NON-FICTION AND FICTION

When you were in elementary school, you no doubt were made to learn the terms "fiction" and "non-fiction." Non-fiction is true material. Perhaps you think of it as the dry and boring truth represented in your textbook or your daily newspaper, or perhaps you feel that the facts are the only things worth reading. Fiction, on the other hand, is the term used to describe the more imaginative and creative "made-up" stories you find in novels.

Non-fiction = truth

Fiction = not truth

As you become older, you will have realized there are many levels on the scale between truth and fiction. If you read the tabloids, you realize the headlines "Batboy has an IQ of 250" and "Devil's Face Seen in World Trade Centre Explosion" are, in fact, fiction.

An essay or news article you read may contain some fictional elements the author has included to make a stronger point. You may come to realize that the concepts you learned while reading a novel or the emotions you experienced while reading a poem are as real as any truth you have ever known.

The artist Picasso said, "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth." The distinctions between fiction and non-fiction are, at times, difficult to make.

Re-read Picasso's statement above. Can you think of an example where a piece of fiction, like art, helps us to understand a truth?

You may recognize "non-fiction" sections in your local bookstores. You may encounter also the term "narrative writing" instead of "non-fiction." Narrative writing tells a story by explaining and describing things that have happened.