Please use the questions below to assess the creative nonfiction reading of your choice. You can elect to read:
"Where Meat Comes From" by Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk
This is an reading about amaetur wrestling and an attempting to get on the Olympic Wrestling team.
"Beyond the Black Box" from Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Mary Roach displays her excellent writing talents when she shadows a forensic investigator who inspects the human remains from airplane crashes in order to determine what really happened.
" Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ’The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock " The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie weaves his tale of his childhood and his longing to be loved by his father. He used the music of Jimi Hendrix as a way to get in contact with him.
Directions: Please select one of the writings from above and answer the questions below.
Title: Author:
Type: (circle one or two that seem to fit )
personal essay (any subject) memoir (memories of a life)
literary journalism (using fictional elements to tell a news story)
narrative history (retelling an event in history)
travel journalism nature/science essay
Real life: What real life event is this essay about?
Create a summary of what the text is about.
(What is going on? What is the story this writer tells?)
Sense of place/setting: What does the setting look like?
Feel like? Where is it? When is it?
Point of view: Who is telling the story?
Why did the author choose him/her?
What can he/she see or know that others might not or don't know?
Voice: Choose three of the following adjectives to describe the narrative voice in your essay:
serious | casual/informal | instructive | sincere |sarcastic | cocky | reflective | young | old | indignant | optimistic | pessimistic | honest | _________________________________ your own adjective
Explain why you chose those adjectives using reasoning and specific examples from the text:
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Character: Who is the dominant character or person in this essay?
What do you know about him/her? Appearance? Personality?
What is it that he/she wants/needs/cares about, etc.?
Language
What is the tone (emotional quality) of this essay?
Use an emotion word for your answer.
How effectively does the author use any of the following:
Dialogue
figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, etc.)
imagery. Choose one of these and give an example and say something about how it helps you understand the story.
Purpose/Theme/Impression: What does this essay reveal about life? Is it about human relationships? Is it about right and wrong? Is it about what is important? Be specific.
Style/ Quality:
In terms of the author's style and the major theme(s), what do you think are particularly significant passages (generally, 20 to 50 words each)?
What specific qualities of the text warrant its characterization as a work of literary nonfiction?
What are the distinguishing characteristics of the work?
What sort of reader does the writer seem to be targeting--and what sort of reader might gain the most enjoyment out of the work?
What is your overall evaluation of the reading?
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This worksheet has been an adaptation of the works of:
© 2008, Dawn Hogue ▪ Permission granted for classroom use only. Reprinting without permission not permitted.
And http://www.nt.armstrong.edu/lnbooks.htm#1
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