HUM 001 Creative Writing Module 1

Study Notes

Technical Writing focuses on clear explanations of complex concepts, processes, or procedures, making information accessible to a broader audience.
Common examples of technical writing include textbooks, research papers, and reports.
Characteristics of Technical Writing:
- Content is factual and straightforward.
- Audience is specific.
- Purpose is to inform, instruct, or persuade.
- Style is formal and academic.
- Tone is objective.
- Vocabulary is specialized.
- Structure is systematic and sequential.
Creative Writing expresses thoughts, ideas, and emotions in imaginative and artistic ways, often unconventional.
Common examples of creative writing include poems, short stories, novels, and plays.
Characteristics of Creative Writing:
- Content is imaginative and may be metaphorical or symbolic.
- Audience is general and varied.
- Purpose is to entertain, provoke thought, or captivate readers.
- Style is informal and artistic.
- Tone is subjective.
- Vocabulary is general and evocative.
- Structure is arbitrary and artistic.

Literary Forms are structures and styles that convey ideas and stories, including:
- Poetry: Uses structured language with line breaks and stanzas, focusing on heightened expression and imagery.
- Prose: Written in paragraphs without line breaks, used for storytelling; divides into fiction and non-fiction.
- Play (Drama): Comprises acts and scenes, driven by dialogue for stage performance.
Literary Devices are recognized aspects of literature that can be analyzed; they enhance the text's overall quality.
Literary Techniques are deliberate choices by authors, such as figures of speech, sound, or imagery.
Literary Elements are fundamental characteristics defining a literary form, including:
- Poetry: Meter, rhyme, stanza, symbolism, tone, theme.
- Prose: Setting, plot, character, theme, point of view, conflict.
- Play: Dialogue, act and scene structure, stage directions, character, conflict, theme.

Simile: Comparison using "like" or "as" (e.g., "Roberto was white as a sheet").
Metaphor: Implied comparison between dissimilar things (e.g., "All the world’s a stage").
Hyperbole: Exaggerated statements for emphasis (e.g., "I have a ton of things to do").
Personification: Assigning human qualities to non-human entities (e.g., "That kitchen knife will take a bite").
Apostrophe: Direct address to someone absent or dead (e.g., "Oh you stupid car").
Allusion: Reference to something known from culture (e.g., "a modern-day Lazarus").
Oxymoron: Contradictory terms appearing side by side (e.g., "jumbo shrimp").
Metonymy: Substituting a word closely associated with another (e.g., "That stuffed suit").
Synecdoche: Part representing the whole (e.g., "Tina is learning her ABC’s").
Irony: Words conveying the opposite of their literal meaning.