Fiction Vs Nonfiction
Texts are commonly classified as fiction or nonfiction. The distinction addresses whether a text discusses the world of the imagination (fiction) or the real world (nonfiction).
Fiction: poems, stories, plays, novels
Nonfiction: newspaper stories, editorials, personal accounts, journal articles, textbooks, legal documents
Some Fiction Story Elements Include:
Characters: main characters & supporting characters
Setting: when and where did the story take place
Problem or Conflict: usually introduced early on; can be external or internal
Plot or Text Structure: the rise and fall of action
Solution or Resolution: how the problem or conflict is solved
Point of View: 1st person (main character telling story; use of “I” and “me”) or 3rd person (narrator telling story; use of “he/she”, “him/her”)
Theme: More than the topic of the story, the “message” the author is trying to send through the use of the story
Some Common Text Features within Non-Fiction
Captions: Help you better understand a picture or photograph
Comparisons: These sentences help you to picture something {Example: A whale shark is a little bit bigger than a school bus.}
Glossary: Helps you define words that are in the book
Graphics: Charts, graphs, or cutaways are used to help you understand what the author is trying to tell you
Illustrations/Photographs: Help you to know exactly what something looks like
Index: This is an alphabetical list of ideas that are in the book. It tells you what page the idea is on.
Labels: These help you identify a picture or a photograph and its parts
Maps: help you to understand where places are in the world
Special Print: When a word is bold, in italics, or underlined, it is an important word for you to know
Subtitles: These headings help you to know what the next section will be about
Table of Contents: Helps you identify key topics in the book in the order they are presented
