Module 08 Combining Multiple Elements: A Look at The Required Elements

Creative Nonfiction - SHS
1
Combining Multiple Elements
Module 08 Combining Multiple Elements
This week is all about putting together all that you have learned in one
creative nonfiction piece.
There are so many elements out there that sometimes it can be tough to
imagine them falling together. Well, the best reminders that you should take
note of are that you don’t have to cram all the elements together and that
many elements will be involved or required anyway. There is no need to
force things.
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Identify multiple elements in an existing creative nonfiction work
2. Infer the importance of the element used in the personal essay
3. Distinguish between required elements and supplementary elements
4. Consolidate multiple elements in a creative nonfiction piece seamlessly
The lessons learned this week may be used to examine and appreciate
existing creative nonfiction pieces or to create your own personal essays.
A Look at the Required Elements

In one of the previous weeks, we already looked at the following required elements. This
week, we will be putting them together in a
 Character
 Setting
 Plot
 Structure
Example 1:
“This was supposed to be the weekend I put my garden to bed for winter-time to clip the
lilac suckers, mulch some perennials and tuck in a few last bulbs – but instead I’m on a train
to Philadelphia to say goodbye to a friend who is dying. I had planned for my hands to be
happily immersed in dirt, but then I got the call asking, “Will you come hold my hand?” She
never asked me to hold her hand before. I’m thinking about her, and my garden, and
suddenly I’m reconfirming my resolve to specialize in perennials, plants that only pretend
to die. They surprise you each spring with a resurrection you never really expect, but then
there it is.” (Laskas, 1992)
(You may find the full short nonfiction from The Art of Creative Nonfiction: Writing and
Selling the Literature of Reality by Lee Gutkind or you may simply visit:
Course Module
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1992/12/13/the-garden-
in-winter/5d96e781-a30d-4609-a473-8091eb10af8f/?utm_term=.31fd0337ed82 (last
accessed: 22nd August 2017)
After reading the excerpt, can you tell -
- Who/what is the character(s)?
- Where and when is the setting?
- What is the plot or subplot?
- What is the structure?
The character: A woman who likes to garden (the writer, Jeanne Marie Laskas)
Where: While she mentioned a garden, she is currently on a train on the way to see her drying
friend
When: Winter time, which can also be a metaphor for her friend dying
Plot/subplot: It may be too early to tell but the plot seems to be about a woman who has a routine
being disrupted by a dying friend. She compares her perennials and winter time planting to her
friend’s illness and wasting away.
Structure: Again, this is too early to tell, but it could be a chronological account (beginning to end)
with some flashbacks to her gardening
As you can see, even a short excerpt contains the required elements. Reading the whole personal
essay, however, would possibly provide you with more insight to the plot and structure, as well as
more characters and settings.
Example 2:
“Before I went to live in Changchun, China, what I knew of thronged street life derived from a few
gyrating days in Manhattan. On Garfield Avenue in my hometown of Des Moines, the only crowd- if
it could be called that – gathered on 10 consecutive August nights, drawn by the first booms of
fireworks that concluded the grandstand show at the State Fair nearby. Mostly mothers and
children, we watched the colors spray and then droop into heavy mops of smoke over the poplar
trees, the women talking in the quiet interludes between displays and for a few minutes after the
finale, parting, at last, to put the younger children to bed.”
(You may find the full short nonfiction from The Art of Creative Nonfiction: Writing and Selling
the Literature of Reality by Lee Gutkind)
After reading the excerpt, can you tell -
- Who/what is the character(s)?
- Where and when is the setting?
- What is the plot or subplot?
- What is the structure?
The character: Donald Morrill, the writer
Where: Garfield Avenue, Des Moines
When: Before he lived in China
Plot/subplot: The scene is just being set. Unlike the first example, this example has not yet
revealed what the rest of the essay will be like. However, we are being taking into the world that
Donald Morrill used to inhabit. The atmosphere has been established.
3
Structure: The first paragraph seems to suggest that it will begin with the usual backdrop of
Garfield Avenue and what usually happens there. Then, it may try to steer away from that. The
title “I Give Up Smiling” seems to suggest that something less than idyllic will happen.
Read full text of Example 1

After you have examined both examples 1 and 2’s first paragraphs, read the full text of
Example 1. See the link provided above for the Internet free source of the personal essay.
You may also read through the Lee Gutkind book if you have it.
Now, after reading the whole thing, do you still agree that -
The character: A woman who likes to garden (the writer, Jeanne Marie Laskas)
Where: While she mentioned a garden, she is currently on a train on the way to see her
drying friend
When: Winter time, which can also be a metaphor for her friend dying
Plot/subplot: It may be too early to tell but the plot seems to be about a woman who has a
routine being disrupted by a dying friend. She compares her perennials and winter time
planting to her friend’s illness and wasting away.
Structure: Again, this is too early to tell, but it could be a chronological account (beginning
to end) with some flashbacks to her gardening
Give yourself some time to think before looking at the answers below:
The character: Jeanne Marie Laskas, the writer, a woman who likes to garden and her 87
year old, dying friend
Minor characters: Amish boy reading, a boy with a Walkman
Where: train, though she thinks of her garden all the time, her friend’s house (destination)
When: Winter in the 1990s, established by the Walkman
Plot: We were right the first time. The writer likes to contemplate about her flowers during
the winter, trying to avoid all the grunt and brunt of working too hard to grow seasonal
plants. She wants perennial plants, those that require the least effort and won’t die on her.
This is compared to her friendship with her dying friend.
Structure: It is in chronological account, as the train travels towards her friend’s home.
However, she keeps on reflecting about gardening, friendship, and perennial plants.
Moreover, after looking at the “where” portion of the setting, we can tell that there are
more than one scene in the personal essay/nonfiction story. Every time the setting
changes a new scene opens. Short nonfiction does not have to be a one-scene affair.
The point of view used for both Examples 1 and 2 is the first person. This is common in
creative nonfiction since many times, the author = the main character. In real life, it is
difficult to convey a reliable omnipresent and omniscient narrator, unless the writer
conducts very extensive research. Even with research, infallible text is impossible because
Course Module
dialogue can rarely be written verbatim and thoughts are not normally recorded and can
even be fabricated.
Supplementary Elements
The previous section showed some required elements that a creative nonfiction piece
cannot do without. This section, on the other hand, will be exploring the more creative
elements. These elements may be compared to salt. Food can be cooked without salt (you
need oil, fire and the food itself), but it may not be savory. You won’t get food poisoning
when you skip salt. You can still eat the food that you have cooked. However, you will not
enjoy it. There are other elements that can be added, like rosemary, pepper, basil and the
like, which can further enhance the creative function of the nonfiction piece.
Poetic language/figures of speech

 Metaphor and simile
 Irony
 Personification
 Onomatopoeia
 Hyperbole
 Oxymoron
 Symbolism
Techniques
 Dialogue
 Precision
 Atmosphere
We have already encountered the above in previous weeks, especially during Week 8.
However, we have not really seen them in full-length, creative nonfiction pieces, or even in
paragraph excerpts.
So, let’s go back to Example 1 from the first section:
“This was supposed to be the weekend I put my garden to bed for winter-time to clip the
lilac suckers, mulch some perennials and tuck in a few last bulbs – but instead I’m on a train
to Philadelphia to say goodbye to a friend who is dying. I had planned for my hands to be
happily immersed in dirt, but then I got the call asking, “Will you come hold my hand?” She
never asked me to hold her hand before. I’m thinking about her, and my garden, and
suddenly I’m reconfirming my resolve to specialize in perennials, plants that only pretend
to die. They surprise you each spring with a resurrection you never really expect, but then
there it is.” (Laskas, 1992)
Investigate the words in red. What do they have in common?
They all make use of personification. The author is putting her garden to bed for winter as
if it is a child. She describes her hands as being “happily immersed in dirt” as if they have
feelings. Moreover, she says that her plants are pretending to die and can surprise “you”
each spring.
Precision is also apparent in Laskas’s diction, indicated in the words in blue. A new writer
may have used plants that grow all year long and are enduring. However, Laskas opted for
the more precise word. Resolve suggests firmness or steadfastness. These other words are
also suitable, but there is a better rhythm created by the rolling r’s in “reconfirming my
5
resolve”. Resurrection places an almost religious significance to the continuous ability of

the perennials to bounce back.
Not all of the supplementary elements may be found in the short paragraph. However, the
carefully handpicked words have already created an atmosphere and a very vivid
description of an aspect of Laskas’s thoughts and life.
Here’s a second look at Example 2:
“Before I went to live in Changchun, China, what I knew of thronged street life derived from
a few gyrating days in Manhattan. On Garfield Avenue in my hometown of Des Moines, the
only crowd- if it could be called that – gathered on 10 consecutive August nights, drawn by
the first booms of fireworks that concluded the grandstand show at the State Fair nearby.
Mostly mothers and children, we watched the colors spray and then droop into heavy
mops of smoke over the poplar trees, the women talking in the quiet interludes between
displays and for a few minutes after the finale, parting, at last, to put the younger children
to bed.”
Again, we see some precise words in blue and words that provide action to otherwise
immobile objects, in red. The maroon word “gyrating” is precisely conveying
personification. We see at least one onomatopoeia word in orange and metaphor in green.
Does combining several elements in one paragraph rattle or confuse you? No, they do not.
The words, if handled correctly, will flow.
Glossary
Account: a report or description of an experience
Fabricated: invented, not based on real events
Infallible: cannot do wrong
Personal essay: a short nonfiction work written for and about the author, who makes
the whole “journey” personal through the conversational tone used
Structure: the form in which the creative work takes
Subplot: a minor plot within the main one (like an episode within a main arc)
References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
Lopate, P. (2013). To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction. Wilmington:
University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Online Supplementary Reading Materials
Course Module
The Garden in Winter;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1992/12/13/the-
garden-in-winter/5d96e781-a30d-4609-a473-
8091eb10af8f/?utm_term=.b8805306e31f; 22nd August, 2017
Literary Elements: Using Elements in Literature;
https://www.roanestate.edu/owl/elementslit.html; 22nd August, 2017
Online Instructional Videos

Writing the Personal Essay; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjqpZbYe6xA; 22nd
August 2017
Literary Elements Rap; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-efa3wl27g; 22nd August
2017

Module 08 Combining Multiple Elements: A Look at The Required Elements

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Module 08 Combining Multiple Elements: A Look at The Required Elements

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Creative Nonfiction - SHS

Module 08 Combining Multiple Elements

A Look at the Required Elements

Read full text of Example 1

Poetic language/figures of speech

resolve”. Resurrection places an almost religious significance to the continuous ability of

References and Supplementary Materials

Online Supplementary Reading Materials

Online Instructional Videos

You might also like