through the media.

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9. TESTIMONIO
Testimonio is generally defined as a first-person narration of
socially significant experiences in which the narrative voice is that
of a typical or extraordinary witness or protagonist who
metonymically represents others who have lived through similar
situations and who have rarely given written expression to them.

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10. TRAVELOGUE
A travelogue is a person’s account of a journey to another country
or place. It can either be a written report with many factual details
or a narrative story about personal impressions and experiences
supported by images.
Examples:
• Walking from Seattle to Chicago
• A Broken Umbrella
• First Time Being on Train in India
• My Journey Within Lviv: The Lion’s City
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11. TRUE NARRATIVE
A true narrative essay is a story based on actual events. You are
required to compose a true narrative essay about an incident that
you experienced or observed. The form of the true narrative is
undefined; the purpose in telling the story is to express a point or
observation.

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 ELEMENTS OF
CREATIVE NONFICTION
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ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION
• Fact
• Extensive Research
• Reportage/ Reporting
• Personal experience and personal opinion
• Explanation/ Exposition
• Essay Format

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 LITERARY ELEMENTS OF
CREATIVE NONFICTION
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LITERARY ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION
• Storytelling/ Narration • Point of View
• Character • Dialogue
• Setting and Scene • Theme
• Plot and Plot Structure
• Figurative Language
• Imagery

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 THE FIVE R’S OF
CREATIVE NONFICTION
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THE FIVE R’S OF CREATIVE NONFICTION
Lee Gutkind, who is a writer, professor, and expert on creative
nonfiction, wrote an essay called “The Five R’s of Creative
Nonfiction.”

1. Write about real life

2. Conduct extensive research
3. W(r)ite a narrative
4. Include personal reflection
5. Learn by reading
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 PROMINENT WRITERS OF
CREATIVE NONFICTION
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“
This is a quote from Annie Dillard, from her famous essay “To Fashion a Text.”

When I gave up writing poetry I was very sad, for I had devoted 15
years to the study of how the structures of poems carry meaning. But I
was delighted to find that nonfiction prose can also carry meaning in
its structures, can tolerate all sorts of figurative language, as well as
alliteration and even rhyme. The range of rhythms in prose is larger
and grander than it is in poetry, and it can handle discursive ideas
and plain information as well as character and story. It can do
everything. I felt as though I had switched from a single reed
instrument to a full orchestra.
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1. WALTER
REIGH

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2. WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE

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3. DANIEL DEFOE

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4. MICHAEL HERR

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5. STEPHEN
HAWKING

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6. JOAN DIDION

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7. ELIZABETH
KOLBERT

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