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Thomas Henry

Keywords

creative nonfiction, narrative mode, English curriculum, writing process, characteristics of writing

Submission Type

Research

Preview

Paraphrasing the “Most Interesting Man in the World,” a marketing icon portrayed as a genius, adventurer, and connoisseur of the “finer things” in life who advertises those silly but comical beer commercials: I don’t always teach creative nonfiction, but when I do…. I tend to consider many different facets of the art, the genre, and the practice of “nonfiction.” Creative nonfiction (CNF), is more or less the pinnacle of what “good writing” is and should be in an even broader creative and rhetorical sense. This genre engages, teaches, and shares bits of knowledge in an accessible and distinctive way; furthermore, it encompasses what we want our students to learn and take from the practice of writing—to report knowledge subjectively and objectively, to know how to shift from one perspective to the next, and to appreciate style.

In a sense, CNF differs significantly from other forms of discourse that we teach, making it new and fresh for the student and teacher. Furthermore, autobiographies, memoirs, and other forms associated with CNF hold the key to capturing our students’ interests and attention, perhaps even to their success in English classes as a whole. However, sometimes the best way to teach something is not to approach it directly and wholeheartedly, but perhaps to approach it as Richard Gere’s character approaches business in Pretty Woman, “To break it apart and sell it off in pieces.”

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