Types of non-fiction texts
In summary
Texts can either be fiction or non-fiction. While fiction deals with the imaginary or
made up, non-fiction deals with the factual and real life situations. Any written work
only using facts and real events is non-fiction, including newspaper reports, recounts,
biographies and autobiographies. This summary will explore different types of non
fiction texts and how to recognise them.
Newspaper report
A newspaper report is a story in newspapers that informs you about what is going
on in the world. The news reported usually includes new stories which have just
happened. Newspaper reports have many recognisable features including headlines,
a photo, a caption and the body of the report which has direct quotes and facts.
Recount
A recount is a piece of writing about a past event that happened. When you write
about an event in your life, you are giving a recount of what happened to you.
Recounts are written in past tense and in first person.
Example
Yesterday, my mum and I ran into Harry Styles! We were in the West End and my
mum was buying some trainers for me. So, I was picking up a pair of yellow and blue
trainers when I heard a familiar voice behind me say, “Very nice. That’s a great
choice.” I turned around and 100%.
100%, it was him, Harry! It was such an amazing day.
Biography
A biography is a book-length, factual story about a person’s life. Biographers carry
out a lot of research into the person they are writing about in order to find true
stories. Newspapers, letters, websites, personal diaries and photographs are used
for research. Biographies are written in the third person, because the biographers are
not writing their own stories, and usually in chronological order. They are also
written in past tense.
Example
Nelson Mandela was an activist from South Africa who was also the first president of
South Africa ( 1994 − 1999, 1994 − 1999). A member of the Xhosa tribe, Mandela was also royalty, being born
into the Thembu family. At university of Fort Hate and the University of Witwatersrand
he studied law before becoming a lawyer.
Autobiography
An autobiography is very similar to a biography, both are book-length factual stories
about a person’s life, both are written in past tense and usually in chronological order.
But unlike the biography, an autobiography is the story of a person’s life is written by
that very person, while a biography is written by somebody else. As autobiographies
are written by the subject of the story, they are written in first person using I.
Example
I watched my first football game with my father when I was five years old. I saw how
happy the players looked playing the game and how happy the fans were watching
the players, and that was when I thought to myself, “This is what I want to do with my
life”.
