Terms 1
nonfiction
Nonfiction is about real people, places, things, and events
tone
Writer’s attitude toward the subject or reader
essay
Short nonfiction work that makes a point about a single subject
informational text
Type of nonfiction whose basic purpose is to inform rather than to entertain or persuade
illustration
A photograph, drawing, or diagram that serves to make a concept clearer by providing a visual example
purposes of nonfiction
The writer’s aim or goal
inform
entertain
describe
persuade
voice
The way a writer uses language to reflect his or her personality and attitude toward the topic, form, and audience
personal essay
Short nonfiction work on a single topic related to the life of the writer
news article
Informational text about a particular topic, issue, event, or series of events
chart
Visual representation of data that is intended to clarify, highlight, or put a certain perspective on the information presented
audience
Audience is the intended person or group for whom the piece is written
autobiography
The story of a person’s life written by that person
argumentative essay
Writer’s goal is to persuade the reader to accept a point of view
science article
Conveys information about a particular theory, scientific observation, or discovery
diagram
Illustration that serves to explain a concept or process
point of view
Vantage point, or perspective, from which a story is told
memoir
Usually deals with a specific period of a person’s life
parallelism
use of the same grammatical construction to express ideas of equal importance
visual media
Visual media = pictorial or other graphic forms of communication
map
Representation, often on a paper, of a geographic area that shows various significant features
thesis
Main idea supported in a work of nonfiction
biography
Story of a person’s life told by another person
rhetorical question
A question asked by an author to reinforce an idea
photograph
An image typically created by light acting on a sensitive material
fiction
Fiction is any work of prose that describes an invented or imaginary story