Modules 37–34 Fiction or non-fiction, truth or lies?
FOR THE TEACHER
A useful starting point in helping pupils to attempt to answer the questions in these modules is to discuss with them what might be called the ‘relevant vocabulary’ of non-fiction. I have often come across children (and plenty of adults) who use words without any clear idea of (1) what they mean by them and (2) what the words mean in a wider context, including their etymological roots. If we accept the notion that ‘I am responsible for what I say but not for what you hear’, then it is always worth checking the speaker’s/writer’s intended definitions – as far as this is possible – or at least stating clearly the meaning that one has put upon a particular word or term.
One of my most-thumbed reference books is a little dictionary of word origins I keep on my desk. Over the years I have got into the habit not just of investigating particular words I want to use but also browsing in a more leisurely way. Building ten minutes’ browsing time occasionally into your classroom routine is bound to produce some interesting results. The children are likely to enjoy it too and, very importantly, they might well develop the habit of saying ‘Yes, but what do you mean by that?’ I grant that this could be annoying from a teacher’s point of view, but it’s a cause for celebration, I think, that the children are developing the ‘question, doubt, challenge’ attitude.
As an example of what I mean, I was intrigued to learn that ‘fiction’ has its origins in the Latin fictio, the ‘act of fashioning’, from fingere ‘to shape or feign’, which in turn has links with the origins of the word ‘dough’. This threw up a number of useful insights for me.
The notion of deliberately fashioning language and meanings ‘like dough’ is a very kinaesthetic idea that tactile learners especially can ‘get to grips with’. Concrete metaphors are likely to be remembered more surely than abstract definitions.
The word ‘feign’ means to invent and to forge, this word itself having associations of shaping and of deceiving – to forge a signature or a banknote and so on. So deeply implicit in the word ‘fiction’ are the notions of ‘making up’ and ‘deception’. But what do we make, then, of fables and parables, which can be profoundly true? This opens up an interesting topic of discussion with the children that can encompass other relevant words in our enquiry.
A further implication is that non-fiction must be what fiction is not, which clearly isn’t always the case. The whole notion of ‘spin’ in politics and the media belies the idea that factual material ‘means what it says on the tin’. Discussing with children the question ‘When is a fact not a fact?’ will undoubtedly lead to further insights about the hidden agendas that often underpin the presentation of factual ideas and their supposed links with ‘the truth’.
Other words that you might consider exploring with your class are: fact, lie, opinion, authentic, authority, expert, truth, exaggeration, embellishment … I’m sure you can think of many more.
Another important aspect of engaging with non-fiction is that of relevance.* Relevant arguments, for example, are not just logically valid or sound but often make an emotional appeal to the reader and/or are aimed at a specific audience. For our particular purposes it’s worth raising children’s awareness of relevance with regard to the kinds of non-fiction writing they will be asked to do, where ‘sticking to the point’ counts for a lot, as does the personal-emotional relevance of what’s being said. More on this as we count down towards Blastoff.
(* The word comes from the Latin ‘to raise up’ but also has links with ‘lever’ and the Latin word levis – ‘light in weight’. How might these insights be used to help children understand the rather abstract notion of relevance in their non-fiction writing?)
37 Module How can we tell it’s non-fiction?
FOR THE PUPIL
Hello and welcome to our countdown towards writing non-fiction. Your teacher will probably have explained how this book works but, if not, let me mention that the modules in here are mainly about the way you think and also how thoughts can affect the way you feel. Words express your thoughts and feelings, of course, but what other people say and write can influence how you think and feel. Maybe your teacher will ask you to look at certain modules in a certain order, or perhaps you are allowed to choose for yourself. Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and learn some useful things.
So we’ve got together here to find out more about writing non-fiction. Before we go any further I’d like you to do two things:
1 Write a sentence telling us what you think ‘non-fiction’ is. If someone has already explained it, will you put that into your own words please?
2 Make a list of how you know that a piece of writing actually is non-fiction. What clues do you look for to help you decide?
Here are some of the ideas other children have given me.
I know it’s non-fiction because …
it’s not made up. It’s true;
non-fiction contains facts;
non-fiction teaches you things and helps you to learn. For example, a book about science is non-fiction;
non-fiction isn’t like a story because it doesn’t have a plot or characters. And it’s not like a poem because it doesn’t rhyme (or other things that poems do!);
Non-fiction takes a certain form, like a letter or a recipe or an essay.
What do you think about those ideas? You are allowed to disagree with them as well as agree. You can also add to any of them if you want to.
We’re not quite finished yet. When I was working with the class that had these ideas, I asked them then to think of questions they might ask about the definitions they’d given. Work by yourself or with friends and do the same – what questions can you ask about the bulleted list above? Some of ours follow below: What about stories that have real facts in them – are they a mixture of fiction and non-fiction?
Can a poem about, say, learn...
