Reading Literary Non- Fiction Cynthia Shanahan

Reading
Literary NonFiction
Cynthia Shanahan
University of Illinois at Chicago
What is literary non-fiction
Alternatively known as "creative nonfiction,"
"literary journalism," and the "literature of fact,"
literary nonfiction is that branch of writing
which employs literary techniques and artistic
vision usually associated with fiction or poetry
to report on actual persons, places, or events.
What is literary Non-Fiction?
Fiction
Literary NonFiction
Poems, short stories, novels
Biographies, essays,
speeches, etc.
Entertaining
Plots
Mostly narrative
Range of author’s craft
techniques
Entertaining and
Informational
Varied styles and
structures
Mixed text
Range of author’s craft
techniques
Example:

February 22, 2011

The Medicine

You stalk about the house, I can hear your labored breathing. I call to you, ask if you need
anything, but you cannot hear me. Your hearing went long ago, before you were sick.

You look like a different person, your hair thin, clean shaven. You resemble your brothers
more than ever; the same gaunt neck and angled teeth. You look more like an old man
now than I can remember; these past months have added years to your face with a speed
that is mortifying.

I can’t help but think that your thin, cow-licked hair is like that of a small child, a baby duck.

They deign to discuss what is happening to you in front of us. Even so it is more or less
clear, the riddles and euphemisms don’t hide your frailty. They talk about the poison being
pumped into your veins as if it is elixir. As if is is not wracking the body which has turned
against you.

The medicine, they say. The medicine.
Why is reading Literary nonfiction important?

Students aren’t given an adequate
introduction or practice in this genre in high
school.

It is a major genre on the ACT

It is a major genre in the Common Core
Standards:
“Fulfilling the Standards for 6–12
ELA requires much greater
attention to a specific category of
informational text—literary
nonfiction—than has been
traditional.”
A part of life for an informed
citizenry

Every day, individuals read biographies,
political and personal essays, and character
sketches in magazines, newspapers, books,
and on-line sources.
A part of college and career
readiness

Encountered in history, social science, the
humanities, education—nearly every subject
matter in which students take coursework.
Purposes for reading literary
non-fiction

To be entertained

To learn information:



More memorable
more metaphorical
To appreciate an author’s craft
Type of ACT question relating
to literary non-fiction

Which of the following would provide the
best introductory sentence for this
paragraph?

It is difficult to understand why people love
to gossip so much.

Men get their hair cut by barbers, while
women get their hair “done” by hairdressers.

In the past, the local hair salon was a focal
point in a woman’s world.

Hairspray has always been one of the
hairdresser’s best-loved tools.
The lessons

Essential Question: How do we define who
we are?

Modeling

Guided Practice

Independent Practice

Feedback
Vocabulary
Billowing
Annihilation
Muster
Relegated
Tangential
Lament
Mastication
Scurrilous
Watershed
Mincing
Quixotic
Satiety
Swathed
Dowagers
volubility
Examples of Strategies

Before Reading
 KWL
 Triple Entry Vocabulary Journal
 Knowledge Rating Guide
 Anticipation Guide

During Reading
 Discussion Web
 Say, Show Mean
 Annotation – Coding/Comprehension Monitoring

After Reading
 Group Outlining – Structural Analysis
 Interactive Word Wall
 Summarizing – the Last Lines
 Critical Thinking Questions
 Style Analysis
 Synthesis Speaking and Writing
Writing activities

3 Paragraph Argument

Summarizing Activities
What will teachers need to do
to teach the unit?

Decide how to introduce and frame/reframe
the essential question as it relates to each of
the readings

Help students to write a culminating essay
that answers the question

Decide before teaching how the strategies
can be used to help students understand the
piece of literary non-fiction, especially in
relation to the essential question

The teacher provides the glue!
Example: The falling man
Example: The Falling Man

In the picture, he departs from this earth like an arrow. Although he has not chosen his fate,
he appears to have, in his last instants of life, embraced it. If he were not falling, he might very
well be flying. He appears relaxed, hurtling through the air. He appears comfortable in the grip of
unimaginable motion. He does not appear intimidated by gravity's divine suction or by what
awaits him. His arms are by his side, only slightly outriggered. His left leg is bent at the knee,
almost casually. His white shirt, or jacket, or frock, is billowing free of his black pants. His black
high-tops are still on his feet. In all the other pictures, the people who did what he did -- who
jumped -- appear to be struggling against horrific discrepancies of scale. They are made puny by
the backdrop of the towers, which loom like colossi, and then by the event itself. Some of them
are shirtless; their shoes fly off as they flail and fall; they look confused, as though trying to swim
down the side of a mountain. The man in the picture, by contrast, is perfectly vertical, and so is
in accord with the lines of the buildings behind him. He splits them, bisects them: Everything to
the left of him in the picture is the North Tower; everything to the right, the South. Though
oblivious to the geometric balance he has achieved, he is the essential element in the creation
of a new flag, a banner composed entirely of steel bars shining in the sun. Some people who
look at the picture see stoicism, willpower, a portrait of resignation; others see something else -something discordant and therefore terrible: freedom. There is something almost rebellious in
the man's posture, as though once faced with the inevitability of death, he decided to get on with
it; as though he were a missile, a spear, bent on attaining his own end. He is, fifteen seconds
past 9:41 a.m. EST, the moment the picture is taken, in the clutches of pure physics,
accelerating at a rate of thirty-two feet per second squared. He will soon be traveling at upwards
of 150 miles per hour, and he is upside down. In the picture, he is frozen; in his life outside the
frame, he drops and keeps dropping until he disappears.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN#ixzz1H0q2Ty3H
What should a teacher
consider?

What does this piece say in regards to the essential
question: how do we define who we are? How will you
help your students to address the question?

What stylistic features are in this text that your
students should know?

How is this text structured?

Which before, during, and after activities make most
sense for your students? For example, how could a
discussion web be used with this story?

What does this piece say about the author? Why did
he write it? What does he want you to think about the
falling man? How will you get your students to pay
attention to these issues?
Framing the Essential
Question

Look at the man in the photograph. How
would you describe his demeanor?

From the text:

“Some people who look at the picture see
stoicism, willpower, a portrait of
resignation; others see something else -something discordant and therefore
terrible: freedom. “

How do you think this man is defining
himself?
Other interesting questions to
foreground

On 9/11, many photographs and videos
were taken and displayed to the public.
Was this a good idea? What might be
some benefits and drawbacks?

Photographers for news outlets often
stand on the sidelines and take
photographs of tragic situations. What
responsibilities are they fulfilling? What
responsibilities might they be shirking?
What does that say about how
photographers define themselves?
Stylistic features

Descriptive: “His left leg is bent at the knee,
almost casually. His white shirt, or jacket, or
frock, is billowing free of his black pants. His
black high-tops are still on his feet.”

Metaphorical: “He departs this earth like an
arrow.” “They are made puny by the
backdrop of the towers, which loom like
colossi,”

The author presents his interpretation:
“There is something almost rebellious in the
man's posture, as though once faced with
the inevitability of death”
Structure

Comparison/Contrast: This man from others
who jumped from the tower

Interpretation of motives and demeanor
Interspersed with factual information (his
rate of speed) and physical description (his
arms only slightly outriggered)
Strategies—Before Reading:
Vocabulary
Words in
Context
Definition in my
own words
Picture, memory
aid, phrase
Billowing: . His
white shirt, or
jacket, or frock, is
billowing free of
his black pants.
To bulge out
because of the
movement of air
Sheets billowing
in the breeze
Strategies—During (and after)
Reading: Discussion Web
Reasons for
Yes
1. He was
exercising
his will
Should the man
have jumped out
of the window?
Reasons for
No
1. He was
traveling at a
high rate of
speed
Our Answer:
Other: Should the photographer have taken the
photograph?
Discussion Web Example:
Strategies—During: Say,
Show, Mean


Say (Summary of the text):

Show: What does the summary show about the topic,
author, society, etc.?



The photograph was only shown for a brief time, and it angered
many, as did other reminders of the tragedy of 9/11
The author wanted to show that he thought this man’s jumping
out of the tower was an act of will and that he is a symbol of war
casualty.
“The picture is his cenotaph, and like the monuments dedicated
to the memory of unknown soldiers everywhere, it asks that we
look at it, and make one simple acknowledgment…That we have
known who the Falling Man is all along.”
Mean: (Related to theme—the overarching meaning.

Man is capable of facing dire circumstances with resolve and
courage.
Strategies—After:
Connecting Reading and
Writing

Is the speaker (the author in this case)
sincere or insincere? What evidence is
there?

Is the speaker intellectual or emotional.
What evidence is there?

Who was the intended audience? (Who
reads Esquire Magazine?)

What does this tell you about his point of
view, prejudices, and values?
Remember the purpose

To help students think deeply about literary
non-fiction


THANKS!!!
Cyndie Shanahan

chynd@uic.edu