Self-Learning Module 1

I. Topic: Understanding Conventions of Traditional Genre in Fiction and Drama

II. Competency
Analyze and interpret the theme and techniques used in a particular text.

III. Objectives
• Identify dominant literary conventions of fiction and drama, namely character, plot, setting,
and theme;
• Compare and contrast how the conventions of fiction and drama are used and utilized;
• Analyze and interpret the theme and techniques used in a particular text;
• Peer edit each other’s draft based on the clarity of idea and choice and use of element; and
• Revise the written piece using the literary conventions of fiction and drama

IV. Pre-Activity

A Movie or Story in Mind

Try to remember a book, a story, a play, or a film that you have read or seen that has had the
most impact on you. It may be something that you have recently read or seen, or something that you
have read or seen in a long time but you simply could not forget. Fill in the blanks with the necessary
details.

1. Title of the book / story / play / film: ____________________________________________

2. What is the story about?

3. Who are the important characters in the story? Give a brief description of each character.

a. Character 1: ________________________
Description: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

b. Character 2: ________________________
Description: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

c. Character 3: ________________________
Description: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

d. Character 4: ________________________
Description: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

4. Where did the story take place? _________________________________________

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V. Key Points
• Fiction is defined as “a series of imagined facts which illustrates truths about human life.” It
is commonly called “stories,” and can either be short (short story) or rather long (novella or novel)
• Drama also uses the traditional conventions of fiction but has an additional distinctive
characteristics of being performed and mounted on stage.

VI. Core Content

Elements of Fiction and Drama

Different works of fiction and drama may employ a number of elements, but generally, there
are four major elements that comprise a short story, a novel, or a play. These are:

Plot the sequence of events happening in a story

Setting the place and time where and when an event happens
Characters the person who inhabit a story
Theme the central idea, or thesis, or overall message that the story conveys

Simply put, in all stories great and small, there are people (characters) in a place (setting)
dealing with a problem or conflict (plot) that leads to a new understanding about life (theme). These
elements are utilized both in fiction and drama.

Comparison and Contrast of the Conventions and Devices between Fiction and Drama

1. Fiction is generally classified as short story or novel. A short story is a brief artistic prose
form that centers on a single main incident and intends to produce a single dominant impression. A
novel is an extensive prose narrative that contains chapters and interludes.

Plays (drama), however, are generally classified into acts or major divisions. The most
common are one-act play, which has one unit of time, one unit of place, and one unit of action
play; and three-act play, which showcases a longer exposition of the theme and conflict.

2. All stories must have a point of view. The point of view is the vantage point of the angle
from which the readers can see how the story unfolds. It can be told from the perspective of a narrator,
a main or supporting character, or an observer. It can also come from an omniscient (all-knowing)
being.

Drama also employs point of view but this is not apparent and evident in a play. What is
visible is the interplay of dialogue between and among the characters. This is the component that
moves the action of the play. A dialogue is what the viewers see and hear in a performance and
these are the words uttered by the characters in a dramatic play.

3. The development of plot in both fiction and drama has a pattern. Generally, it contains the
following:
Exposition introduces the characters and dramatic situation of the story or play
Rising Action introduces the conflict of the story or play
Climax introduces the central moment of crisis that defines the conflict
Falling Action introduces the aftermath of conflict (whether it is resolved or not)
Resolution/ introduces the moment of insight, discovery, or revelation, of the character after
denouement the falling action.

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 In other more popular and modern types of fiction and drama, the development of plot is simply
divided into three general parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Narrative Devices
1. Foreshadowing is used in fiction and drama as a guide or hint at what is to happen.

2. Irony is also used both in fiction and drama when words that are uttered, either by the author
or the characters in the story, are the opposites of what they actually mean. The intention here is to
present a difference between what is imagined will happen and what happens.

3. Flashback is employed by an author or a playwright through the use of a past event that will
help the readers understand the present. This is generally utilized to achieve a dramatic effect or
impact on the readers and the audiences.

4. A conflict is both present in fiction and drama. It provides and showcases the opposing
objectives of the protagonist and the antagonist, or inside the protagonist.

5. The use of dues ex machine in both fiction and drama was once a noble strategy. Today, it
is a sign of weakness in the written work. Once referring to the Greek practice of physically lowering
a ‘god” to the stage at the end of the play to solve all the problems, today it refers to a contrived
element in the plot used to solve a problem.

VII. Post-Activity
Read and understand the short story below.

Tungkung Langit and Alunsina

Panay-Visayan Folktale

In the beginning everything was shapeless and formless. The earth, the sky, the sea, and the
air were almost mixed up. In a word, there was only confusion. Then from the depth of this formless
void there appeared the god Tungkung Langit and the goddess Alunsina.
It was not known just where these two deities came from but it is related by old Bisayan folk
that Tungkung Langit fell in love with Alunsina. After he had courted her for many years, they married
and made their home in the highest part of heaven. There the water was always warm and the breeze
was forever cool. In this place order and regularity began.
Tungkung Langit was a loving, hard-working god. He wanted to impose order over the confused
world. He decided to arrange the world so that the heavenly bodies would move regularly. On the
other hand, Alunsina was a lazy, jealous, selfish goddess. She sat at the window all day doing
nothing.
Sometimes she would leave her home, sit down by a pool near the door, and comb her long,
jet-black hair all day long. One day Tungkung Langit told his wife that he would be away for some
time. He said he must make time go on smoothly and arrange everything in the world.
When he was gone, Alunsina set the breeze to spy on Tungkung Langit. Tungkung Langit found
this out and he became very angry. After he returned home, he told her that it was ungodly of her to
be jealous since there were no other gods in the world except the two of them.
Alunsina resented this reproach, and they quarreled. In his anger, Tungkung Langit drove his
wife away. No one knew where she went. Several days later, Tungkung Langit felt very lonely. He
realized that he should not have lost his temper. But it was too late.
Once vibrant with Alunsina’s sweet voice, his home became cold and desolate. In the morning
when he woke up, he would find himself alone. In the afternoon when he came home, he would feel

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the same loneliness creeping deep in his heart because there was no one to meet him at the doorstep
or soothe the aching muscles of his arms.
For months, Tungkung Langit was in utter desolation. He could not find Alunsina, try hard as
he would. And so, in desperation, he decided to do something in order to forget his sorrows. For
months and months he thought, but his mind seemed pointless; his heart weary and sick. He needed
something to ease his lonely world.
One day, while he was sailing across the regions of the clouds, a thought came to him. He
would make the sea and the earth, and the earth and the sea suddenly appeared. However, the
sombre sight of the lonely sea and the barren land irritated him. So he came down to earth and
planted the ground with trees and flowers.
Then he took his wife’s treasured jewels and scattered them in the sky, hoping that when
Alunsina would see them she might be induced to return home. The goddess’s necklace became the
stars, her comb the moon and her crown the sun. However, despite Tungkung Langit’s efforts,
Alunsina did not come back.
Until now, some elders of Panay say Tungkung Langit lives alone in his palace in the skies.
Sometimes, he would cry out his pent-up emotion and his tears would fall down upon the earth. When
it thunders hard, it is Tungkung Langit sobbing, calling for his beloved Alunsina to come back,
entreating her so hard that his voice reverberates across the fields and the countryside.

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Answer the following questions.

1. This is an old mythical story about the earth’s creation as told by the people from Panay.
How is this different from the bible story?

2. How do you compare and contrast the personalities of Tungkung Langit and Alunsina? List
down their respective characteristics below.

Tungkung Langit Alunsina

3. What do you think is the main conflict of the story?

4. What general message do creation stories convey?

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Understanding the Genres of Fiction and Drama

II. Objective
Analyze and interpret the themes and techniques used in particular texts.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

1. The following paragraphs are excerpted from the tale of Tungkung Langit and Alunsina.
Read it again.

One day, Tungkung Langit told his wife that he would be away from home for some time to put
an end to the chaotic disturbances in the flow of time and in the position of things. However, despite
this purpose, Alunsina sent the breeze to spy on Tungkung Langit. This made the latter very angry
upon knowing about it.

Immediately after his return from his trip, he called this act to her attention, saying it was ungodly
of her to be jealous, there being no other creature living in the world except the two of them. This
reproach was resented by Alunsina and a quarrel between then followed.

2. Rewrite the excerpt by using dialogue. Imagine what Tungkung Langit would be saying to
Alunsina, and how Alunsina would respond to Tungkung Langit’s accusations. Visualize the
quarrel scene of the two gods and write imaginary dialogue below. Write this dialogue on
the following lines.

Narrative detail:__________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Tungkung Langit: ________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Alunsina:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Tungkung Langit: ________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Alunsina:________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Narrative detail: __________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Tungkung Langit: ________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Alunsina:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

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 Tungkung Langit: ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Alunsinal:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Worksheet 2

I. Topic: Understanding the Genres of Fiction and Drama

II. Objective
Peer edit each other’s draft based on the clarity of idea, and choice and use of element.

III. Activity
Peer-edit each other’s draft based on the following:
• Clarity of the dialogue
• Appropriateness of the dialogue
• Dramatic content of the dialogue
• Realistic content of the dialogue

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Worksheet 3

I. Topic: Understanding the Genres of Fiction and Drama

II. Objective
Revise the written piece using the literary conventions of fiction and drama.

III. Activity
Revise the draft of the dialogue based on the observations and comments made by your peers
and then submit the revise version to your teacher.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

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Self-Learning Module 2

I. Topic: Understanding the Genre of Poetry

II. Competency
Create samples of the different literary elements based on one’s experience.

III. Objectives
• Identify dominant literary conventions of poetry- imagery, figures of speech, persona,
rhymes, meter, and theme;
• Revise the written piece using the literary conventions of poetry;
• Create a four-line stanza of a poem; and
• Analyze the given situation of a particular text.

IV. Pre-Activity
Think of at least three examples of the given items below. Write your answers on the lines.

Hollywood Actors
_____Zac Efron_____
_____Brad Pitt______
_____Tom Cruise____
Writers Southeast Asian Countries
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________

Ice Cream Flavors Cartoon Characters

_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________

Professions Singers
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________

Flowers TV Series
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________

Love Songs Colors

_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________

Junk Food Films

_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________
_________________ _________________

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V. Key Points
• The language of poetry is quite different from the language of prose (fiction and drama).
Poetry uses a more intensified, focused, and intricate language from prose. Because we now live in
modern society that prefers prose, we might find reading poetry a sort of challenge. You must
remember through that in ancient times and periods, poetry was a language of the people. So poetry
developed way before prose did.

Poetry is always characterized according to the following:

1. Poetry attempts to achieve beauty.
2. Poetry is imaginative, or makes use of the strength of imagination.
3. Poetry is musical, melodic, and rhythmical.
4. Poetry makes use of language that is metaphorical or symbolic, not direct.
5. Poetry makes use of brevity and conciseness.

There are many kinds of poetry from the ancient epic to the specific limerick but generally, there
are about three major categories of poetry: narrative, lyric, and dramatic.
• Narrative poems tell stories. They may be short and simple. Others are long and complex.
Epics like Illiad, Ballads like Lord Randall, and prose poems like the metrical romance of King Arthur
fall under this category.

• Dramatics poems employ dramatic form of elements of dramatic technique such as dialogue
or characters, instead of just a single speaker or persona. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
is a typical example of this.

• Lyric poems are brief in structure and subjective in expressing the thoughts and emotions of
the persona, he speaker of the poem. Originally written to be sung to the accompaniment of lyre
(hence, the term), the words in this poem could be lyrics which are strongly melodic. Songs, sonnets,
haikus, odes, elegies, and pastoral poems are example of this.

VI. Core Content

Understanding the Elements and Conventions of Poetry

Since poetry makes use of an intensified and exulted language, its elements are quite
different from plays and stories.

The use of images is a constant in poetry. It is the literal representation of an

experience or object that is perceived through he senses. It is represented in
Imagery language in a way that we can see, smell, hear, taste, touch or feel it as our
imagination allows.
Figure of speech are devices that help beautify or make the language more poetic
Figurative than it already is. The most commonly used figure of speech are simile, metaphor,
Language personification and onomatopoeia.
Poetry is as much an oral as it is a visual form; therefore, it is meant to be recited
and read aloud. Poetry way back to the ancient times when chants are ritualized.
The epics of Homer and the ballads of the medieval period were either performed
or sung. Today, poets give poetry readings and even make recordings of their work.
Sound
As a result, a poem should be read aloud to reveal its true merit. The rhyme scheme
and the meter that a poem employs add to the sound of the poem.

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 The speaker of the poem is not necessarily the poet. In many cases, poets creates
a persona (a word that comes from Latin means “mask”) who speak the poem in
Persona the first person. Since a poem does not have characters, it is the persona, and his
or her perspective where are able to perceive his or her experience.

VII. Post-Activity
Read and analyze the poem below.
Finder Loser
By Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta

More than half of my life around to pursue this search,

I spend searching for lost holding on to dear life,
objects ( papers, receipts, or to dear death, does it matter-
old letters, pills and whatever they are one in the proper
else) and causes and the rest, time but not till then,
losing and finding, and losing I shall go on seeking out
them again, found or otherwise; lost faces and faiths in the
losing what I have in good cold, collecting, calculating
measure, finding what crowd, sadly aware that later
I can’t almost have- but an unbreath away
One perpetual lifetime probe, I shall lose them all again;
Forever rummaging through as I was won’t, losing all
Bureaus and drawers and pages in this final irretrievable
Of my life’s past disarray… lose of my death time
or perhaps, possibly, yes,
And so when I finally go death will be kinder and oh, yes
keep vault unlidded for I allow me at last this
shall surely sit up and look flowing final find.

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Answer the following questions.

1. What does the title of the poem mean?

2. The poem makes typical use of alliteration (cold, collecting, calculating crowd; flowing, final,
find). What is alliteration? What impression is achieved in using these in this poem?

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Understanding the Genre of Poetry

II. Objective
Create a four-line stanza of a poem.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Write a four-line-stanza poem using this title “I Am”. In this short poem, write about your
thoughts about yourself-your character, fears, and virtues. You can also write about your dreams
and aspirations.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Worksheet 2

I. Topic: Understanding the Genre of Poetry

II. Objective
Analyze the given situation of a particular text.

III. Activity. Culminating Task

Because this unit centers on your stock knowledge on literary genre- short story (fiction), play
(drama) or poem (poetry)- read and analyze the situation below.

Two kids are outside the house. Kid A is reading a book and does not want to be
disturbed. Kid B, on the other hand, wants to ride a bicycle and catch butterflies. Kid B
persuades Kid A to do the same but Kid A wants to finish reading the story.

Instructions:
1. Study the situation above. Try to imagine and visualize the situation.

2. You have the option to submit a draft story, a draft play, or a draft poem based on the
situation. Your choice will depend on your strength as a writer.

3. Fiction: if you are submitting a draft story, write a paragraph describing the setting of the
story and the two characters. Be aware of the details of story telling.

4. Play: if you plan to submit a draft play, write a half-page dialogue of the two characters.
Make sure that the two characters have different personalities which are revealed through
their dialogues.

5. Poem: If you are planning to submit a poem, write one with six to eight lines addressing the
difference between the two kids and their preferences. Use images and figurative language.

6. Submit this to your teacher for checking and critiquing.

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Self-Learning Module 3

I. Topic: Plot

II. Competency
Analyze factual/nonfictional elements (Plot, Characters, Characterization, Point of View, Angle,
Setting and Atmosphere, Symbols and Symbolisms, Irony, Figures of Speech, Dialogue, Scene,
Other Elements and Devices) in the texts.

III. Objectives
• Analyze factual/nonfictional elements in the texts;
• Write an effective beginning paragraph composed of five to seven sentences using any of the
suggested techniques to begin a creative nonfiction piece; and
• Develop a story line or plot line based on a personal experience or an event one has
witnessed or had a major impact in one’s life.

IV. Pre-Activity
Direction: Trace some of the most memorable events in your life and try charting your future by
providing the personal information.

Looking Back and Moving Forward

Three Most Memorable Impact/ Contribution

Date People Involved
Events in My Life in My Life

Three People Whose

Impact/ Contribution
Life Stories Inspired Me Reason
in My Life
the Most

Three Immediate Plans

or Goals I Have for the Steps to Take to Achieve Them Time Frame
Near Future

V. Key Points
• Plot is a sequence of events that has a beginning, middle, and an end. It is a pattern of
actions, events, and situations showing the development of a narrative. Just like fiction, creative
nonfiction also has plot. One major difference is that the plot of creative nonfiction is based on actual
people, experiences, and events as they happened while in fiction, the characters are a product of
the fictionist’s creative imagination or can be based on the real experiences and events or on real
people who inhabit a fictional world created by the fiction writer.
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VI. Core Content
Plot
Materials for creative nonfiction is everywhere. As cited by Hidalgo (1994), material for essays
can come “From walking, from talking, from listening, from observing, from doing, from believing,
from disagreeing, from dreaming, from scheming, from asking and from having an open mind.”

Creative nonfiction writers must have the skill of fictionists since they will be telling a true story
in the way fictionists do i.e., employing all the strategies and techniques necessary for writing fiction.
This is what makes nonfiction “creative”. but the creative nonfiction writer must also have the research
ability of the reporter (Theodor A. Rees Cheney, 1991- Writing Creative Nonfiction. Berkeley: Ten
Speed Press). He begins with facts, elaborates on them, interprets them, and, more significantly,
present them in an interesting and engaging way. In other words, it is “a more imaginative approach
to reporting” yet remains truthful and accurate. It is also important to note that the writer of creative
nonfiction is not allowed in any way to alter facts in the interest of improving his story. Hidalgo
emphasizes that the creative nonfiction writer must not deliberately misquote his sources,
misconstrue their statements, or mislead his readers.

How to Begin?
The Title
§ Catchy and clever titles have an advantage. Examples: Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Wild
Man of the Green Swamp and Edward Hoagland’s The Courage of Turtle are examples of catchy
titles. Titles which are too long are at the disadvantage. Titles should not also be misleading.
§ Titles should give the reader a quick idea of what to expect, without giving away the whole
story (Hidalgo, 56-57)

The First Paragraph

According to Hidalgo, the key to good creative nonfiction is dramatic writing. And the key to
dramatic writing is action. There are many ways of beginning: with a passage of vivid description,
with a quotation, with a bit of dialogue, with a list, with a little scene, with an anecdote, with a question,
with a striking statement, with a reference to a current event which serves as context, or, with what
is fiction is called in medias res- a plunge right into the middle of the action.

How to End
It is expected that the ending of a creative nonfiction piece is the logical conclusion of the flow
of your narrative or of the development of your ideas. You must constantly bear in mind that the
reader should be left with a sense of completion. But a satisfying ending does not mean that you
need to answer or resolve the issues that you raised in the essay. You may even wish to end by
suggesting new problems or asking other questions (Hidalgo, 109).

VII. Post-Activity
Read and understand the short story entitled The Crime of the Tooth: Dentistry in the
Chair by Peter Freundlich.

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Answer the following questions.
1. What comes to your mind when you read the title?
2. After reading the text, do you think that the title the writer gave to the piece is effective?
3. How did the writer begin his text? How did he end?
4. Does the essay read like fiction? Explain your answer.

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Plot

II. Objective
Write an effective beginning paragraph composed of five to seven sentences using any of the
suggested techniques to begin a creative nonfiction piece.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Directions: Write a seven-sentence beginning for the following topics using any of these ways:
vivid description, a little scene, an anecdote, etc. Then give a possible title for your creative nonfiction
piece.

A. The Best Advice My Parents Gave to Me

Title: _________________________________________
Beginning: ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

B. An Exciting Event in School

Title: _________________________________________
Beginning: ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

C. What Life Means To Me

Title: _________________________________________
Beginning: ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

Worksheet 2

I. Topic : Plot

II. Objective
Develop a story line or plot line based on a personal experience or an event one has
witnessed or had a major impact in one’s life

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Directions: Write down your thoughts about your day in school, how it began and ended, the
important events of the day such as your encounters with your teachers and classmates, and what
you did after school. Post it on the wall of your Facebook page. Limit our post to 100 to 200 words.

Long Day’s Journey

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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Self-Learning Module 4

I. Topic: Character or Characterization

II. Competency
Analyze factual/nonfictional elements (Plot, Characters, Characterization, Point of View, Angle,
Setting and Atmosphere, Symbols and Symbolisms, Irony, Figures of Speech, Dialogue, Scene,
Other Elements and Devices) in the texts.

III. Objectives
• Analyze factual/nonfictional elements in the texts;
• Observe carefully subjects chosen, take down notes about them, and then write a detailed
character sketch; and
• Describe vividly oneself and other key individuals in one’s life by providing important
background information, distinct physical characteristics, and outstanding character traits and
attitudes.

IV. Pre-Activity
A New Kind of Slum Book

Answering the questions found in a slum book is an interesting pastime. It helps you know more
about people particularly your friends and family members. Ask one classmate, friend, a campus
figure or even your crush or the person you admire in school to answer the questions in the Slum
Book. But what makes this slum book different from others is that it requires your subject to elaborate
on his/her answers which allow you to know more about him/her. As soon as your subject has
answered the questions in your slum book, write a short profile that provides readers a clear idea
about that person.

SLUMBOOK
A. My Claim to Greatness

What are your special skills or talents? What do people say about your
talents?
______________________________ ________________________________
______________________________ ________________________________
______________________________ ________________________________

Are these talents innate or did you develop Do you agree with them?
them? Please check. Yes ( ) No ( ) I don’t care ( )
Innate ( ) Developed ( ) Not quite sure ( )

B. I Want to Express My Self

What is your favorite expression? Please check you answer.

Oh My God ( ) Wow ( ) Shucks ( )

Duh ( ) Hello ( ) Promise ( )
Chill ( ) It’s like… ( ) Others _________________
OMG ( ) Awww ( )

How did you learn this expressin?

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 Friends ( ) Family ( ) Movies ( ) Television ( )

What is your favorite motto, quotes, or saying? ________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

How has this motto, quote or saying helped you in your life? ______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_
C. This is Me. Take It or Leave It

Are you basically a good-nature person or the moody type?

Good nature ( ) Moody ( ) Somewhere in betweem ( )

How does this attitude affect your everyday dealing with people?
_____________________________________________________________________________
What do most people say about you?
_____________________________________________________________________________
What do you like and dislike most?
Like _________ Reason ____________ Dislike _____________ Reason _____________

D. Taking a Break for Some “ME” Time. What are your hobbies?
Reading ( ) Working out ( )
Listening to Music ( ) Shopping ( )
Watching television ( ) Collecting (e.g stamps, CDs & DVDs) ( )
Watching movies ( ) Cosplaying ( )
Playing basketball ( ) Others __________________________

How does your hobby help you improve yourself?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Profile

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

V. Key Point
• Characters usually an imagined person who inhabits a story, is an important talent element
in fiction; but a character may also be based on real people.

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VI. Core Content
Character
Character is an important element of creative nonfiction but in creative nonfiction the characters
are actual people including the writer himself. However, the devices utilized by the nonfiction writer
in creating, developing or more accurately, revealing characters are the same ones familiar to the
fictionist: direct description, action and reaction, other characters’ opinions. Cited by Hidalgo (1994
p.76) Dialogue or the actual conversation the writer has remembered or recorded is an effective
device for revealing characters. What characters say or how characters express themselves provides
readers ideas of the kind of people they are- careful temperamental, cautious, dismissive, rude,
straightforward, evasive, and defiant. The nuances and subtleties of one’s character are often
revealed through dialogue. Another way is through monologue - a long speech by one person in
conversation. Still another way is by focusing on a character’s distinct or idiosyncratic behavior.

VII. Post-Activity
Read and understand the short story entitled. Oedipus in Response by Dawn Marfil.

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Directions: Answer the following questions.
1. What what personal information or details did the writer reveal about herself?

2. What personal information or details did the writer reveal about her parents?

3. How did the writer portray herself and her family in the essay?

Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Character or Characterization

II. Objective
Observe carefully the chosen subject, take down notes about them, and then write a detailed
character sketch.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Directions: Choose a celebrity (individual or group) that you like. Interview ten people or more
and ask them about the chosen celebrity. Formulate your own questions which have something to
do with the celebrity’s rise to fame, the movies/TV programs they appear or star in, the music they
make, the product brands they endorse, their influence on the youth, what they should improve on,
etc. Consolidate the responses of the people you interviewed and write a character sketch (10-15
sentences) based on what you gathered.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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Worksheet 2

I. Topic: Character or Characterization

II. Objective
Describe vividly oneself and other key individuals in one’s life by providing important
background information, distinct physical characteristics, and outstanding character traits and
attitudes.

III. Activity. Journal Entry

Observe any of the following:
1.Your mother
2. Your father
3. Your brother/sister
4. Your helper or kasambahay
5. Your landlord/landlady
6. Your dormmate/ roommate

Write down your observations about your chosen subject. Focus on the things that you like
about the person. Limit your journal entry to seven to ten sentences.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

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Self-Learning Module 5

I. Topic: Point of View

II. Competency
Analyze factual/nonfictional elements (Plot, Characters, Characterization, Point of View, Angle,
Setting and Atmosphere, Symbols and Symbolisms,Irony, Figures of Speech, Dialogue, Scene,
Other Elements and Devices) in the texts.

III. Objectives
• Analyze factual/nonfictional elements in the texts; and
• Exhibit expertise in shaping a narrative through the use of different points of view.

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

Answer the following questions using the appropriate point of view.

A. Imagine that you have offended a very good friend of yours. You have made of your mind
that you are going to apologize to him or her. What are you going to say?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

B. You are going to pay tribute or give a heartfelt message to your mother or father or your
favorite teacher emphasizing their positive attributes. How would the tribute sound like?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

C. Two of your classmates, a boy and a girl, are arguing about a school project. The three of
you are members of a group that needs to submit the project on time. They blame each other for the
late submission and they enumerate the mistakes each one has done. Your teacher calls for you and
wants to know what happened and why the two are quarrelling. How would you recount the story to
your teacher?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

V. Key Point
• Point of View refers to the narrator of the story, the vantage point from where readers
observe the events of the story, or the writer’s special angle of vision, the one whose
perspective is told.

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VI. Core Content

Point of View

You learned in writing fiction that point of view refers to the narrator of the story, the vantage
point from where readers observe the events of the story, or the writer’s special angle of vision, the
one whose perspective is told. Creative nonfiction also employs a specific point of view just like
fiction. You may use the first person point of view, the second person point of view, or the third person
point of view.

As a writer, you need to decide what approach and point of view to use. Approach may either
be objective or subjective. Your circumstances as a writer will determine the approach you will use.
If you are given the task to report on the result of the election in your town, you would probably
choose an objective approach and include the time the precincts opened, the time of the arrival of
the voters, the situation (whether peaceful or not), the actual counting, and who won in the election.
It would be different if you are tasked to give your observations and write about your personal
experiences about the election. This would naturally include your feelings and emotions as well as
those of the people you had encountered as you covered the event.

Writers of creative nonfiction generally use the first or third person point-of-view. They also use
the indefinite pronoun “one,” which is a variation of the first person “I” or “we.” Occasionally, the writer
may opt to use the second person to make the readers feel that they are part of the story or narrative,
or that they are experiencing the events as if they are actual participants or witnesses.

Regarding tone and voice, Hidalgo explains that tone has to do with the writer’s attitude toward
his subject. Different tones are communicated through one’s own choice of words. Voice is related
to tone. It is also related to style, which is very difficult to define. Personal style is the mark of
personality upon the work; thus, in literature, style would be the writer’s particular way of using
language. Style is the result of may factors- gender, class, books, films, MTV or everything which
makes up the writer’s environment. A writer’s tone may be engaging. Sarcastic, biting , humorous,
deadpan, angry, etc. which you discover as you read the creative nonfiction piece.

VII. Post-Activity
Read and understand the short story entitled The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf.

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Answer the following questions.

1. What kind of creative nonfiction piece is Virginia Woolf’s “The Death of the Moth”? Justify
your answer.

2. What point or points of view did the writer use?

3. Did the writer succeed in using the point or points of view in emphasizing her point?
Explain your answer.

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Point of View

II. Objective
Write narrative vignettes based on real life experiencing using your own point of view

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

What Photographs Actually Say.

Take a photo of anything that catches your fancy (e.g, a selfie, your family having dinner, a
long queue in a movie theatre, children playing, a beautiful scenery etc.) Post it on your Facebook
page and write your thoughts about the photograph that you took.

Worksheet 2

I. Topic: Character or Characterization

II. Objective
Exhibit expertise in shaping a narrative through the use of different points of view.

III. III. Activity. Tell Me What You Think

Interview any of the following: a staff of the school paper, a sports personality in you school, an
honor student, an officer of the Student Council, an employee of the school, a subject teacher, a
member of the janitorial staff, or a writer in your school. As that person what he or she thinks of the
following:

l Family ties
l The work the he/she does
l The TV programs and movies he/she watches and likes and why ne/she likes them
l What love means to him/her
l What his/her biggest dream
l The current state of the country

Then write an essay with 8 to 10 sentences about your subject. You may use any of the point
of view.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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Self-Learning Module 6

I. Topic: Setting and Atmosphere

II. Competency
Analyze factual/nonfictional elements (Plot, Characters, Characterization, Point of View, Angle,
Setting and Atmosphere, Symbols and Symbolisms,Irony, Figures of Speech, Dialogue, Scene,
Other Elements and Devices) in the texts.

III. Objectives
• Analyze factual/nonfictional elements in the texts;
• Write a vivid description of a place that you are familiar with or you have been to for an essay
using words that appeal to the senses; and
• Recreate the exact mood or atmosphere that befits not only the setting but also your
impressions of the place and its impact in your life.

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

My Daily Itinerary

On your way to school each day, you probably do not take notice of your environment or the
things in the streets you pass by because you are thinking of school work. In this activity, you are
encourage to take time to examine your street, neighborhood, the people and the houses you see
until you arrive in school. Whether you commute daily or brought to school in a car or school bus, the
guide questions below will help you see your daily routine in a different light.

• What is the first thing that you see the moment you open your door? How does your
neighbor’s house look like? Is it a bungalow? A two- or three-storey structure? an
apartment? Is there a sari-sari store? Are there people making purchases? Do they
seem to be hurry?

• Is it a sunny or rainy day? Describe what you see. What do you feel exactly on this
particular day? Are you happy, listless, excited, sleepy, sad?

• On your way to school, do you notice anything about the houses in your neighborhood?
Are they similar to your own or do they have a different architecture?

• What other things do you see in your street? Is there someone selling ice cream or other
food items? Are there people who seem to be on their way to work? Do they wear
uniforms? Are there children or other students like you who are on their way to school?
Is there a basketball court? Is there any activity going on inside the basketball court?

• As you reach the highway, if you’re taking the jeepney or bus, can you describe some
of the passengers? If you’re inside a car or school bus, can you describe the scenery?

• Now that you have arrived in school, can you describe the school’s facade? What do
you think about it? How does it feel entering the school grounds?

Try to answer the questions based on how your experiences was as you went to school today.

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V. Key Point
• Setting refers to the place and time where and when an event happens.

VI. Core Content

Setting

You learned in your Creative Writing class that setting refers to the place and time where and
when an event happens. In fiction, you can have a very realistic setting like a city. Town, street, or
other places that readers are familiar with such as a crowded shopping mall, an old mansion, a dirty
classroom, a dark forest, an abandoned warehouse, etc. But as a fictionist, you can also create
settings that are not of this world like those found in science fiction, horror, fantasy, and speculative
fiction.
The creative nonfiction writer has no recourse but to stick to places that actually exist. You are
not allowed to invent places or locales to make your narrative interesting. The readers of creative
nonfiction must be taken to the places where the events actually happened. But just like fiction,
creative nonfiction becomes more realistic if you are able to incorporate the physical, sociological,
and psychological environment in depicting setting. The place, the time, and the bigger environment
that the setting signifies create an atmosphere that affects both the characters and the readers. Just
like in fiction, atmosphere or mood in creative nonfiction is the element that evokes certain feelings
or emotions. It is conveyed by the words used to describe the setting or reflected by the way your
subject speaks or in the way he or she acts.
Revealing a character is a skill that is necessary when you are writing an interview story,
character sketch, or profile and this is done by not only describing the subject’s physical appearance
but also when he or she is in action.

VII. Post-Activity
Read and understand the short story entitled Baguio (from Sojourns) by Cristina Pantoja-
Hidalgo.

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Answer the following questions.

1. How did the writer describe in the first paragraph of the essay her memory of going to
Baguio?

2. What are some of the memorable images of Baguio that are found in the essay?

3. What are some of the things that the writer and her family did in Baguio?

4. How would you describe the mood or atmosphere of the essay?

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic : Setting

II. Objective
Recreate the exact mood or atmosphere that befits not only the setting but also your
impressions of the place and its impact in your life.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

“How I Spent My Summer Vacation” is probably the most popular and corniest title of an essay
students write inside the classroom. Students have written about it many times from elementary to
junior high school and the tendency is to write about the same things over and over again. It is about
time to reinvent it and to make it more timely and interesting.

First Paragraph. Where did you spend your vacation last summer? Who were with you? Where
did you stay? Was it your first time to visit the place? What do you think of the place? What were the
places you visited?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Second Paragraph. What were the good things you remember about the vacation? Did you
dislike anything about the trip and the vacation? What were they?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Third Paragraph. If you were to relive your summer vacation, what changes would you make?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Last Paragraph. What is your dream summer vacation? Where do you want to go? Who do you
want to take with you in this dream vacation?
What activities do you want to engage in which you haven’t done yet in your previous vacation?
Do you think this is possible? What do your parents think about it?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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Self-Learning Module 7

I. Topic: Literary Concerns: Structure, Symbols, Irony and Figures of Speech

II. Competency
Analyze factual/nonfictional elements (Plot, Characters, Characterization, Point of View, Angle,
Setting and Atmosphere, Symbols and Symbolisms, Irony, Figures of Speech, Dialogue, Scene,
Other Elements and Devices) in the texts.

III. Objectives
• Analyze factual/nonfictional elements in the texts;
• Develop an organized narrative structure for a creative nonfiction piece;
• Come up with symbols that are appropriate for what they stand for;
• Distinguish between literal and figurative languages and use figures of speech correctly; and
• Identify the different types of ironies in the selection.

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

A. Put a check on the line before each number if the statement is an example of irony.

___1. After begging for a cat and finally getting one, she found out she was allergic.
___2. a traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his parking tickets.
___3. The Titanic was said to be unsinkable.

B. What do the following often symbolize?

1. Glass ____________________ 6. Red __________________

2. Water ____________________ 7. Green __________________
3. White ____________________ 8. Fire __________________
4. Pink ____________________ 9. Rust ___________________
5. Black ____________________ 10. Sky ___________________

V. Key Points
• Structure the way of organizing and presenting the details and events of a story
• Symbol is a concrete thing that is used to represent something in the abstract

VI. Core Content

Structure, Symbols, Irony and Figures of Speech

A. Structure
Just like a fiction, organization is a very important component in creative nonfiction. You don’t
just write whatever comes to your mind; you need to have a plan before you sit down to write.
Readers expect a certain structure that shows the writer’s ideas flowing smoothly.

Different Types of Structures

As the term suggests, it refers to an arrangement of events in linear
Chronological Structure fashion, as they occurred in time. This is ideal for an account of a trip
or a travelogue
Explanation-of-a-process This is the best structure for a how-to article (e.g. How to Cope with
structure Heartbreak, How to Use your Time Wisely) since it tells readers what

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 to do step-by-step.
This type is often used in fiction but is also used in creative
Flashback structure nonfiction. A flashback begins at some point in time and then moves
back into the past. This works best when you write a memoir.
This type has several stories, running side by side with occasional
Parallel structure cross-cutting or convergence. It is a technique that may have been
influenced by the cinema.
This type was influenced by painting and film. When you write
accounts of disasters, this is most convenient. It involves a pasting
Collage or Mosaic together of small fragments, which all together build up to the total
structure picture of what happened. This is an excellent device for capturing
the complexity of an event and also creating a sense of immediacy,
of speed
This type is a variation of the chronological structure and gives a
Diary or Log book
sense of immediacy to the narrative. It also makes the narrative
structure
seem more personal.
This type is a logical choice for interview stories which allows the
Question-and-answer
reader to hear the subject’s voice without the awkwardness of having
structure
to repeat “he said” or “she said” before every direct quotation.
Frame, or the story- It is a good structure to use when you wish to tell two stories- say, in
within-a-story structure a travel narrative, where the actual physical journey is paralleled by
an inner journey.

Symbols/Symbolism and Irony

A symbol is a thing that suggests more that its literal meaning. It is a concrete thing that
represents something in the abstract.

Irony is a figure of is a figure of speech in which words are used to mean the opposite of their
actual meanings. It is also the use of strange situations in which things happen in a way that is
opposite of what you suspected.

Figures of Speech
A figure of speech is a phrase or word which means more that its literal meaning. It conveys
meaning by identifying or comparing one thing to another. It also has connotation or meaning
familiar to the audience. That is why it is helpful in cresting vivid rhetorical effect.

Figure of Speech Meaning Examples

It involves using words that begin “Sally sells sea shells by the seashore”
Alliteration with the same sound “Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled
pepper.”
It uses a specific clause at the “Good night and good luck”
Anaphora beginning of each sentence or “It was the best of times. It was the
point to make a statement worst of times”
It focuses on the vowel sounds in a “Hear the mellow wedding bells” (Edgar
Assonance phrase, a line of text or poetry Allan Poe)
repeating them over and over to a “If I bleat when I speak it’s because I
great effect just got… fleeced” (Al Swearengen)
It uses exaggerated statements or “I am hungry I could eat a horse”
Hyperbole claims not meant to be taken “I’ve told you a million times”
literally

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 It expresses one’s meaning by “I love cold pizza!” (a sarcastic
Irony using language that normally response when one is served cold
signifies the opposite food)
“Oh great! Now you have broken my
new camera.”
It compare two things that are not “My heart is a lonely hunter that hunts
Metaphor alike and find something about on a lonely hill.”
them to make them alike “Her voice is music to his ears.”
It compares two things that are not “Life is like a box of chocolates; you
Simile really the same, but are used to never know what you’re going to eat.”
make a point about each other, “She is as beautiful as Mona Lisa”
usually using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’
It is a figure of speech in which a “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Metonymy thing or concept is called not by its (The word pen stands in for the written
own name but rather by the name word while the swords stands in for
of something associated with that military aggression and force)
thing or concept “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend
me your ears.” (ears used for giving
attention)
Onomatopoeia It is the use of a word that actually “hiss” for the sound made by snakes
sounds like what it means “boom” for the sound of an explosion
It is a figure of speech that “This is the beginning of an end.”
Paradox completely contradicts itself in the “Youth is wasted on the young.”
same sentence.
It is a way of giving an inanimate “The tree quaked with fear as the wind
Personification object the qualities of a living thing approached.”
“The sun smiled down on her.”
This play on words uses different “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.”
senses of the word, or different “She had a photographic memory but
Pun sounds that make up the word, to never developed it”
create something fun and
interesting
It is a figure of speech in which one “He earns the bread.” (Bread refers to
Synecdoche thing is meant to represent the money)
whole “I don’t want to talk to gray beard”
(Gray beard refers to an old man)
It is a situation in which the thing “I am delighted to win 10 million dollars”
Understatement discussed is made to seem much “100 home runs isn’t a bad record”
less important than it really is
It is a contradiction that pits two “You’re easy on the eyes, hard on the
Antithesis ideas against each other in a heart.”
balaced way “To err is human, to forgive is divine”
It contains words that are used to “My mother passed away.”
Euphemism soften the message or make it “Janet Jackson had a wardrobe
sound better that it is. malfunction when she performed at the
Super Bowl.”
Oxymoron It contains to contradicting words “open secret”
that are put together. “deafening silence”

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VII. Post-Activity
Read and understand the short story entitled Backwater Cuisine by Ann Hodgman

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Answer the following questions.

1. How is the creative nonfiction piece structured?

2. Write down at least three examples of irony found in the essay.

3. Write down at least three symbols found in the essay and state what they actually symbolize.

4. What are some of the common figures of speech found in the essay? Cite some excerpts
from it.

Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Literary Concerns: Structure, Symbols, Irony, Figures of Speech

II. Objective
Develop an organized narrative structure for a creative nonfiction piece.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Scheduling
Fill in the calendar with your important activities for the month. Once you are done, write an
essay of not more than 700 words detailing your plan for the month.
MONTH ______________________________________________

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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Worksheet 2

I. Topic: Literary Concerns: Structure, Symbols, Irony and Figures of Speech

II. Objective
Develop an organized narrative structure for a creative nonfiction piece.

III. Activity. Culminating Task

It is now time to write a complete creative nonfiction piece. One that has a beginning, a
middle, and an end. Write a five-page memoir (double space, font 12, font style Arial).

You may write about any of the following:

l A memorable or important moment in your high school life

l A personal struggle you were able to overcome

l A person who inspires you

l A life changing experience

l A major decision you had to make

l A movie, book, song, or music album that had a significant impact in your life.

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Self-Learning Module 8

I. Topic: Biographical Narratives: Biography, Profile, Character Sketch and Interview Story

II. Competency
Present a commentary/critique on a chosen creative nonfictional text representing a particular
type or form (Biography/Autobiography, Literary Journalism/Reportage, Personal Narratives,
Travelogue, Reflection Essay, True Narratives, Blogs, Testimonies, Other Forms).

III. Objectives
• Define and differentiate from one another the various types of biographical narratives, like the
biography, the profile, the character sketch, and the interview story;
• Compare and contrast the literary biography and the historical biography from the popular
biography; and
• Write an interview story about a person whose life the learner finds interesting or intriguing,
who can either be a local celebrity or a common folk.

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

Try to do the following activities:

1. Narrate the life of one of your parents.

2. Remember details you think are most significant- birth, baptism, educational background,
courtship, marriage, etc.

3. In three minutes, prepare and organize your thoughts.

4. Deliver your narration in three to five minutes.

V. Key Points
• Biographical narratives can be classified according to their length, scope, and amplitude into
the full-length biography, the profile, the character sketch, and the interview story. The full-length
biography can either be single-volume or multi-volume, and can be further subdivided based on the
subject into the popular biography, the literary biography, and the historical biography.

VI. Core Content

Biography

As the etymology of the term implies- bios (life) + graphein (writing)- biographhy basically is the
narrative of a person’s life written by someone else, in contrast to an autobiography which is the
chronicle of a person’s life written by the author himself or herself. According to William Harmon and
C. Hugh Holman’s A Handbook to Literature (Seventh Edition), “In England the word biography first
came into use with Dryden, who, in 1683 called it” the history of particular men’s lives.” Biography
today, “then, may be defined as the accurate presentation of the life history from birth to death of an
individual, along with an effort to interpret the life so as to offer a unified impression of the subject.”

A Full-length biography typically covers the entirety of the featured person’s existence,
covering all the significant events surrounding his or her life from womb to tomb, and usually includes
a family tree and a chronology of milestones in its appendices to further guide potential readers of

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the book. Technically, the full-length biographies of literal and historical figures are easier to write
than those of people who have left behind very little written or pictorial documents; correspondingly,
the historical or literal biographer faces the tremendous challenge of reading and sifting through vast
amounts of textual and visual materials to come up with a coherent life story.

The popular biography as the term implies, refers to the life story of an famous and/ or
successful person- a show business personality, a professional athlete, a business tycoon, a political
leader, a fashion celebrity, a reigning monarch, or even a serial killer- which is meant for popular or
mass consumption. Since the main purpose of the popular biographer is to disclose or reveal to the
most number of people the personal tale of the public figure he o she intends to immortalize, he or
she tends to focus on the main action of the narrative as well as the nitty-gritty details, and to forgo
the creation of mood and atmosphere, and the other elements that differentiate him or her from a
literary or historical biographer.

The literal biography and the historical biography, on the other hand, are not necessary
intended for popular or mass consumption, so they need not to cater to the common people’s
fondness for gossip, rumor, and hearsay. The literal biography is defined simply by Cristina Pantoja
Hidalgo, foremost practitioners of creative nonfiction in the Philippines, as “a narrative of the life of a
literary writer written by another literary writer”.

Profile
According to Peter P. Jacobi, “Cities can be profiled. So can streets. So can buildings. So can
institutions. Mostly, however, we can profile people. A profile recreates the subject, makes it come
alive on paper, gives the subject shape and meaning, causes us as readers to meet and know that
subject, that city, that institutions, that person.” Shorter than a full-length biography, a profile is a
kind of biographical narrative that normally concentrates on a single aspect of the featured person’s
life.

Character Sketch
The character sketch is a form of biographical narrative that is shorter than a profile. Like a
visual sketch or a pen-and-ink drawing, the character sketch can be described as a cameo or
miniature life story.

Interview Story
The interview story is a kind of biographical narrative the length of a typical newspaper or
magazine article. Like the profile and the character sketch, it zeroes in on one particular facet of the
featured person’s life; but unlike the other two short biographical narratives that requires some
research and at least a couple of interviews, the interview story can be the product of just one meeting
between the writer (the interviewer) and his or her subject (the interviewee).

VII. Post-Activity
Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following types of the full-length biography tends to sensationalized the details
of the life of its subject?
a. historical biography d. all of the above
b. literary biography e. none of the above
c. popular biography

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 2. Which of the following types of the full-length biography focus on the life of its subject as a
writer?
a. historical biography d. all of the above
b. literary biography e. none of the above
c. popular biography

3. Which of the following types of the full-length biography focus on the significance of its
subject vis-a-vis events of national or international importance?
a. historical biography d. all of the above
b. literary biography e. none of the above
c. popular biography

4. Which of the following types of biographical narratives requires thorough research?

a. biography d. all of the above
b. character sketch e. none of the above
c. profile

5. Which of the following types of biographical narratives requires some research?

a. character sketch d. all of the above
b. interview story e. none of the above
c. profile

6. Which of the following types of biographical narratives is the longest in terms of length?
a. character sketch d. all of the above
b. interview story e. none of the above
c. profile

7. Which of the following types of biographical narratives is intermediary in terms of length?

a. character sketch d. all of the above
b. interview story e. none of the above
c. profile

8. Which of the following types of biographical narratives is the shortest?

a. character sketch d. all of the above
b. interview story e. none of the above
c. profile

9. Which of the following types of biographical narratives can be the product of just one
interview?
a. character sketch d. all of the above
b. interview story e. none of the above
c. profile

10. Which of the following types of biographical narratives can be described as a cameo or
miniature life story?
a. character sketch d. all of the above
b. interview story e. none of the above
c. profile

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VIII. Self-Assessment Questions
Define the following in your own understanding:

1. Popular biography 2. Literal biography 3. Historical biography

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Biographical Narratives: Biography, Profile, Character Sketch, and Interview Story

II. Objective
Write an interview story about a person whose life the learner finds interesting or intriguing,
who can either be a local celebrity or a common folk.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

For the writing exercise, you as a learner must conduct an interview with a person whose life
you find interesting or intriguing. He or she can be your local celebrity, barangay official, or some
other figures of authority or influence. Conversely, he or she can also be a common folk, the owner
of the sari-sari store on the street corner near your house, the old janitor or the new lady guard in
your school building, or even your housemaid or driver. What is most important is that you must find
this person particularly interesting, or at least intriguing enough, to write about him or her. Your
primary task is to make this person come alive in your interview story.

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Self-Learning Module 9

I. Topic: Autobiographical Narratives: Autobiography, Memoir, Diary and Journal

II. Competency
Present a commentary/critique on a chosen creative nonfictional text representing a particular
type or form (Biography/Autobiography, Literary Journalism/Reportage, Personal Narratives,
Travelogue, Reflection Essay, True Narratives, Blogs, Testimonies, Other Forms).

III. Objectives
• Define and differentiate from one another the various types of autobiographical narratives like
the autobiography, memoir, diary, and journal
• Compose a journal entry containing at least five well-written paragraphs

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

Your teacher will randomly call five students to individually do the following:

1. Narrate the life of one of your parents.

2. Remember details you think are most significant- birth, baptism, childhood firsts,
elementary and high school experiences.
3. In three minutes, prepare and organize your thoughts.
4. Deliver your narration in three to five minutes.

V. Key Point
• An autobiography is an account of one’s own life, generally a continuous narrative of major
events.” It can also be defined as “the biography of oneself narrated by oneself.

VI. Core Content

Autobiography
According to a dictionary of literary terms, an autobiography is “an account of one’s own life,
generally a continuous narrative of major events.” It can also be defined as “the biography of oneself
narrated by oneself.” Within the context of this second definition, the autobiography can be
considered as nothing more than a subspecies of the biography, which etymologically comes from
the Greek word bios (life) + graphein (to write). But the autobiography as a literal form is greater than
a mere reminiscence of the important episodes in the life of its author, for it must also be a coherent
chronicle of a particular kind of existence.

Memoir
Among the more informal forms of autobiographical narrative, the memoir is the one that is
most often confused with the formal autobiography, for both are concerned with the telling of the
author’s life. But an autobiography is more complete than a memoir, because the former “moves in
a dutiful line from birth to fame, omitting nothing,” whereas the latter “assumes the life and ignores
most of it.” The memoir, therefore, does not need to be arranged or structured in a strictly
chronological order like the autobiography, and can be written in a fragmentary or dispersed style,
like a mosaic or montage of small-scale narratives. But the act remembering is also very important
in the writing of a memoir, since the name of this literary genre is a derivate of the French word
memoire, which means memory or reminiscence.

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 Diary and Journal
Diaries and journals as autobiographical narratives have been very popular for thousands of
years, and have been deployed by different types of people for writing and recording personal
experiences, thoughts, and feelings. In actual practice, journals are more intimate than diaries;
however, both diaries and journals are generally kept private.

Diary
The diary as its name suggests is a form of creative nonfiction that is a quotidian or day-to-day
record of the specific events that have transpired in the life of its author and is ideally kept on a daily
basis. In practice, however, very few diarist include all the entries they have written for a certain
period when they publish their works in book form.

Journal
The journal as a form of autobiographical writing is generally more intimate than a diary; and
even if it includes daily activities, it also contains personal details regarding the impressions and
opinions of the journal writer concerning certain intriguing incidents or issues that have come up and
how specific persons have affected him or her during the course of the day. A journal is typically/very
expressive and confidential- a receptable of the author’s innermost thoughts and feelings- and is
generally meant for private consumption and not meant for publication. A journal has no prescribed
format, does not necessarily need careful planning, thinking, or editing, since it can be a “catch all”
of every thought and feelings that the author has decided to record without restrictions.

VII. Post-Activity
Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following types of autobiography narrative attempts to follows the full
trajectory of the life of its subject “in a dutiful line from birth to fame, omitting nothing?”
a. autobiography d. all of the above
b. journal e. none of the above
c. memoir

2. Which of the following types of autobiography narrative is supposed to be a quotidian or

daily account of what transpired in the life of its author?
a. diary d. all of the above
b. journal e. none of the above
c. memoir

3. Which of the following types of autobiography narrative is fragmentary compared to a

formal autobiography?
a. diary d. all of the above
b. journal e. none of the above
c. memoir

4. Which of the following types of autobiographical narratives is the most intimate, expressive,
and confidential?
a. diary d. all of the above
b. journal e. none of the above
c. memoir

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 5. Which of the following types of autobiographical narrative etymology means “self+life+to
write”?
a. autobiography d. all of the above
b. diary e. none of the above
c. memoir

6. Which of the following types of autobiographical narratives etymology means “memory or

reminiscence?”
a. autobiography d. all of the above
b. diary e. none of the above
c. memoir

7. Which of the following types of biographical narratives usually deals with “the recollections
of one who has been part of or has witnessed significant events?”
a. autobiography d. all of the above
b. journal e. none of the above
c. memoir

8. Which of the following types of biographical narratives requires a good memory on the part
of the author for it to be successfully written?
a. autobiography d. all of the above
b. journal e. none of the above
c. memoir

9. Which of the following types of biographical narratives in its rawest and unedited form
seems to be the most honest attempt of an author to capture day-to-day reality as he or she
perceives it to be?
a. diary d. all of the above
b. journal e. none of the above
c. memoir

10. Which of the following types of biographical narratives can be roughly classified into four
types: thematic, religious, intellectual, and factionalized?
a. autobiography d. all of the above
b. diary e. none of the above
c. journal

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Complete the table below:
Autobiographical Narratives Characteristics
Autobiography
Journal
Memoir

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Autobiographical Narratives: Autobiography, Memoir, Diary and Journal

II. Objective
Compose a journal entry containing at least five well-written paragraphs.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

For the writing exercise, you must purchase a writing notebook which will serve as your journal.
Write your very first entry which must contain the following:

The first paragraph will explain the purpose why you are keeping a journal (aside from the
obvious fact that it is a class requirement) and what you intend to achieve in your diary writing; the
second to fourth paragraph will describe your routine activities in a typical day; and the last paragraph
will express your hopes and dreams for the future.

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Self-Learning Module 10

I. Topic: Literary, Familiar, Personal or Informal Essays:

Literal Reportage, Descriptive Essay and Reflective Essay

II. Competency
Present a commentary/critique on a chosen creative nonfictional text representing a particular
type or form (Biography/Autobiography, Literary Journalism/Reportage, Personal Narratives,
Travelogue, Reflection Essay, True Narratives, Blogs, Testimonies, Other Forms).

III. Objectives
• Compare and contrast the personal, literary or informal essay from the documented, non-
literary or informal essay;
• Determine the distinguishing characteristics of the literary reportage, the descriptive essay,
and the reflective essay; and
• Compose a short personal or informal essay comprising five to seven paragraphs that
described your hometown or your home.

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

Your teacher will randomly call five students to individually do the following:

1. Narrate the unusual incident or a series of incidents you have personally witnessed.
2. Be as precise as a journalist in terms of the basic facts (what, where, who, and why).
3. Be as imaginative as a creative writer in telling the story (exposition, conflict, complication,
climax, denouement, and insight).
4. In three minutes, prepare and organize your thoughts.
5. Deliver your narration in three to five minutes.

V. Key Points

• The essay is an analytic, interpretative, or critical literary composition usually much shorter
and less systematic and formal than a dissertation or thesis and usually dealing with its subject from
a limited and often personal point of view.
• Literary reportage is a form of creative nonfiction that presents verifiable data and well-
researched information, like a film or TV documentary.
• The descriptive essay is a kind of creative nonfiction whose main intention is to represent
the appearance or essence of something
• The reflective essay is kind of personal narrative essay whose main intention is to analyze
the significance of a past event through serious thought or consideration from the vantage point of
the present.

VI. Core Content

Literary, Familiar, Personal or Informal Essays:

Literary Reportage, Descriptive Essay and Reflective Essay

According to the Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, the essay is “an analytic,

interpretative, or critical literary composition usually much shorter and less systematic and formal
than a dissertation or thesis and usually dealing with its subject from a limited and often personal

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point of view.” The term “essay” is a derivative of the French word essayer, which means “to attempt”
or “to try,” and its primary meaning is still used in certain instances in English.

The essay as a genre can be subdivided into two main categories: the literary, personal, familiar
or informal essay; and the non-literary, documented or formal essay. The literary reportage, on the
other hand, is a special kind of creative nonfiction or narrative essay that has emerged in the West
in conjunction with the rise of the so-called New Journalism in the 1960s.

The typical essay has its main components: the introduction, supporting paragraphs,
transitional paragraphs, and the conclusion. The introductory paragraph usually contains the thesis
statement or the controlling idea that the writer wants to share with his or her readers. The supporting
paragraphs, also known as the body of the essay, offer pieces of evidence and logical arguments
that enhance the thesis statement. The transitional paragraphs are short paragraphs that indicate
the divisions of the essay, especially in essays that are quite substantial in length. The concluding
paragraph provides a fitting ending to the essay, oftentimes by restating the controlling idea or
reflecting on the thesis statement.

Literary Reportage
Literary reportage is a form of creative nonfiction that presents verifiable data and well-
researched information, like a film or TV documentary. As a written genre, it is a hybrid between
responsible journalism and imaginative literature. On the hand hand, literary reportage shares with
responsible journalism in the way it pays close attention to sociocultural reality, past events, and
current affairs. Responsible journalism attempts to analyze the collected data accurately by
contextualizing its facts and figures, such as historical antecedents and causation, presenting readers
with discerning processed information for a more enlightened interpretation of world affairs.

Also known as literary journalism and new journalism, literary reportage, according to Tom
Wolfe, is a combination of in-depth reporting and literary ambition, and that new journalists “wanted
to make the nonfiction story shimmer ‘like a novel with the pleasures of detailed realism.’”

Descriptive Essay
The descriptive essay is a kind of creative nonfiction whose main intention is to represent the
appearance or essence of something. The main rhetorical device or strategy used in a descriptive
essay is description- the use of sensory details to portray a person, place, or thing. Sensory details
refers to particular items of information which are perceivable to the five human sense of sight,
hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Carefully selected and properly arranged sensory details can help
make a descriptive essay more accurate, authentic, and astonishing.

Two Types of Description

1. Objective description portrays the subject matter in a clear and direct manner as it exist in
reality beyond the realm of personal feelings and emotions. Articles about science and technology
make use of objective description, since such writings are pragmatic and utilitarian in nature, “making
little use of speculation or poetic technique and featuring mainly what can be seen.

2. Subjective description expresses the writer’s personal feelings and impression about the
subject matter, creating a certain tone, mode or atmosphere while emphasizing a certain point.
“Because most expression involves personal views, even when it explains by analysis, subjective
description (often called emotional description) has a broader range of uses than objective
description ”

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 Reflective Essay
The reflective essay is a kind of personal narrative essay whose main intention is to analyze
the significance of a past event through serious thought or consideration from the vantage point of
the present. The writer of the reflexive essay combines his or her own subjective experiences and
observations with careful assessment and analysis from an objective perspective. The major source
when writing a reflective essay is memory, the repository of sensory information, facts and figures
that have been accumulated since infancy through personal experiences.

VII. Post-Activity
Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following forms of creative non fiction can be described as “an analytic,
interpretative, or critical composition… usually dealing with its subject from a limited and often
personal point of view?”
a. biography d. all of the above
b. diary e. none of the above
c. essay

2. Which of the following forms of creative nonfiction requires both journalistic and literary
skills?
a. descriptive essay d. all of the above
b. literary reportage e. none of the above
c. reflective essay

3. Which of the following forms of creative nonfiction requires retrospection or a looking back
at past events to determine their significance in the present?
a. descriptive essay d. all of the above
b. literary reportage e. none of the above
c. reflective essay

4. Which of the following forms of creative nonfiction has for its main intention the
representation of the appearance or essence of something?
a. descriptive essay d. all of the above
b. literary reportage e. none of the above
c. reflective

5. In its original French context, what does the word essay mean?
a. to attempt d. all of the above
b. to described e. none of the above
c. to explain

6. Which of the following forms of creative nonfiction emerged in conjunction with the rise of
the so-called New Journalism in the 1960s?
a. descriptive essay d. all of the above
b. literary reportage e. none of the above
c. reflective essay

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 7. Which of the following terms is synonymous to “familiar essay?”
a. informal essay d. all of the above
b. literary essay e. none of the above
c. personal essay

8. Which of the following term is not synonymous to “formal essay”?

a. documented essay d. all of the above
b. descriptive essay e. none of the above
c. non-literary essay

9. Which of the following terms is synonymous to “emotional description” ?

a. objective description d. all of the above
b. simple description e. none of the above
c. subjective description

10. Which of the following forms of creative nonfiction is a hybrid of responsive journalism
and imaginative literature?
a. descriptive essay d. all of the above
b. literary reportage e. none of the above
c. reflective essay

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Complete the table below.

Autobiographical Narratives Characteristics

Descriptive Essay

Literary Reportage

Reflective Essay

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Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Literary, Familiar, Personal or Informal Essays:

Literal Reportage, Descriptive Essay and Reflective Essay

II. Objective
Compose a short personal or informal essay comprising five to seven paragraphs that
described your hometown or your home.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Compose a personal or informal essay of five to seven paragraphs that describes your
hometown or your home. If you are writing about your hometown, you might start by describing its
downtown area before proceeding to describe its suburbs or outskirts. If you are writing about your
home, you may start by describing the facade or frontage of your house before proceeding to describe
its interior spaces. Combine objective description and subjective description to make your essay
more vivid and remarkable.

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Self-Learning Module 11

I. Topic: Special Types of Creative Nonfiction: Travel Writing, Food Writing and Nature
Writing

II. Competency
Present a commentary/critique on a chosen creative nonfictional text representing a particular
type or form (Biography/Autobiography, Literary Journalism/Reportage, Personal Narratives,
Travelogue, Reflection Essay, True Narratives, Blogs, Testimonies, Other Forms).

III. Objectives
• Determine the distinguishing characteristics of travel writing, food writing and nature writing;
and
• Compose a short piece of food writing that will feature a particular dish.

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

Your teacher will randomly call five students to individually do the following:

1. Narrate your most memorable travel experience- foreign or local.

2. Remember as much details as you can- the sights and sounds you have seen and heard,
the food and drinks you have eaten and imbibed, and the landscape, flora and fauna you have
encountered in your journey.
3. In three minutes, prepare and organize your thoughts.
4. Deliver your narration in three to five minutes.

V. Key Points
• Travel writing is a form of creative nonfiction that describes the narrator’s experiences in
foreign places
• Food writing is a type of creative nonfiction that focuses on gustatory delights or disasters
while simultaneously narrating an interesting story, as well as sharing an insight or two about the
human condition.
• Nature writing focuses primarily on gustatory delights, it highlights the beauty and majesty
of the natural world, as well as humanity’s special relationship with Mother Earth.

VI. Core Content

Travel Writing
Travel writing is a form of creative nonfiction that describes the narrator’s experiences in
foreign places. This type of writing usually includes a narration of the journey undertaken by the
narrator from his or her point of origin to the eventual destination, with all the hazards and
inconveniences encountered along the way. It also entails detailed description of the local customs
and traditions, the landscape, or cityscape, the native cuisine, the historical and cultural landmarks,
and the sights and sounds the visited place has to offer.

But for the travel writing to qualify as good literature and a cut above commercial travel guides
aimed at potential tourists, it must also contain a corresponding physical or inner journey.

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 Food Writing
A direct offshoot of travel writing that has evolved into a literary subgenre of its on is food
writing. It is a type of creative nonfiction that focuses on gustatory delights or disasters while
simultaneously narrating an interesting story, as well as sharing an insight or two about the human
condition. The relationship between food writing and travel writing is best expressed by Richard
Sterling in his preface to Food: A Taste of the Road, “But there is one universal constant in travel…
Any number of people will tell you that they travel, in large part, to eat. To break bread with strangers
and leave the table with friends to discover the world through the medium to cuisine, deepen their
understanding, broaden their horizons, and to make your travels the richer.”

Food writer consider food not only as a necessary substance for survival, but as a manifestation
of culture as well. American food writer Mark Kurlansky provides us the range and domain of this
literary subgenre when he proclaims that, “food is about agriculture, about ecology, about man’s
relationship with nature, about the climate, about nation-building, cultural struggles, friends and
enemies, alliances, wars, religion. It is about memory and tradition and, at times, even about sex.”

Nature Writing
Nature writing can also be considered as an offshoot of travel writing, but unlike food writing
that focuses primarily on gustatory delights, it highlights the beauty and majesty of the natural world,
as well as humanity’s special relationship with Mother Earth.

As a literary genre, it is highly dependent on a scientific facts and figures about the natural
world, while integrating private observations of and philosophical contemplation on the natural
environment. According to www.encyclopedia.com, this type of literature, “depending upon its
emphases and the period and the genre in which it is written… is variously called natural philosophy,
natural history, environmental literature, and nature writing.”

Natural philosophy refers specifically to specific observations and meditations on mankind’s

relationship with nature and the universe. On the other hand, natural history refers to literature that
is mainly concerned with the description of flora and fauna, and their evolution throughout the
millennia.

VII. Post-Activity
Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction requires an adventurous spirit?
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

2. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction has the longest history in terms
of antecedents or precursors?
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

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contents by any person or institution for any reason shall give Westbridge Institute of Technology, Inc. the right to file legal action against the
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 3. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction celebrates gustatory delights and
consider them as manifestations of culture?
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

4. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction celebrates requires some
knowledge of flora and fauna, as well as basic scientific facts?
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

5. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction can be considered as part of
ecological literature?
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

6. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction in past centuries has for its
narrator “an adventurer or a connoisseur of art, landscapes, or strange customs who may also have
been a writer of merit?”
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

7. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction is highly dependent for its
prevalence and popularity on the rise and fall of the tourism industry?
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

8. Which of the following special types of creative nonfiction requires the author to have good
skills and the art of description?
a. food writing d. all of the above
b. nature writing e. none of the above
c. travel writing

9. Which of the following travel writers believe in capturing “the spirit of the place” by actually
residing for a longer period of time in a particular area, rather than simply rushing through it like a
typical tourist?
a. Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo d. all of the above
b. Gizela M. Gonzalez e. none of the above
c. John Updike

10. In the evolution of nature writing as a literary subgenre, which of the following terms was
variously used to refer to it in its long history?
a. environmental literature d. all of the above
b. natural history e. none of the above
c. natural philosophy

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VIII. Self-Assessment Questions
Compare and contrast the travel writing and nature writing.

Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Special Types of Creative Nonfiction: Travel Writing, Food Writing and Nature
Writing

II. Objective
Compose a short piece of food writing that will feature a particular dish.

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Compose a five-paragraph food essay or food narrative featuring a particular dish of your own
choice. The introductory paragraph should contain some historical and/ or personal background
about the dish. The second and the third paragraphs should provide the readers with a list of the
necessary ingredients and the recipe for the preparation of the dish. The fourth paragraph should
contain a vivid description of the dish in terms of its appearance (sight), aroma or fragrance (smell),
sizzle (sound), flavor or tang (taste), and texture (touch) on the palate and tongue. The last paragraph
should inform the readers of the cultural significance of the dish, and why they should try it.

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contents by any person or institution for any reason shall give Westbridge Institute of Technology, Inc. the right to file legal action against the
person/s and/or institution/s involved.
Self-Learning Module 12

I. Topic: Emerging Forms of Creative Nonfiction: Testimonio, Blog and

Facebook Status Report

II. Competency
Present a commentary/critique on a chosen creative nonfictional text representing a particular
type or form (Biography/Autobiography, Literary Journalism/Reportage, Personal Narratives,
Travelogue, Reflection Essay, True Narratives, Blogs, Testimonies, Other Forms).

III. Objectives
• Determine the distinguishing characteristics of the testimonio, the blog, and Facebook status
report; and
• Compose a well-written blog comprising five paragraphs about a topic of one’s own choice.

IV. Pre-Activity. Exploratory Activity

Your teacher will randomly call five students to individually do the following:

1. Narrate a very oppressive incident or a series of incidents, whether something you have
personally experienced or something that has been experienced by someone you know.
2. Include as much as telling detail as you can in terms of the injustice inflicted and its negative
effects on the victim.
3. In three minutes, prepare and organize your thoughts.
4. Deliver your narration in three to five minutes.

V. Key Points
• Testimonio can be defined published oral or written “first-hand accounts” of human rights
violations and abuses.
• Blog is an online diary that looks like a web.
• Facebook is a social networking website.

VI. Core Content

Testimonio
The testimonio is an emerging form of creative nonfiction that appeared in Latin America. It
can be defined as published oral or written “first-hand accounts” of human rights violations and
abuses of the powers-that-be in oppressive societies, “which the witnesses wrote themselves, or
dictate to a transcriber.” The term “testimonio” originally comes from South America and Central
America after international human rights tribunals, truth commission, and other fact-finding boards in
countries like Argentina, Chile, and Guatemala have uncovered the rampant injustices committed
against ethnic minorities

Blog
The blog, short for web log, can be defined as “an online diary that looks like a web page.”
Technically speaking, it is not really a new literary genre but an electronic platform in the Internet that
its end user can constantly updated by changing its contents in terms of additional texts, photos, and
links to other websites. The content of a typical blog combines texts (written words), digital images
(photos), memes (texts and images), as well as external links to other blogs, web pages, and media
focusing on the same topic of interest or subject area.

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contents by any person or institution for any reason shall give Westbridge Institute of Technology, Inc. the right to file legal action against the
person/s and/or institution/s involved.
 Facebook Status Report
Facebook is the social networking website founded and further developed by Mark Zuckerberg
and his college classmates in Harvard University. Anyone of legal age in his or her respective country
can become a member of Facebook by registering online through a wide range of platforms:
desktops, laptops, tablet computers, and smart phones through the Internet and mobile phone
networks.

In its original legal context, the status report refers to “a report that summarizes a particular
situation as of a stated period of time,” but has quickly expanded to mean “a report describing the
current situation with regard to a business, project, matter, etc., especially one in a series of such
reports summarizing a changing state of affairs.”

VII. Post-Activity
Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the emerging types of creative nonfiction is a subgenre of trauma literature??

a. blog d. all of the above
b. Facebook status report e. none of the above
c. testimonio

2. Which of the emerging types of creative nonfiction is the most accessible platform for
self-expression to the Internet generation?
a. blog d. all of the above
b. Facebook status report e. none of the above
c. testimonio

3. Which of the emerging types of creative nonfiction gives voice to subaltern or oppressed
individuals, whose voice otherwise would have been silenced by the power-that-be?
a. blog d. all of the above
b. Facebook status report e. none of the above
c. testimonio

4. Which of the emerging types of creative nonfiction can be described as “an online diary
that looks like a web page?”
a. blog d. all of the above
b. Facebook status report e. none of the above
c. testimonio

5. Which of the emerging types of creative nonfiction is typically short and usually provides
information without being too detailed?
a. blog d. all of the above
b. Facebook status report e. none of the above
c. testimonio

VIII. Self-Assessment Questions

Differentiate the following:
• Testimonio
• Blog
• Facebook status report

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contents by any person or institution for any reason shall give Westbridge Institute of Technology, Inc. the right to file legal action against the
person/s and/or institution/s involved.
Worksheet 1

I. Topic: Emerging Forms of Creative Nonfiction: Testimonio, Blog and Facebook Status Report

II. Objective
Compose a well-written blog comprising five paragraphs about a topic of one’s own choice

III. Activity. Writing Exercise

Your teacher will create a group blog for the use of entire class, and serve as its webmaster or
moderator. Upload a five-paragraph blog entry on a topic that you have chosen which should be
preapproved by your teacher

Worksheet 2

II. Topic: Emerging Forms of Creative Nonfiction: Testimonio, Blog and Facebook Status Report

II. Objective
Compose a well-written blog comprising five paragraphs about a topic of one’s own choice

III. Activity. Culminating Task

For the final output in the different types and forms of creative nonfiction, revise your portfolio
consisting of (1) an interview story, (2) a journal entry, (3) a descriptive essay, (4) a food essay or
narrative, and (5) blog entry.

Afterward, collate your revised pieces of creative nonfiction and give it a catch overall title.

Submit the bound hardcopy to your teacher.

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contents by any person or institution for any reason shall give Westbridge Institute of Technology, Inc. the right to file legal action against the
person/s and/or institution/s involved.