Lesson 1.

Creative Nonfiction and

Other Literary Genres

Creative Nonfiction
General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
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Just as a meal is satisfying
as a full course, learning
about the four literary
genres together lets your
writing become more
fulfilling.

3
 This lesson serves as a prerequisite lesson for the
Learning following DepEd competency:
Competency
Create samples of the different literary
elements based on one’s experience (e.g.,
metaphor to describe an emotion)
(HUMSS_CNF11/12-Ib-d-4).

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Learning
Objectives

● Identify the characteristics of the traditional

literary genres.

● Differentiate the traditional literary genres

from one another.

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 My Favorite Genre
Let’s
Begin 1. Recall a genre text you have read before.
2. If you can find a copy of your chosen text, you
may bring it out for the activity.
3. Read through your chosen text and try to identify
its defining characteristics.
4. Find the features of the text that define its genre.
5. Then, partner or group up with classmates who
have a different genre and compare
characteristics.

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 1. What characteristics did you find from
Let’s your chosen work?
Begin

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 2. How do the characteristics you found
Let’s demonstrate the genre of your chosen
Begin
work?

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 3. What similarities and differences did
Let’s you see between the work you chose
Begin
and that of your classmates?

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Essential
Question

How does being more familiar with one literary

genre help in learning more about the others?

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Creative Nonfiction

● Works in creative nonfiction are always true.

● They are taken from the experiences of the author.
● Creativity comes in how the memories are told and
described.

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 Creative Nonfiction
Five Main Elements of Creative Nonfiction

● Setting
● Descriptive imagery
● Figurative language
● Plot
● Character

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 Creative Nonfiction
Setting

● The setting is the time and place in which the story

happens.
● It is established early so that readers have an easier
time to visualize the story and immerse themselves in
it.

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 Creative Nonfiction
Descriptive Imagery and Figurative Language

● Descriptive imagery is how the author presents an image

in the minds of the readers.
● It involves one or more of the five senses.
● Figurative language is the use of language in unusual or
surprising ways to describe literary moments in the story.
● Examples of this are metaphors, similes, and hyperboles.

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 Creative Nonfiction

Descriptive Imagery Figurative Language

Presents an image using the Uses figures of speech to

five senses describe literary moments

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 Creative Nonfiction
Plot and Characters

● Creative nonfiction tells a story from the author’s

memory in a way that follows a plot.
● A clear plot helps readers identify the main subject or
reason of the story.

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 Creative Nonfiction
Plot and Characters

● Characters in creative
nonfiction are the people
involved in the author’s
memories.
● The author may appear as a
character in his or her own
work.
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 Fiction

● Fiction probably has the most in common with creative

nonfiction.
● Their biggest difference is that works of fiction aren’t
necessarily factual.
● Works of fiction are products of the author’s
imagination.

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Fiction

● Fiction probably has the most

in common with creative
nonfiction.
● Works of fiction are products
of the author’s imagination.

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 Fiction – Setting
Creative Nonfiction Fiction

The setting is established The setting serves the

early and defines when same purpose but does
and where the story takes not have to be an existing
place. place and time.

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 Fiction – Characters
Creative Nonfiction Fiction

Characters are the Characters are people in

important people involved the author’s story that
in the author’s memories. move the plot. They are
not necessarily people that
exist in real life.

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 Fiction – Plot
Creative Nonfiction Fiction

The plot organizes the The plot shows the order

author’s memories. It of the events that take
helps readers identify the place. It helps tell the story
main purpose of the text. the author wants to convey
and is normally centered
around a conflict.

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 Fiction – Language
Creative Nonfiction Fiction

Descriptive imagery and Descriptive imagery and

figurative language are figurative language
important parts of creative immerse the audience
nonfiction and serve to more and improve
enrich its storytelling. storytelling.

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Check Your
Progress

Why do you think creative nonfiction and

fiction share many elements?

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 Poetry

● Poetry has works that structurally

look nothing like works of
creative nonfiction.
● Many of poetry’s elements are
not shared by creative nonfiction.

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 Poetry
Structure

● Structure refers to how a poem is organized.

● Poems have many forms, from a set form like a sonnet
to a free form without “rules” to follow.

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 Poetry
Rhyme, Rhythm, and Meter

● These techniques in poetry can

○ organize emotion,
○ highlight a particular word or phrase, and
○ emphasize certain emotions or actions.
● Many poems use these techniques to convey as much
as they can within a number of lines.

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 Poetry
Figurative Language

● Poetry employs figurative language a lot to add to its

depth.
● Both poetry and creative nonfiction use figurative
language to add new meaning to words used.

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Writing
Tip
Unlike with fiction and creative nonfiction,
poetry does not often make use of characters.
In poetry, the most important character is the
persona or the speaker of the poem.

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Writing
Tip When writing poetry, keep in mind that the
speaker is not always you or the author. In this
sense, it is similar to the narrators of fiction,
which can be a character in the story or an
outsider observing the story.

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 Drama

● Drama has more in common

with fiction and creative
nonfiction than poetry.
● The three genres share many
of their main elements.

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 Drama
Setting

The setting serves the same purpose as in creative

nonfiction and fiction, but in dramas it is usually stated
outright at the start.

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 Drama
Characters

Characters in drama also progress the plot and interact

with other characters, but more emphasis is placed on
their spoken lines, be it in dialogues, soliloquies, and
more.

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 Drama
Plot

The plot of a drama works nearly the same way as in

fiction and creative nonfiction. In plays, the plot can be
organized into “acts” or major divisions to distinguish key
parts of the plot.

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 Drama
Figurative Language

Figurative language, often found in the characters’ spoken

lines, whether in dialogues or monologues, often adds
layers of depth and allows for further analysis.

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Drama

● Texts in drama are often

written to be performed on
stage.
● Many dramas are written like
poetry, with the characters’
lines following a specific
rhyme, rhythm, and/or meter.

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 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Otherwise, rewrite the underlined words to make
Try This!
them true.
1. The settings of fictional texts are actual or
existing places.

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 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Otherwise, rewrite the underlined words to make
Try This!
them true.

2. Characters in a creative nonfiction text are

real people.

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 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Otherwise, rewrite the underlined words to make
Try This!
them true.

3. Plots in poetry often focus on a conflict.

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 True or False. Write true if the statement is correct.
Otherwise, rewrite the underlined words to make
Try This!
them true.

4. Poetry can be written in free form.

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 Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise,
rewrite the underlined words to make them true.
Try This!

5. Lines in drama texts can be written like

poetry.

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 ● The main elements of creative nonfiction are
Wrap-
Up
setting, descriptive imagery, figurative
language, plot, and character.
● Fiction shares many elements with creative
nonfiction, like setting, character, and plot.
● Poetry makes great use of figurative language,
similar to creative nonfiction.
● Drama also has similar elements with creative
nonfiction but can also be written similarly to
poetry.
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 Choose one of the prompts below and write
Challenge short excerpts to demonstrate what is being
Yourself
asked.

1. Write two original short paragraphs

describing two different settings. One is
describing a real place that you have visited.
The other is describing a fictional place that is
limited only by your imagination.

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Challenge 2. Write one original short paragraph and one
Yourself
original short stanza, both making use of
the same or a similar figurative language.
3. Write two original short stanzas. One is a
stanza from a poem, and the other is a
character’s line from a drama.

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Bibliography
Elements of Drama. Lumen. Accessed March 5, 2021.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-fscj-literatureforhumanities/chapter/elements-of-drama/.

Elements: Poetry. Accessed March 5, 2021. https://org.coloradomesa.edu/~blaga/Theory/poetry_elements.html.

Lesson 3: Elements of Fiction. Lumen. Accessed March 5, 2021.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-distanceminnesota-creativewriting/chapter/lesson-3-elements-of-a-fi
ction/
.

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Bibliography

2.2: Elements of Creative Nonfiction. Humanities LibreTexts. Libretexts, July 1, 2020.

https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Literature_and_Literacy/Writing_and_Critical_Thinking_Through_Lit
erature_(Ringo_and_Kashyap)/02%3A_About_Creative_Nonfiction/2.02%3A_Elements_of_Creative_Nonfiction
.

“Writing Creative Nonfiction: Definition, Subgenres, and Key Elements.” Author Learning Center. Accessed March 5,
2021.
https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/writing/nonfiction/w/elements/6847/writing-creative-nonfiction-defin
ition-subgenres-and-key-elements
.

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