Introduction to Creative

nonfiction
“To be creative means to connect. It’s to abolish the gap between the
body, mind and the soul, between science and art, between fiction and
nonfiction.”
– Nawal El Saadawi

“Creative Nonfiction writers do now make things up; they make idea and
information that already exist more interesting and often more
accessible.”
–Lee Gutkind
 What is creative nonfiction?

- Tells a story using facts (Cheney, 2001)

- Delivers fact in ways that move the reader
toward a deeper understanding of the topic.
(ibid.)
- Classified as the “fourth genre” along with fiction,
poetry and drama.
 LITERARY ELEMENTS FOUND IN CREATIVE
NONFICTION:

 Plot - the logical sequence of events that develops a story.

 Setting - refers to the time and place in which a story takes
place.
 Protagonist - the main character of story, novel or a play
 Antagonist - the character in conflict with the Protagonist
 Narrative Method - The manner in which a narrative is
presented comprising plot and setting.
 LITERARY ELEMENTS FOUND IN CREATIVE
NONFICTION:

 Narrator – the one who tells the story.

 Dialogue - where characters of a narrative speak to
one another.
 Conflict - an issue in a narrative around which the
whole story revolves.
 Mood - A general atmosphere of a narrative.
 Theme - central idea or concept of a story.
Poetry and Creative
Nonfiction
What are your thoughts about the picture?

WHAT FEELINGS DOES IT INVITE?

 Poetry
 According to Laurence Perrine in his classic book Sound and
Sense: An Introduction to Poetry (1977), poetry might be
defined as a kind of language that says more and says it more
intensely than does ordinary language.
 It uses a heightened language.
 For poetry to achieve this, the poet uses IMAGERY.
 IMAGERY = painting with words through using figures of speech
 Instead of “the tree is being blown by the wind”, it should be
“the tree is dancing with the wind” (PERSONIFICATION)
CREATIVE NONFICTION

 Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo in her book Creative Nonfiction: A Manual for

Filipino Writers (2003) defines creative nonfiction as nonfiction prose
which utilizes the techniques and strategies of fiction.
 One strategy of fiction that it shares with poetry is the inclusion of
concrete and evocative details by employing imagery and other
literary devices.
 Descriptive details are meant for travel writing which is to literally
transport the reader to the place to which the traveler has been.
 Vocabulary building

 LANDSCAPE
L _ ND _ AP_ - a picture of a land scenery like the rice field or mountains.
 MARINE
M_R _ NE – related to the sea.
 MI_ _EN_UM – equivalent for a thousand years.
MILLENIUM
 P_RR_T_ISH – a fish with the color of a parrot that can be found in a
PARROTFISH
garden.
 REEF
R_ _ FFLATS
FL_ _S – the corals by the seashore that are exposed during low tide.
 SEASCAPE
S _ AS _ A _ -– picture of the sea.
 SILHOUETTE
SI _ HO_ _ _TE – picture of something showing it as a dark shape on a light
background.
GROUP ACTIVITY

 landscape reef flats

 marine seascape
 millennium silhouette
 parrotfish

 SEARCH FOR IMAGES THAT WOULD DESCRIBE EACH WORD

 PREPARE A PPT PRESENTATION TO PRESENT EACH WORD
 ONE SLIDE PER PICTURE WITH AN ACCOMPANYING SENTENCE
 READ THE POEM
“MOONSET AT CENTRAL PARK STATION OF ST.PAUL
SUBTERRANEAN RIVER NATIONAL PARK”
by John Iremil E. Teodoro

Answer the following questions:

1. Who is the persona in the poem? Describe him/her.

2. One example of imagery in the poem is the parrotfish. What do you
think is the significance of the image to the overall image?
3. Give other examples of sensory imagery used in a text.
4. What is the poem saying about the significant human experience?
5. What feelings do you get after reading the poem?