Nonfiction texts make a good faith effort to convey information truthfully and accurately. When you approach nonfiction, be skeptical! Nonfiction texts convey information and sometimes that information is wrong.
What is nonfiction?
Overview
Nonfiction uses internal and external features to help organize ideas. External features (e.g. headings, graphs, or glossaries) are placed alongside the main text to help organize and highlight essential ideas. Internal structures (e.g. cause-effect, or sequence) are used to put together ideas in a way that supports the writing purpose.
California English-Language Arts standards organize nonfiction around argumentative, informational, and persuasive.
Creative nonfiction tells truthful stories using narrative conventions. Most nonfiction, however, will use the conventions on this page to make a work clear and organized.
Writing Non-Fiction
External Text Features
After a nonfiction text is completed, an editor or publisher typically adds external text features to help to make the text more accessible. This includes things like headings, sidebars, illustrations, and even in-text contrast through italics or bold lettering.
Informational Texts
The purpose of informational texts is to educate or provide information on a topic.
Informational texts are often found in history, social studies, science, arts, and technical subjects
Persuasive
The purpose of persuasive texts is win people over to the writers point of view
Argumentative
The purpose of argumentative texts is to convince people to adopt the writers way of thinking.
Incorporate informative and persuasive elements.
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