Focus on Genre: Analyzing Kinds of Nonfiction

  • Narrative Nonfiction

  • Expository Nonfiction

Nonfiction writing tells about real people, places, topics, ideas, or events. Two main categories of nonfiction are narrative and expository nonfiction.

How It Works

Biographies, newspaper articles, and histories are all types of narrative nonfiction. Writers organize narrative nonfiction in time order. Read this passage aloud. Notice elements of narrative nonfiction.

Expository nonfiction explains topics and processes. It includes articles, reports, instructions, and other informational texts. Writers choose the organization that best fits their purpose, such as main idea and supporting details. They often divide text into sections with headings and include lists, charts, graphs, or maps. Read this passage aloud to understand some elements of expository text.