I
started thinking about a nonfiction family tree in 2012 and have been revising it ever since, inspired by the ideas of
such thought leaders as Jonathan Hunt
and Marc Aronson.
Last
weekend, I attended a thought-provoking session at NE-SCBWI led by the talented
nonfiction authors Loree Griffin Burns
and Alexandra Siy. During one
segment of the 2-hour talk, Loree presented a system for organizing nonfiction based
on the structure of the text. And I think she came up with some ideas that all nonfiction
authors should consider.
Loree
divided nonfiction structures into two broad categories—Concept structures and Narrative
structures. I’m going to take a closer look at the Concept category next
week, but I’ll focus on her thoughts about narrative structures today.
Loree
divides narrative nonfiction into four subcategories: chronological, adjusted chronological (such as books with en media res openings), braided chronological (books with
multiple strands), and circular. Here
are a couple of examples in each category:
Chronological
The
Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
The
Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeannette Winter
Adjusted chronological
Almost Astronauts by
Tanya Lee Stone
Temple Grandin by
Sy Montgomery
Braided chronological
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
The Immortal Life of
Henreitta Lacks
Circular
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by
Melissa Stewart (illus. Nicole Wong)
Pumpkin Circle by George
Levenson and Shmuel Thaler
You’ll
see a lot of overlap with the way I’ve subdivided narrative nonfiction in
previous posts. Here's a recap:
Chronological narrative
Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
Buried Alive by Elaine Scott
The Day-Glo Brothers by
Chris Barton (illus. Tony Persiani)
The
Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley (illus Brian
Selznick)
Marvelous Mattie by Emily Arnold McCully
Noah Webster & His Words by
Jeri Chase Ferris
Planting
the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by
Claire A. Nivola
Pop:
The Invention of Bubble Gum by Megan McCarthy
The Secret World of Walter
Anderson by Hester Bass (E.B. Lewis)
Titanic: Voices from the
Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
Episodic narrative
Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Brave Girl by Michelle Markel
When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
Mixed narrative
Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson
Circle narrative
Coral Reef by Jason Chin
A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison
Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
Redwoods by Jason Chin
Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart
When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart
Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
Cumulative narrative
Here Is Antarctica by Madeleine Dunphy
Here Is the African Savanna by
Madeleine Dunphy (illus Tom Leonard)
Here Is the Coral Reef by Madeleine Dunphy
(illus Tom Leonard)
Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest by
Madeleine Dunphy (illus Michael Rothman)
Here Is the Wetland by Madeleine Dunphy (illus
Wayne McLoughlin)
Here Is the Southwestern Desert by
Madeleine Dunphy (illus Ann Coe)
Here Is the Arctic Winter by Madeleine Dunphy
(illus Alan James Robinson)
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox
Journey narrative
If Stones Could Speak by Marc Aronson
Lost Treasure of the Inca by Peter Lourie
Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by
Sy Montgomery
Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by
Sy Montgomery
Here’s
how the two systems compare:
--We
both recognize Chronological Narratives as a distinct category.
--I
think Loree would lump my Episodic Narrative titles into her Chronological
category.
--Loree’s
Adjusted and Braided categories are basically subdivisions of my Mixed
category. But I really like her uses of the word "braided." I may end up borrowing it.
--My
circle and cumulative categories are subdivisions of Loree’s circular category.
--I
wonder where Loree would place the books that I think of a Journey Narratives.
Next
week I’ll take a closer look at Loree’s Concept structures categories.
Awesome post Melissa! Very informative and thought provoking. Wondering how I missed this workshop at the conference. (boo). Thanks for recapping the information here.
ReplyDeleteHi, Melissa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing me to this post. I'll have to reread some of the Journey Narratives you mention, but my instinct is that I'd lump them into the Chronological category?
One of the interesting ideas to fall out of the preparation for this talk for me was this: in the end, the category labels don't really matter all that much. As you say, the important thing is to recognize that there are different structures and to have seen them at work. That way we can make intentional choices with our own work, choices that will ultimately pair the perfect structure with a great story.
Thanks for all you do to foster nonfiction thinking and discussing, Melissa.
Best,
Loree
www.loreeburns.com
Thank YOU, Loree, for expanding my thinking on this topic.
ReplyDeleteI was at Loree's and Alex's structure workshop and found it incredibly helpful as I am thinking about my next book. And Melissa, this post adds fascinating new angles. Thank you both!
ReplyDelete