Non Fiction Genres

Genres of literary non-fiction

The three main genres of literary non-fiction are expository, narrative, and persuasive.

Expository non-fiction

One of the best-known genres of non-fiction is the expository book.

Expository non-fiction books are perhaps the easiest non-fiction genre to spot. These are texts that present the facts of a topic in a straightforward manner. These books typically do not follow one particular story. Instead, expository texts will frequently present research on a certain topic without any extra narrative. Subgenres of the expository non-fiction genre include academic texts, recipe books or other instruction manuals.

Narrative non-fiction

Narrative non-fiction is one of the most popular genres of non-fiction texts.

This genre of non-fiction novel is one of the broadest as it encompasses any true story that is told in the style of a fiction novel. To put it simply, narrative non-fiction refers to facts that are told as a story. There are many subgenres of this category, including (auto)biographies, travelogues, and literary journalism.

This genre often includes descriptive non-fiction. This is a subgenre of non-fiction that uses figurative language to create a descriptive story. It is often used to create texts such as travel guides. Descriptive non-fiction can be used to enhance the story being told in a piece of narrative non-fiction.

Persuasive non-fiction

Persuasive non-fiction is a genre that consists of works that argue for an opinion.

This is a common genre of non-fiction that can overlap with other categories, such as expository non-fiction. The purpose of persuasive non-fiction is to argue either in favour or against something. It will present the facts of the argument and try to persuade the reader to agree. Persuasive non-fiction often takes the form of academic texts such as a thesis or an essay. Features of this genre include logical arguments and cohesive summaries.

Non-fiction genres examples

Expository non-fiction

Expository non-fiction texts are extremely common, One of the most popular types of expository texts is the encyclopedia. These texts provide information in a straightforward, structured manner. An example of this can be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Below is an extract from the text's chapter on English Literature - look at how facts are presented!

Narrative non-fiction

A notable example of narrative non-fiction is the true crime novel, In Cold Blood (1965) by Truman Capote. The novel retells the story of the murders of the Clutter family. It is best known for how it blends together facts with a literary narrative. An extract from In Cold Blood (1965), is found below, notice how Capote presents the facts of the case in a literary manner,

Persuasive non-fiction

An example of persuasive non-fiction can be found in academic texts. The purpose of these texts is to argue in favour of a view point. This means that the text will aim to persuade the reader to agree with it. An example of this can be seen in the article Joyce's Exile: The Prodigal Son by Joseph Kelly. In the article, Kelly aims to persuade the reader that Joyce's life was more typical and ordinary than previous literature would suggest.

Non-fiction subgenres: examples

There are also multiple subgenres of non-fiction texts. These include academic texts, biographies and travelogues.

Academic texts

Academic texts are one of the most common subgenres of non-fiction texts.

Academic texts must be critical and objective as they are reporting facts and arguing a viewpoint. These texts are always written formally, and use full punctuation and grammar. They follow a strict structure with a clearly earmarked introduction, main body and conclusion. These texts are non-fiction as they are completely based on fact and they typically fall into the expository genre of non-fiction works. As they try to convince the reader of an argument they are also a subgenre of the persuasive non-fiction genre. Examples of different types of academic texts include research papers, reviews, reports, essays, and critique papers.

Biography

A popular subgenre of the narrative non-fiction genre is the biography.

Biographies are one of the most common forms of the non-fiction genre, and they can be found in any bookshop or library across the world. The biography tells the true story of a person's life. When it is written by the subject themself, it is referred to as an autobiography. Biographies typically contain basic information about the subject, as well as stories from major events in their lives.

Travelogues

Another common subgenre of the non-fiction genre is the travelogue.

Travelogues relay the journey of a traveler to the audience. These texts differ from travel guides as they fall into the narrative non-fiction genre, rather than the expository genre. Travelogues use descriptive language to recount where the traveler went, as well as the people, food, culture, and landscapes they came into contact with. Travelogues are an easily accessible way for readers to learn about different places, while still following a narrative.

Non-fiction genres: relevance

Non-fiction is an important genre of literature as it is a clear and easy way to convey facts and true stories. In turn, genres of non-fiction are a good way for readers to find the facts they are looking for.

For example, a travel guide and a travelogue are very different, as the former is a piece of expository non-fiction and the latter is typically a piece of narrative non-fiction.

These genres are a good way to differentiate between non-fiction texts, allowing the reader to pick a text suitable for their needs.