Elements and Devices of Creative Nonfiction PDF

SH1682 Elements and Devices of Creative Nonfiction Mr. Santos is old and always angry. He is a prideful man who believes that the teacher is never to be I. Plot and Characterization...

SH1682 Elements and Devices of Creative Nonfiction Mr. Santos is old and always angry. He is a prideful man who believes that the teacher is never to be I. Plot and Characterization questioned. Students are scared of him; in fact, even A. The plot is defined as the sequence of actions or events the other teachers are scared of him. that give direction to the story as a whole. It maps out the 2. Indirect presentation – the storyteller shows the itinerary that takes the reader to the conclusion. readers a character through a description of his or her The plot can be divided into the following: physical qualities as well as his or her actions in a 1. Beginning – the initiating event scene or during an event in the story. Readers must 2. Exposition – background information interpret and describe for themselves a character’s 3. Rising action with conflict – the tension or problem trait based on what the story shows its readers. experienced by character Example: 4. Climax – the most intense part of the story The students are having fun while waiting for the next 5. Falling action or resolution – how the tension or subject teacher to arrive. Paper planes are flying, problem is resolved some students are chatting and laughing merrily, and 6. Ending – completes the story some are just sitting and playing their mobile devices. Sometimes, the ending is open-ended in which case the It was a humid afternoon. narrative lacks a clear closure. In some stories, the events Suddenly, Mr. Santos opened the door of their are not arranged chronologically. Flashback is a classroom with a bang. He walked to the teacher’s particular literary device that circumvents the principle table with heavy steps and the students stared at him of chronological arrangement of events. dumbfounded. “Oh no! Not him!” Krystel exclaimed. B. Characters are the people in a narrative, and the process Sheryl covered her mouth and said, “Shhh! Shut up! of revealing their personalities to the readers is called Do you want us to get killed?” characterization. Before he put down all his things, he stared each of the students with a piercing look and silence filled the There are two (2) ways by which characters can be room. presented: After he got the attention of everyone, he shouted with 1. Direct presentation – the storyteller tells the readers all his might, “ALL OF YOUUUU! SIT DOOWWWN! information about the character’s background and I WANT Y’ALL TO BE SEATED IN 3… 2…” traits. The details are interpreted and summarized by After that, I heard the footsteps of the students as they the author for the readers. were trying to go to their seat as fast as they can. Example: 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI Page 1 of 4  SH1682 “Poor students! This is the luckiest day of your lives!” B. The atmosphere is evoked by the way setting is I sighed, then continued walking in the hallway. described in the story and this heightens our perception of what the story is about. A setting’s concrete details are II. Setting and Atmosphere commonly used to represent or highlight other important A. Setting is where a story takes place. It may refer to broad aspects of a story. They may be used as metaphors for notions like a town, a city, or a country, or it could refer the thoughts or some of the important but otherwise to more specific places like a school, a house, or beside abstract ideas that a story is about. a lake. Through lucid and detailed descriptions, we experience The important aspects of setting are: the atmosphere, hear the sounds, smell the aromas, and 1. Physical Characteristics see the sights of the surroundings of our subjects Natural or manmade physical features can (Benson and Whitaker, 2014). characterize the locations where the events in a story happen. Hills, trees, and the weather are examples of III. Angle and Grammatical Point of View natural features, while roads, and buildings are Angle answers the question from whose perspective the examples of manmade features. story is being told, while point of view refers to whether the story is told in the first, second, or third person. In a piece, 2. Time the writer may be using the first person – using “I,” “me,” Events in the story do not only take place in physical “my,” or “mine” in narrating – while the angle may be that locations but also at specific points in time. This refers of a minor or major character. to the specific point in a day, week, month, or year, and also the amount of time elapsed from the start of an event until the end. IV. Symbolism and Irony A. Symbolism is a literary technique that refers to the use of representations like, but not limited to, sensory images 3. Cultural and Social Conditions to express the persona’s emotions or imply a message to Places can be characterized by how their people the readers. collectively decide on the ideas that govern their behavior. What is acceptable and unacceptable – what B. Irony is a literary device that is meant to infuse more life is right and what is wrong – is greatly determined by into one’s writing. the social rules and conditions of a place. Setting There are two types of irony: cannot be viewed just as place and time but also the 1. Verbal – an utterance contradicts the reality of a given dominant behaviors of the people in them. situation 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI Page 2 of 4  SH1682 Example: 4. Parallelism – use of the same grammatical structure Traveling along EDSA during rush hours is such a Example: Peace can only be achieved through breeze! dedication, peace can only be achieved through diligence, peace can only be achieved 2. Situational – when an event is the opposite of what through fidelity to the rule of law. one intended Example: 5. Apostrophe – addressing a person who is either dead or The national government suspends classes because of absent when the utterance is made bad weather on the day your city or town is Example: Mabini, Bonifacio, Rizal, let your guiding celebrating a non-working holiday. spirits influence our leaders in this time of great crisis! 3. Dramatic – when the audience knows an important bit of information, but at least one vital character does 6. Metonymy – substitution of a word or phrase for an idea not; thus, when the character does something or says to which it is closely related something, he or she is not aware of the consequences Example: My patriotism is re-ignited when I read Jose while the audience is. Rizal. 7. Allusion – comparison that involves making references V. Figures of Speech to a famous fictional or historical figure, event or idea It constitutes a rhetorical or literary device that departs from Example: Only five years old, this child prodigy, this the literal meaning of an idea. They may be employed to Mozart has composed at least a dozen short make the articulation of an otherwise familiar idea more piano pieces and performed in the Philippine vivid and more colorful. Among the figures of speech are: Musical Center. 1. Simile – indirect comparison of ideas using like or as 8. Rhetorical Question – a question that is not meant to be Example: Mr. Santos is like a roaring lion when he gets answered because the answer is obvious angry. Example: Has information technology advanced slowly 2. Metaphor – more direct than simile or by leaps and bounds? Example: When he gets angry, Mr. Santos is one roaring 9. Hyperbole – use of exaggeration to emphasize an idea lion. Example: I was so hungry I could eat a hundred cups of 3. Personification – using human attributes in describing rice. nonhuman or inanimate objects 10. Synecdoche – the “part” to represent the “whole” Example: The government wants us to perform our civic duties. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI Page 3 of 4  SH1682 Example: Ka Herming was the brains and the heart of the movement during those dark days of the dictatorship. VI. Scene and Dialogue Scenes are the building blocks of creative nonfiction – the factor that separates and defines literary and/or creative nonfiction from traditional journalism and ordinary lifeless prose. Scenes are pictures; they are cinematic representations of reality, which elicit curiosity and excitement, enticing the reader onward. The scene becomes more interesting and animated with the use of dialogue, which refers to the verbal exchange between the characters. When adding dialogue, one should imagine the characters themselves speaking to each other to make the dialogue as realistic as it should be. Moreover, the dialogue should often be brief because that is how exchanges are in real life. References: Moratilla, N. and Teodoro, J. (2016) Claiming spaces: Understanding, reading, and writing creative nonfiction. Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House Inc. Scenes: The Building Blocks of Creative Nonfiction. (n.d.). Retrieved on November 11, 2016, from http://web.stanford.edu/~jonahw/PWR2- F07/Gutkind.pdf Villanueva, M. (2016) Narratives of the mind: Approaches to creative nonfiction with exercises. Quezon City: SIBS Publishing House Inc. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI Page 4 of 4