1. What Text Features Are Included in the Text ?

Text Features

NAME : ______

Text: ______

Our world is chock full of visuals so we often take visuals in texts for granted, however, they do affect how we interpret events and characters. Examine the text features in the text and answer the questions below.

1. What text features are included in the text ?

2. Specifically, how did each feature help you better understand an aspect of the text? Refer directly to each text feature.

3. What text features could have been added to better understand a concept, location or character in the text?

Text Features

NAME : ______

Text: ______

1. What text features are included in the text ?

2. Specifically, how did each feature help you better understand an aspect of the text? Refer directly to each text feature.

3. What text features could have been added to better understand a concept, location or character in the text?

When Non-Fiction reads like Fiction!

In an “The Story Behind the Non-Fiction Novel” a New York Times interview with Truman Capote in 1966, Capote claims, “Of course a properly done piece of narrative reporting requires imagination!--and a good deal of special technical equipment that is usually beyond the resources--and I don't doubt the interests-- of most fictional writers: an ability to transcribe verbatim long conversations, and to do so without taking notes or using tape-recordings. Also, it is necessary to have a 20/20 eye for visual detail--in this sense, it is quite true that one must be a "literary photographer," though an exceedingly selective one. But, above all, the reporter must be able to empathize with personalities outside his usual imaginative range, mentalities unlike his own, kinds of people he would never have written about had he not been forced to by encountering them inside the journalistic situation. This last is what first attracted me to the notion of narrative reportage.”

I’m sure we can all agree, that each of these works of non-fiction read rather like fiction. At no time do we feel that we’re drudging through a textbook and the author’s work hard to create suspense, historical accuracies and accurate character assessments.

1. What might be some struggles a writer may face when writing a non-fiction piece? Consider that they are writing about REAL people in REAL history.

2. Find a passage focusing on history that reads especially like fiction.

· Write down the page # ______.

· Briefly summarize the passage.

· What rhetorical devices make this passage especially unique and “fiction-like?”

3. Find a passage focusing on a character that reads especially like fiction.

· Write down the page # ______.

· Briefly summarize the passage.

· What rhetorical devices make this passage especially unique and “fiction-like?”

4. Later in the interview, Capote answers questions about writing objectively. He states, “…it's almost impossible to write about anybody objectively and have that person really like it. People simply do not like to see themselves put down on paper. They're like somebody who goes to see his portrait in a gallery. He doesn't like it unless it's overwhelmingly flattering--I mean the ordinary person, not someone with genuine creative perception. Showing the thing in progress usually frightens the person…”

Find a place in the text where you feel the author may have been less than objective.

· Write down the page #______.

· Briefly summarize the passage.

· What about this passage shows the author is being less than objective?

Voice and Style

Each of these novels reads well because the author’s not only possess incredible patience and research skills, but they also understand how to manipulate rhetoric. As you have been reading, you should be marking places in the text where the author shows especially unique stylistic choices. Document your observations below:

1. The passage on page ______shows unique diction because…. (here you will summarize the passage and explain WHY the diction is especially unique. Consider what the reader may better understand, the imagery whether the diction is high, middle or low- see your diction handout- and why the author chose to use high, middle or low diction…)

2. The passage on page ______shows unique syntax because…(here you will summarize the passage and explain WHY the syntax is especially unique. Consider what the reader may better understand, the imagery created, ect…)

3. The overall rhetorical style is represented in the organization of the text. In two or three paragraphs, analyze how the specific organization of information creates an effective and unique story. Consider the following:

· Providing historical context

· Character development

· Cultural context

· Plot development

· Relevant characters

Analyzing A Character

On the paper provided, use your own analysis and quotes from the text to build a figure. You should include the following. If there is more than one character in the story, you may choose to focus on one of the central characters. Consider the following:

· Physical traits

· Moments of strengths

· Moments of weaknesses

· Moral preferences

· People most important to the character

· Aspects of the character that make him/her likeable

· Aspects of the character that make him/her unlikeable

· The character’s antagonist (s?)

Beyond the Book

Now that you are about finished with your non-fiction text, do some research and find THREE articles that discuss aspects of the book. The articles may cover the following:

-A review of the book from a reputable source (New York Times book review, Good Reads)

-Assessment of historical accuracies

-further information on the characters

-author’s comments after writing the book

-biography of the author

-comments from those involved in the story

Below, summarize what additional information you learned about the text, author, historical accuracies, or those involved after reading the articles.

1. Article title: ______Date published: ______

2. Article title: ______Date published: ______

3. Article title: ______Date published: ______