Resources
Teacher Resources for Literary Nonfiction
- https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/john-mcphee John McPhee was recommended in seminar as an author that writes employing a variety of literary nonfiction styles. His methods for organizing essays include drawing them. He likes to think of his essays as having a shape and being able to clearly identify that shape before writing. He also expects his students at Princeton to be able to identify the shape that their pieces take as a form of reflection before conferring with them. He released a book called Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process in 2017 that offers many helpful suggestions for writers from his experience as a teacher and writer.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html Elmore Leonard was considered by Stephen King to be the great American author. This list contains ten pieces of advice to would-be writers, including his famous advice that, “if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
- http://fictionfoundry.alumni.columbia.edu/character_sketch_template This leads to a template that could easily be modified by a teacher to support students in developing a character sketch of an important person to describe in a piece of literary nonfiction. It has many characteristics that go beyond a character’s appearance.
- https://jerryjenkins.com/how-to-write-an-anecdote/ This leads to helpful writing advice on how to craft an anecdote. It also includes a couple of examples.
- http://www2.sandhills.edu/academic-departments/english/essaybasics/keyhole.html This website is helpful for understanding the structure of a basic five paragraph essay with a link to samples. The process is compared to the shape of an old-fashioned keyhole.
- https://movingwriters.org/2016/11/07/the-only-four-questions-youll-ever-need-to-ask-your-writers/ This article provides helpful advice to think about what to ask students as you confer with them about their writing. The author argues convincingly that there are four key questions that work in almost all conferences that a teacher will have with students.
Personal Experience
- https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-a-Personal-Essay This resource is helpful in outlining different organizational approaches for students as well as ways to narrow to a good topic)
- https://www.thoughtco.com/personal-essay-or-statement-1691498 This resource gives an overview of genre characteristics, links to several personal experience essays, and a sense of what a personal experience essay can reveal about the writer.
Profile
- https://www.thebalancecareers.com/writing-a-compelling-profile-of-a-person-2316038 This resource gives several pieces of advice to consider when drafting a profile of a person.
- https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/ This is a link to a famous profile titled “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.” This profile demonstrates many elements of craft and can be helpful to read as a professional model. This is not appropriate for student readers.
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