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Creative Nonfiction
Quarter 4 – Module 1:
Types and Forms
of Creative Nonfiction

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Creative Nonfiction – Grade 12
Quarter 3 – Module 1: Types and Forms of Creative Nonfiction

First Edition, 2021

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 12
Creative Nonfiction
Quarter 4 – Module 1:
Types and Forms
of Creative Nonfiction

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Introductory Message
This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear learners,
can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions,
directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you to
understand each lesson.

Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-
step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.

Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each

SLM. This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if
you need to ask your facilitator or your teacher9s assistance for better
understanding of the lesson. At the end of each module, you need to answer
the post-test to self-check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each
activity and test. We trust that you will be honest in using these.

In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teacher are also
provided to our facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how
they can best help you on your home-based learning.
Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part
of this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises and
tests. And read the instructions carefully before performing each task.

If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering the
tasks in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.
Thank you.

ii

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 Let Us Learn!

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here
to help you master how to use the principles, elements, techniques and devices of
Creative Nonfiction in a written output.

This module has one lesson:

• Autobiographical Narratives, Literary Essay, and Special Types and

Emerging Forms of Creative Nonfiction

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Present a commentary/critique on a chosen creative nonfictional text

representing a particular type or form (Biography/Autobiography,
Literary Journalism/Reportage, Personal Narratives, Travelogue,
Reflection Essay, True Narratives, Blogs, Testimonies, Other Forms)
(HUMSS_CNF11/12-IIb-c-17)

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 Let Us Try!

Before we go to our journey in this module, let us assess ourselves first

by honestly answering the following below.

Directions: Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers
the question. Write your answer before the number.

1. It is most often confused with the formal autobiography among the more informal
forms of biographical narrative. It assumes the life and ignores most of it.
a. Memoir c. Journal
b. Diary d. Autobiography

2. How can we best differentiate a biography and an autobiography?

a. an autobiography is shorter in nature than a biography
b. an autobiography has a lot of different types, while a biography has only 4
c. an autobiography is the more intimate types than a biography which is
more common
d. an autobiography is written by the subject itself while a biography is written
by someone else

3. Which of the following does not belong to an Autobiographical Narrative.

a. Letters c. Reminiscence
b. Diaries d. Dialogues

4. A form of creative nonfiction that is quotidian or day-to-day record of specific

events that have transpired in the life of its author and it is ideally kept on a daily
basis.
a. Journal c. Memoir
b. Diary d. Reminiscence

5. A form of biography which refers to the life story of a famous and/or successful
person.
a. Full-Length Biography c. Literary Biography
b. Popular Biography d. Historical Biography

6. The term <essay= is derivative of the French word <essayer= which means _________.
a. <to write beautifully c. <to attempt= or <to try=
b. <to explore= d. <to express emotions=

7. This component of an essay usually contains the thesis statement or the

controlling idea that the writer wants to share with his or her readers
a. Introduction c. Transitional Paragraphs
b. Supporting Paragraph d. Concluding Paragraph

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8. It is a form of creative nonfiction that presents verifiable data, and well researched
information, like a film or TV documentary.
a. Essay c. Literary Reportage
b. Descriptive Essay d. Reflective Essay

9. This special type of Creative Nonfiction describes a narrator9s experiences in

foreign places. Usually includes a narration of the journey undertaken by the
narrator from his or her point of origin to the eventual destination.
a. Food Writing c. Travel Writing
b. Nature Writing d. Blog

10. It is the social networking website founded and further developed by Mark
Zuckerberg and his college classmates in Harvard University. It is considered as
the most accessible Internet platform for self-expression for the millennial
generation and beyond.
a. Vlog c. Blog
b. Testimonio d. Facebook Status Report

Let Us Study

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES:
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, MEMOIR, DIARY, JOURNAL

Autobiographical Narratives
There is a wide variety of autobiographical narratives, ranging <from the
intimate writings made during life that there were not necessarily intended for
publication (including letters, diaries, journals, memoirs, and reminiscence) to the
formal biography.=

▪ According to a dictionary of literary terms, it is an <account of one9s own life,

generally a continuous narrative of major events.=
▪ Also defined as <the biography of oneself narrated by oneself.=
▪ As a literary form, greater than a mere reminiscence of the important episodes
in the life of its author, for it must also be a coherent chronicle of a particular
kind of existence.

Memoir
One that is most often confused with the formal autobiography among the
more informal forms of biographical narrative, for both are concerned with the telling
of the author9s life but an autobiography is more complete than a memoir.
▪ Autobiography
= moves in a dutiful line from birth to fame, omitting nothing
▪ Memoir
= assumes the life and ignores most of it

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 = does not need to be arranged or structured in a strictly
chronological order like the former, and it can be written in a fragmentary or
dispensed style, like a mosaic or a montage of small-scale narratives
▪ The act of remembering is also very important in writing of a memoir, since
the name of its literary genre is derivative of the French word mémoire which
means memory or reminiscence
▪ According to the seventh edition of A Handbook of Literature, the memoir <is
a form of autobiographical writing dealing usually with the recollections of
one who has been part of or has witnessed significant events.=
▪ Autobiography
= typically concerns itself with the persons and actions aside from the
writer himself or herself
▪ Memoir
= concerns itself with the more interior and intimate life of its authors

Diary and Journal

Diaries and journals as autobiographical narratives have been very popular
for thousands of years, and have been deployed by different types of people for writing
and recording personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
In actual practice, journals are more intimate that diaries; however, both
diaries and journals are generally kept private.

Diary
▪ A form of creative nonfiction that is quotidian or day-to-day record of specific
events that have transpired in the life of its author and it is ideally kept on a
daily basis.
▪ In practice however, very few diarists include all the entries they have written
for a certain period when they publish their works in book form.
▪ They usually exercise their right to choose and select which particular parts
are to be included for the sake of coherence or to achieve a certain effect or
overall impression, removing those parts that they deem or consider to be
unnecessary or detrimental to the narrative they are trying to tell.
▪ Aside from the events that the diarist has experienced within the span of 24
hours and those he or she thinks are important to record at the time when
writing his/her entries, a diary typically includes a rundown of the author9s
routine activities and transactions, as well as his/her personal observations,
feelings, and reflections in his/her search for the significant.
▪ The diary in its rawest and unedited form, therefore, seems to be the most
attempt of an author to capture daily reality as he/she perceives it to be, if his
or her main intention in writing is to tell the truth.

Journal
▪ A form of autobiographical writing which is generally more intimate than a
diary and even if it includes daily activities, it also contains personal details
regarding the impressions and opinions of the journal writer concerning
certain intriguing incidents or issues that have come up and how specific
persons have affected him or her during the course of the day.

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 ▪ It is typically very expressive and confidential, a receptacle of the author9s
innermost thoughts and feelings--- and is generally meant for private
consumption and not meant for publication.
▪ It has no prescribed format, does not necessarily need careful planning,
thinking or editing, since it can be a <catch all= of every thought and feeling
that the author has decided to record without restrictions.
▪ It need not be written on a daily basis, but can be written more often than
daily or less often, depending on the writer9s needs to express his/her
thoughts or feelings.
▪ It may contain other things alongside the written text, like sketches, drawings,
photographs, short poems, quotable quotes, etc.

BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES:
BIOGRAPHY, PROFILE, CHARACTER SKETCH, AND INTERVIEW STORY

Biographical Narratives
As the etymology of the term implies – bios (life) + graphein (writing) – a
biography basically is the narrative of a person9s life written by someone else.

Biography
a. Full-length Biography – typically covers the entirety of the featured
person9s existence from birth to death. Covering all significant events
surrounding his or her life from womb to tomb.
b. Popular Biography – refers to the life story of a famous and/or successful
person. That person may be a celebrity, a business tycoon, an athlete, a
politician, a monarch, or a serial killer.
c. Literary Biography – a narrative of the life of a literary writer written by
another literary writer, as defined by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo
d. Historical Biography – a narrative of the existence of a historical figure
written by another writer, usually a historian, who is interested not only
in the personal circumstances and historic events that have shaped his or
her subject, but also on how his or her subject has shaped history in
return.

Profile
• It recreates the subject, makes it more alive on paper, gives the subject shape
and meaning which causes us readers to meet and know that subject, that
institution, that person.
• It is shorter than a full-length biography.
• A profile normally concentrates on a single aspect of a featured person9s life.

Character Sketch
• It is shorter than a profile.
• It can be described as a cameo or a miniature life story.

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Interview Story
• It follows the length of a typical newspaper or magazine article.
• It requires some research and at least a couple of interviews.
• It can be the product of just one meeting between the writer who is the
interviewer and the subject who is the interviewee.

LITERARY, FAMILIAR, PERSONAL OR INFORMATIVE ESSAYS

Personal or Informal Essay versus Documented or Formal Essay

According to Merriam-Webster9s Encyclopedia of Literature, the essay is <an
analytic, interpretative, or critical literary composition usually much shorter and less
systematic and formal than a dissertation or thesis and usually dealing with the
subject from a limited and often personal point of view.=
The term <essay= is derivative of the French word <essayer= which means <to
attempt= or <to try=.

Essay as a Genre
Literary, Personal, Familiar or Informal
- includes personal element, humor, graceful style, rambling structure,
unconventionality or novelty, freedom from stiffness and affectation,
incomplete or tentative treatment of topic
Non-Literary, Documented, or Formal Essay
- has the following qualities: serious purpose, dignity, logical organization,
length

Main Components of Essay

1. Introduction - usually contains the thesis statement or the controlling idea
that the writer wants to share with his or her readers
2. Supporting Paragraphs - also known as the body of the essay, offer pieces of
evidence and logical arguments that enhance the thesis statement
3. Transitional Paragraphs - are short paragraphs that indicate the divisions of
the essay especially in essays that are quite substantial in length
4. Concluding Paragraph - provides a fitting ending to the essay, oftentimes by
restating the controlling idea or reflecting on the thesis statement

Literary Reportage
Literary reportage is a form of creative nonfiction that presents verifiable data,
and well researched information, like a film or TV documentary.

• As a written genre, it is a hybrid between RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM and

IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE.
• It shares with responsible journalism in the way it pays close attention to
sociocultural reality, past events, and current affairs.
• Also known as Literary Journalism and New Journalism.

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 • Literary reportage, according to Tom Wolfe is a combination of in-depth
reporting and literary ambition, and that new journalists <wanted to make the
nonfiction story shimmer 8like a novel9 with the pleasures of detailed realism=
• <As a result, the stories stay with us and… they may even be read better over
time. And so the best characterization of literary journalism may ultimately
be the definition that Ezra Pound gave for literature itself: 8news that stays
news9.

Descriptive Essay
The descriptive essay is a kind of creative nonfiction whose main intention is
to present appearance or essence of something.

• The main rhetorical device or strategy used in a descriptive essay is

Description, the use of sensory details to portray a person, place, or
thing.
• Sensory Details refer to particular items of information which are
perceivable to the five human senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and
touch.
• Two Types of Description: Objective Description and Subjective
Description.
• Objective Description portrays the subject matter in a clear and direct
manner as it exists in reality.
• Subjective Description expresses the writer9s personal feeling and
impression about the subject.
• Subjective Description, <expression involves personal views, even when
it explains by analysis.=
• Subjective Description (sometimes called emotional description) has
broader range uses than objective description.
•

Reflective Essay
Its main intention is to analyze the significance of a past event through serious
thought or consideration from the vantage point of the present.

• The writer of the reflexive essay combines his or her own subjective
experiences and observations with careful analysis from an objective
perspective.
• The major source when writing a reflective essay is Memory, the
reposition of sensory information, facts and figures that have been
accumulated since infancy through personal experience.
• In an essay based on your personal experiences, you have an
opportunity to review your past, to evaluate it in order to discover its
significance to you, and in doing so to make your past interesting to
your readers.

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 SPECIAL TYPES AND EMERGING FORMS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION

Special Types of Creative Nonfiction: Travel Writing, Food Writing,

and Nature Writing

1. Travel Writing
• a form of creative nonfiction that describes a narrator9s experiences in foreign
places
• usually includes a narration of the journey undertaken by the narrator from
his or her point of origin to the eventual destination, with all the hazards and
inconveniences encountered along the way
• also entails detailed descriptions of local customs and traditions, the
landscape or cityscape, the native cuisine, the historical and cultural
landmarks, and the sights and sounds the visited place has to offer
• But for travel writing to qualify as a good literature and a cut above
commercial travel guides aimed at potential tourists, it must also contain a
corresponding psychical or inner journey.

• As William Zinsser puts it, <what raises travel writing to literature is not what
the writer brings to place, but what the place draws out to the writer.=

There are many reasons why people in general (and writers in particular travel:
1. physical challenge (adventure)
2. amusement and distraction (tour)
3. isolation and reflection (retreat)
4. purification and honoring the dead (pilgrimage)
5. redemption and penance (exile)

To be a successful travel writer, an author must not be afraid to explore new

places and discover what they have to offer in terms of sights and sounds,
fragrances and textures, as well as delicacies and drinks.
To successfully recreate his or her travel experience for the intended
readers, the travel writer must hone his or her five senses and increase his or her
vocabulary so that he or she can accurately describe what has been seen, heard,
smelled, tasted and touched
To make his or her travel writing more interesting, the travel writer must
transform the journey that has been undertaken into a coherent narrative by
weaving into the article a personal anecdote or two, and then cap it off with a
couple of insights on the significance of the voyage.

2. Food Writing
• a direct offshoot of travel writing that has evolved into a literary subgenre of
its own
• It is a type of creative nonfiction that focuses on gustatory delights and
disaster while simultaneously narrating an interesting story, as well as
sharing insight or two about the human condition.

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 • The relationship between food and writing and travel writing is best expressed
by Richard Sterling in his preface to Food: A Taste of the Road, <But there is
one universal constant in travel… any number of people will tell you that they
have travel, in large part, to eat. To break bread with strangers and leave table
with friends. To discover the world through the medium of cuisine, deepen their
understanding, broaden their horizons, and to make their travels the richer.=

To be a successful food writer, he/she must:

1. Think of eating as a form of gustatory adventure.
2. Train his/her tongue and nose to distinguish a wide variety of flavors and
aroma.
3. Find precise words to describe how they taste and smell.
4. Make his/her food writing interesting by transforming the gustatory
experience into a coherent narrative by weaving into the article a personal
anecdote or two, and then cap it off with a couple of insights on food as a
manifestation of culture.

3. Nature Writing
• It highlights the beauty and majesty of the natural world, as well as
humanity9s special relationship with Mother Earth.
• As a literary genre, it is highly dependent on scientific facts and figures about
the natural world, while integrating private observations and philosophical
contemplation.

Depending upon its emphases, variously called according to

www.encyclopedia.com as:
1. nature philosophy
2. nature writing
3. natural history
4. environmental literature

Nature Philosophy - refers specifically to prescientific observation and

meditations on mankind9s relationship with nature and universe

Natural History - concerned with the description of flora and fauna, and their
evolution throughout the millennia.

To be a successful nature writer, he/she must:

1. Be a keen observer to natural phenomena, so that nothing will escape his or
her attention
2. Do some research, so that he/she will be able to properly name the natural
marvels being witnessed or the plants and animals being observed.
3. Develop his/her vocabulary through the help of dictionary and thesaurus, so
that he/she can accurately describe his/her encounters with Mother Nature.

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Emerging Forms of Creative Nonfiction: Testimonio, Blog,
and Facebook Status Report

1. Testimonio

• Defined as published oral or written <first -hand accounts= of human rights

violations and abuses of the powers-that-be in oppressive societies, which the
witnesses wrote themselves, or dictated to a transcriber.
• The term <testimonio= originally comes from South America and Central
America after international human rights tribunal, truth commissions, and
other fact-finding boards in countries like Argentina, Chile, Guatemala.
• But from global perspective, the term can be applied to holocaust literature as
written by the Jewish people who have personally witnessed the persecutions
of the Jews
• In the Philippine context, the oral history of the <comfort women= who suffered
sexual and physical abuses under the Japanese occupation army can also be
classified as testimonio.

2. Blog

• The content of a typical blog combines text (written words), digital images
(photos), memes (text and images), as well as links focusing same topic of
interest or subject area.
• Literary blogs serve as online diaries of the creative writers (poets and
fictionists, playwrights and nonfiction authors) who maintain them.

3. Facebook Status Report

• FACEBOOK is the social networking website founded and further developed

by Mark Zuckerberg and his college classmates in Harvard University
• The term <face book= refers to a printed or web directory in American
universities containing their respective students9 names and pictures
distributed by school officials
• The website quickly expanded to include students from other higher
institutions of learning in the Boston are, the Ivy League, the rest of the United
States, exponentially growing with the inclusion of everyone else in America
and from there the rest of the world with Internet access.
• anyone of legal age
• desktops, laptops, tablet computers, smart phones
• <user profile= which indicates his or her name, current and past occupations,
academic institutions attended, and other pertinent and not-so-pertinent info
• can add other FB users as friends based on their discretion,
• exchange messages with, post status reports and updates with or without
digital photos
• share digital videos and links
• enjoy various software apps
• receive notification when his/her FB friend uploads new posts and updates

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 • In its original context, the status report refers to <a report that summarizes a
particular situation as of a stated period of time= but has quickly expanded to
mean <a report describing the current situation with regard to a business,
project, matter, etc. especially one in a series of such reports summarizing
changing state of affairs.=
• In the age of social media, Facebook has appropriated the term to signify <an
update feature which allows users to express their thoughts, whereabouts or
important information with their friends.=
• The overwhelming popularity of Facebook as a social networking sire has
made the <Facebook status report= the most accessible Internet platform for
self-expression for the millennial generation and beyond.

Let Us Practice

I. Directions: Identify whether the following is an Autobiography, a Memoir, a

Diary or a Journal

_______1. <Dreams from My Father= by Barack Obama

_______2. <I am Malala= by Malala Yousafzai
_______3. <Long Walk to Freedom= by Nelson Mandela
_______4. <Diary of Anne Frank=
_______5. <Eat, Pray, Love= by Elizabeth Gilbert

II. Directions: Write one journal entry within the days of you answering your
modules. Limit your write-up to 300-350 words only.

Criteria and BEST BETTER GOOD FAIR SCORE

Rating (5) (4) (3) (2-1)

COHERENCE Perfectly Proportionate Experiences Events are

systematic presentation are disordered.
connection of events. explained.
of events.

UNITY Subject- Minor Comparative Needs to

verb grammatical errors. improve in
agreement errors. (6-10 errors) syntactics
is of quality. (3-5 errors) and
semantics.

EMPHASIS Impressive Less Details are Flat

presentation prominence monotonous. presentation
of ideas. of ideas. of ideas.

TOTAL

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 Let Us Practice More

II. Directions: Food Writing is a special type of Creative Nonfiction that

focuses on gustatory delights. Now, you are task to feature your favorite viand
in a 200-word essay. Take a selfie holding a bowl of your favorite viand and
paste it on the upper center of your essay. Recall the ways on 8How to become
an effective and successful food writer= in writing your food review.

Paste your selfie here

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________.

Let Us Remember

Points to Remember:

• Autobiographical Narratives include: Autobiography, Memoir, Diary and Journal.

• Biographical Narratives include: Biography, Profile, Character Sketch, Interview
Story.
• Literary, Familiar, Personal or Informative Essays include: Essay, Literary
Reportage, Descriptive Essay and Reflective Essay.
• The Special Types of Creative Nonfiction are: Travel Writing, Food Writing, and
Nature Writing.
• The Emerging Forms of Creative Nonfiction are: Testimonio, Blog, Facebook Status
Report.

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 Let Us Assess

I. Directions: Identify what is being described or defined in the following

statements. Write your answer on the space provided before the
number.

___________1. It combines the validity of facts and the imaginative stance of

storytelling.
___________2. This main component of an essay usually contains the thesis
statement.
___________3. This main component of an essay provides a fitting ending to the essay.
___________4-5. These are the other terms used for Literary Reportage.
___________6. It is a narrative of the existence of a historical figure written by another
writer, usually a historian.
___________7. It is the main rhetorical device or strategy used in a descriptive essay.
___________8. In a ________ description expression involves personal views, even when
it is explained by analysis.
___________9. This is the other term for subjective description.
___________10. It is what a travel writer should hone for him/her to accurately
describe what has been seen, smelled, tasted, touched and heard.
___________11. It is the first thing a person should do to become a successful food
writer.
___________12. As a literary genre, it is highly dependent on scientific facts and
figures about the natural world.
___________13. It normally concentrates on a single aspect of a featured person9s life.
___________14. It indicates his or her name, current and past occupations, academic
institutions attended, and other pertinent and not-so-pertinent info.
___________15. It is <an update feature which allows users to express their thoughts,
whereabouts or important information with their friends.=

II. Directions: Below is an example of Character Sketch Write a

commentary about the entry. Your output will be rated based on the
rubric that follows.

Elsa Martinez Conscolluela (In Six Sketches of Filipino Women Writers)

(an excerpt)
By Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo

Elsa Martinez Conscolluela tells me that these days her life is very quiet. We
are sitting in the dining room of the Casino Español, empty now, because the other
participants of the NCCA literature festival that we are both attending have dispersed
to the different session rooms We gave stayed behind so we can have this chat.

She lives alone, with just her household staff, though her middle son lives next
door. Elsie tells me. <I9m semi-retired, you know,= she adds. What she means is that
she has stepped down from her former position as Vice President for Academic Affairs
of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod.

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But I know that the university has made her Special Projects Director and Professor
Emeritus. So I ask her to describe a typical day in her life.

Elise tells me that she rises at around six every morning, has a coffee, and
spends an hour or so in her garden. Then she sits down to breakfast and a long bath.
By nine or nine-thirty she is at work. Usually, there are meetings and people to see,
and lots of papers on her desk. <Special Projects= covers a large range of activities,
affirm managing a master9s program for police officers throughout the province to
running the University Press. There is a skills training program for out-of-school youth,
both funded by the Eduardo Cojuangco Foundation and supported by local government
units; supervising and expanding the university9s Institute for Culinary Arts, which
was founded two years earlier, and which is now pronounced by Elsie to be <a great
success.= She9s also in charge of developing new paper product lines for the internal
market; supervising the development of the Ecopark in the university9s 55 -hectare
extension campus in Granada; supervising the school for special children, established
by the university two years ago. Finally, she drafts new project proposals and the like.

Lunch Elsie generally takes at the office, except for a weekly lunch date with her
best friends – Nana Yulo, Ising Benedicto, Elsa Streegan, and Maia Ramos, all from
USLS.

Before 7 PM, she is home. That9s when she does her homework, if anything
urgent. Or she relaxes with a DVD, until the late news. <But there are times when sleep
overtakes me and I miss the late news,= she smiles.

When I say that this doesn9t sound like <semi -retirement= to me, Elise says: <Oh,
it9s not as hectic as my schedule used to be. My days used to be really crammed full.
As you can see I have become a creature of habit.=

What happens on weekends? I ask.

<Ah, weekends are strictly family days,= she replies, the smile breaking out. <I go
marketing on Saturdays, and do my weekly general housecleaning to the max- am kind
of O.C. when it comes to housecleaning and gardening. As in! After an early dinner I
have my weekly spa ritual, unless there is a school event or a dinner date or a social
obligation.

Saturdays are the best days of the week. <We have family dinners either at my
home, where I prepare the entire menu, using my mother9s best recipes and then
some. Or we got to my eldest son9s house for swimming and dinner. When that
happens, he and my daughters-in-law and I do the cooking for the two other sons
and four grandsons, my mom-in-law, and some very close in-laws and relatives.
Sometimes, we stay over to watch the latest movies. So Sunday is a big family day, a
tradition I carry over from both my late mother and my mom-in-law. It9s a simple
life… but a busy one.=

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 Elsie grows a bit pensive. <You know, I think that because I am actually a free
spirit, I decided long ago to harness my 8freeness9 and turn myself into a disciplined
professional as required by career, marriage, motherhood. So I became really O.C. But
when I break free, hala! Then I just laze around. I take a leave and do nothing that
matters. As in hibernate. And sometimes… I write.=

She has just said the key word – writing. I am struck by the fact that she says it
is something she does <sometimes.= But before I can jump in, Elsie continues, <But then
I9ve always been a bit reclusive. It was my husband who was the more sociable one.
When he passed away in 2005 from a massive heart attack, my life become more quiet.
I now only see my colleagues at La Salle, my old friends.=
The last time Elsie and I were together was 2003, when she hosted the UP Press
Book Caravan. But the first time I had met her was some years earlier, in Davao, where
she was one of the speakers at the British Council9s Philippine-British Literature
Conference. I realized then that Elsie Coscolluela wa the Elsa Victoria Martinez that I
had heard of (like each time she won a new Palanca) back when I was myself starting
out on my own writing career. She was a striking woman. Handsome. Elegant. Even
perhaps a bit intimidating. Very much one9s idea of the lady of the manor. The fact that
she was also a high-ranking academic administrator seemed like an aberration. But
when she spoke, the voice was soft, the tone lilting, musical. The old-fashioned termed
occurred to me– cariñosa. Unfortunately, we didn9t get to spend much time together that
time.

I was touched by the talk she gave, though. She mentioned the difficulty of
keeping the faith (as a writer) in relative isolation, among people who didn9t really see
the point. I assumed she meant the hacienda culture of which she was a part.

Back in the early 860s, writers weren9t as mobile as they are now, communication
weren9t as advanced, relations weren9t as close. So Elsie and I had never met before.
Like Aida Rivera Ford and Tita Lacambra Ayala, who lived in Davao, Renato Madrid and
Resil Mojares who lived in Cebu – much admired writers – she was just a name to us.
Only the Tiempos, and the now legendary writers9 workshop they established in the 860s,
brought the south closer to us. Or, more correctly brought us to the south.
Linda Panlilio, Nening Manahan, and I had gone together to that literature
conference. I recall that we were met at the airport by Chita Galaga-Castillo, and taken
for great meals at Bob9s and Pendy9s, where I had my first taste of the incomparable
Bacalod batchoy. And then we were invited to an elegant dinner at the Coscolluela
residence.
Later Elsie was to tell me that this was Santa Clara Village, where she and her
husband had built a <second home.= They intended it to be their <retirement home,=
which was why the master9s bedroom was on the ground floor, and it had no windows,
a protection against fall ash, since fall ash gives Elsie asthma, and there was <a tiny,
cozy kitchen just a few steps away from the bedroom because I love to cook.=

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0 0
 Their first home – where they lived for twenty-seven years and raised their three
sons – is in the Mountainview, another residential area.
I got to know Elsie a little better in 2003, during the UP Book Caravan, and
discovered her to be both very gracious and very simple. Which for some reason
surprised me. What had I expected? I have written of that visit in another book, Looking
for the Philippines (2009).

<Elsie… told me about her student days in Siliman, about how the Tiempos had
nurtured her and helped her with her writing. After graduating with honors, she had
gotten a scholarship to Iowa University. But she was too young to be admitted into its
graduate program. So the Tiempos suggested she enroll for a few courses at La Salle
Bacolod, to bide her time. They hadn9t counted on her falling in love with a Bacolodnon,
marrying him, and making Bacolod her home. But how could it have been otherwise,
given the gorgeous and gifted Elsie?

It had been tough for her in the beginning, she said. 8Oh, I had to work so hard
to fit in,9 she sighed, and the memory of it clouded her eyes. In her husband9s circles,
women weren9t writers.

<And I remembered that poem of hers about the mountain they call Cuernos de
Negros:

8The gentle rustle of mountain spirits

Unspool memory as the lamplight leaps

Into a sudden dance: once a child

He had watched his father clearing grass.

Grown child.9 =

But it is 2010 now, and we are the Casino Español. Elsie is telling me that she
was born in Dumaguete in 1945. Her father was Celerino Leon Martinez, a lawyer, and
her mother, Carmen Cabello, was a teacher of Spanish, and what Elsie describes as
<very religious.=

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• The relationship between food and writing and travel writing is best expressed
by Richard Sterling in his preface to Food: A Taste of the Road, <But there is
one universal constant in travel… any number of people will tell you that they
have travel, in large part, to eat. To break bread with strangers and leave table
with friends. To discover the world through the medium of cuisine, deepen their
understanding, broaden their horizons, and to make their travels the richer.=

To be a successful food writer, he/she must:

1. Think of eating as a form of gustatory adventure.
2. Train his/her tongue and nose to distinguish a wide variety of flavors and
aroma.
0 how
3. Find precise words to describe 0 they taste and smell.
4. Make his/her food writing interesting by transforming the gustatory
experience into a coherent narrative by weaving into the article a personal
 anecdote or two, and then cap it off with a couple of insights on food as a
manifestation of culture.

3. Nature Writing
• It highlights the beauty and majesty of the natural world, as well as
humanity9s special relationship with Mother Earth.
• As a literary genre, it is highly dependent on scientific facts and figures about
the natural world, while integrating private observations and philosophical
contemplation.

Depending upon its emphases, variously called according to

www.encyclopedia.com as:
1. nature philosophy
2. nature writing
3. natural history
4. environmental literature

Nature Philosophy - refers specifically to prescientific observation and

meditations on mankind9s relationship with nature and universe

Natural History - concerned with the description of flora and fauna, and their
evolution throughout the millennia.

To be a successful nature writer, he/she must:

1. Be a keen observer to natural phenomena, so that nothing will escape his or
her attention
2. Do some research, so that he/she will be able to properly name the natural
marvels being witnessed or the plants and animals being observed.
3. Develop his/her vocabulary through the help of dictionary and thesaurus, so
that he/she can accurately describe his/her encounters with Mother Nature.

0 0
Emerging Forms of Creative Nonfiction: Testimonio, Blog,
and Facebook Status Report

1. Testimonio

• Defined as published oral or written <first -hand accounts= of human rights

violations and abuses of the powers-that-be in oppressive societies, which the
witnesses wrote themselves, or dictated to a transcriber.
• The term <testimonio= originally comes from South America and Central
America after international human rights tribunal, truth commissions, and
other fact-finding boards in countries like Argentina, Chile, Guatemala.
• But from global perspective, the term can be applied to holocaust literature as
written by the Jewish people who have personally witnessed the persecutions
of the Jews
• In the Philippine context, the oral history of the <comfort women= who suffered
sexual and physical abuses under the Japanese occupation army can also be
classified as testimonio.

2. Blog

• The content of a typical blog combines text (written words), digital images
(photos), memes (text and images), as well as links focusing same topic of
interest or subject area.
• Literary blogs serve as online diaries of the creative writers (poets and
fictionists, playwrights and nonfiction authors) who maintain them.

0 0
3. Facebook Status Report

• FACEBOOK is the social networking website founded and further developed

 by Mark Zuckerberg and his college classmates in Harvard University
• The term <face book= refers to a printed or web directory in American
universities containing their respective students9 names and pictures
distributed by school officials
• The website quickly expanded to include students from other higher
institutions of learning in the Boston are, the Ivy League, the rest of the United
States, exponentially growing with the inclusion of everyone else in America
and from there the rest of the world with Internet access.
• anyone of legal age
• desktops, laptops, tablet computers, smart phones
• <user profile= which indicates his or her name, current and past occupations,
academic institutions attended, and other pertinent and not-so-pertinent info
• can add other FB users as friends based on their discretion,
• exchange messages with, post status reports and updates with or without
digital photos
• share digital videos and links
• enjoy various software apps
• receive notification when his/her FB friend uploads new posts and updates

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 • In its original context, the status report refers to <a report that summarizes a
particular situation as of a stated period of time= but has quickly expanded to
mean <a report describing the current situation with regard to a business,
project, matter, etc. especially one in a series of such reports summarizing
changing state of affairs.=
• In the age of social media, Facebook has appropriated the term to signify <an
update feature which allows users to express their thoughts, whereabouts or
important information with their friends.=
• The overwhelming popularity of Facebook as a social networking sire has
made the <Facebook status report= the most accessible Internet platform for
self-expression for the millennial generation and beyond.

Let Us Practice

I. Directions: Identify whether the following is an Autobiography, a Memoir, a

Diary or a Journal

_______1. <Dreams from My Father= by Barack Obama

_______2. <I am Malala= by Malala Yousafzai
_______3. <Long Walk to Freedom= by Nelson Mandela
_______4. <Diary of Anne Frank=
_______5. <Eat, Pray, Love= by Elizabeth Gilbert

II. Directions: Write one journal entry within the days of you answering your
modules. Limit your write-up to 300-350 words only.

Criteria and BEST BETTER GOOD FAIR SCORE

Rating (5) (4) (3) (2-1)

COHERENCE Perfectly Proportionate Experiences Events are

systematic presentation are disordered.
connection of events. explained.
of events.

UNITY Subject- Minor Comparative Needs to

verb grammatical errors. improve in
agreement errors. (6-10 errors) syntactics
is of quality. (3-5 errors) and
semantics.
0 0
EMPHASIS Impressive Less Details are Flat
presentation prominence monotonous. presentation
 of ideas. of ideas. of ideas.

TOTAL

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Let Us Practice More

II. 0
Directions: Food Writing 0 a special type of Creative Nonfiction that
is
focuses on gustatory delights. Now, you are task to feature your favorite viand
in a 200-word essay. Take a selfie holding a bowl of your favorite viand and