Exploring Nonfiction

                                                        Image: Scene from Contagion. Source: Mashable

Nonfiction writing should include an engaging delivery of information with clarity. When reading nonfiction, you’re not looking to follow the development of a storyline but to educate yourself on a topic or historical event. The text should effectively present claims backed by supporting evidence with the information given. 

It’s important to open with the main idea while simultaneously grabbing the reader’s attention. “Why We Need Dystopian Fiction Now More Than Ever” begins with referrals to major modern events and issues. This connects the topic of the article with something the reader can relate to, effectively spiking interest. Organization is a key part of keeping the reader engaged as well. Listing out facts efficiently with supporting evidence gets the message across much more clearly. In the article, “‘Contagion’ hits different six months into the pandemic” each argumentative claim in numbered and followed with support from facts, and an explanation. The goal of the text is to highlight the connection between, Contagion, and what is going on in the U.S. right now. Details and scenes from the movie are compared to real events that have occurred over the last six months depicting what the film got right and wrong.

Both authors end the text with something that makes the reader think about the art form. “At the start of Contagion, I cried because everything I was watching in the movie felt so true and familiar. At its end, I was crying because none of it did” (Han). The last lines hammer-home the point being made. The organized format and clear, fact-driven connections between modern events and dystopian fiction keep the reader engaged until the very end.