Nonfiction

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Nonfiction
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What is Nonfiction?

• Written works intended to give facts, or true
  accounts of real things and events.

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Forms of Nonfiction

• Speeches
• Memoir
• How-to manual
• Encyclopedia/Dictionary
• Biography
• Autobiography
• Technical Text
• Essay

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What is Rhetoric?

• The art or study of using language effectively
  and persuasively
• Ethos- appeal to credibility, beliefs
• Logos- appeal to logic
• Pathos- appeal to emotions

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Logos

• Reason (logos) - support your general claims with
  concrete, specific data.
• Reason which begins with specifics and moves
  toward a generalization is inductive.  Example 
  Several clubs have reported difficulty completing
  their business during lunch period.  This proves
  that lunch periods should be longer.
• Reason which starts with a general observation
  and moves to specifics is deductive.  Example 
  When people hurry, inefficiency and poor
  communication are the results.  Under current
  conditions clubs must hurry at lunch time
  meetings.  Therefore, lunch period should be
  lengthened to allow for better club meetings.

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Logos, continued

• Use two or three different strong reasons to
  support your argument.
• Support your reasons with evidence.
• Facts - can be proven.
• Expert opinions or quotations
• Definitions - statement of meaning of word or
  phrase
• Statistics - offer scientific support
• Examples - powerful illustrations
• Anecdote - incident, often based on writer's
  personal experiences
• Present opposition - and give reasons and
  evidence to prove the opposition wrong
• Conclude with call to action - urge the reader to
  do something

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Ethos

• Ethics (ethos) - convince your readers that you
  are fair, honest, and well informed.  They will
  then trust your values and intentions.
• Avoid over-use of negatively charged loaded
  words.

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Pathos

• Emotion (pathos) - a carefully reasoned argument
  will be strengthened by an emotional appeal.
• Use description or narrate an example, often from
  your own experience.
• Your point of view is demonstrated in an
  emotional appeal, and is important to the reader.
  
• Careful word choice presents your position
  accurately.

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How to Build a Strong Argument

• Introduction - establish your argument, and
  clarify the importance of the issue.
• Statement of the Case - tell story behind the
  argument, offering background information
• Proposition Statement - carefully state central
  proposition, as a thesis statement would be given
  
• Refutation - refute opposition arguments,
  exposing faulty reasoning
• Confirmation - develop your case, using examples,
  facts, statistics (logos)
• Digression - appealing anecdote or description,
  offering ethos or pathos
• Conclusion - finish with strong conviction
  review main points, or suggest call to action

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Speeches

• The New Frontier
• John F. Kennedy
• I Have a Dream
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.