if the copyright page does not specifically say fiction,non fiction, etc.? we are filling out a reading log and some of the books read have to be fiction, non fiction, history, biography, and folklore.
2006-09-27 14:33:39 · 8 answers · asked by Getsbetterwithtime 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
thank you auntb93, you understand what I'm asking. I've got one book here my son is supposed to read. On the front it says "My life as a cowboy", which appears to be a history or biography. But it doesn't say on the inside cover. In the back though, it explains that although the person the book is based on is real, the story was created and the characters are fictional. Some of the other books don't have anything though. I just want to make sure we're doing his homework correctly. Thanks.
2006-09-27 14:58:53 · update #1
good idea a _blue_grey _mist. I'll try that!
2006-09-27 15:02:45 · update #2
The copyright page may not say, but perhaps the spine does. Or there will be one of those clever little disclaimers about not resembling real persons, living or dead. Also, on the back cover, possibly far down near the pricing info on a paperback, you may find the term "fiction" or "non-fiction," or some other word, such as a category of non-fiction.
If necessary, look through and see if there are dialogs. If so, it is most likely fiction, because historians and biographers only rarely have access to a person's exact words when they were spoken and not written, and so will not use exact quotes for dialog.
There are also cross-over categories, such as "fictionalized biography," like those by Irving Stone, which are only fiction because of the inclusion of "imaginary" dialogs, and filling in where historians only speculate. There is also "historical fiction," where the historical events are true, but the foreground characters are fictional. There are thousands of those, perhaps millions. Problem is, you don't always know how well-researched and accurate a given book is concerning the events and settings of the past.
2006-09-27 14:43:22 · answer #1 · answered by auntb93again 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes they put what the genre is on the upper part of the binding in paperbacks, sometimes there will be an identification of what type it is on the upper left or upper right on the back of the paperback. Sometimes they will put it just over the barcode.
(This all has to do with paperbacks, I'm talking about here). That cowboy bk you mentioned is definitely an 'autobiography.'
I;m sure you may be able to get away with a 'fiction' or 'nonfiction' identity for a bk for the teacher. I hope so maybe.It is frustrating that publishers do not put this readily on the covers always, but they may want people to just buy them & find out for themselves. Maybe they don't want to harm a sale of a bk by pidgeonholing a bk into a catagory.
Try looking the bks in question up on amazon.com. There may be identifications on their bk pages.
2006-09-27 23:12:48 · answer #2 · answered by Bronweyn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you get the book from the fiction section of the library or bookstore? The non-fiction section? History section? Biography?
2006-09-27 21:38:08 · answer #3 · answered by newyorkgal71 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Usually, you can go to a library and browse. Or you can just read for a while and see if something jumps out of you as being fiction.
2006-09-27 21:44:19 · answer #4 · answered by tkron31 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
By the cover or by the reading in side the book thats how
2006-09-27 21:41:50 · answer #5 · answered by Octavia J 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
look it up on amazon and see what category it's in . . .
or check the library of congress and the dewey decimal number
2006-09-27 21:35:21 · answer #6 · answered by a_blue_grey_mist 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you'll never know isnt that depressing and it just ruins your day right
2006-09-27 21:34:31 · answer #7 · answered by Who 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
common sence.. and if you really can't figure it out... ask your teacher or something
2006-09-27 21:36:07 · answer #8 · answered by hidden_within_a_nightmare 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋