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Fiction vs Non-fiction Features

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Fiction vs Non-fiction Features

A library is preparing a display called “Stories and Facts”. Read both original extracts, then investigate how their genre, purpose and features shape the reader’s experience. Use evidence from the extracts in your answers.

Extract A: The Last Train

At 6.12, the station clock stopped. Mara noticed because the minute hand had been trembling all afternoon; now it pointed stubbornly at twelve. The platform was empty except for a paper ticket skittering along the tiles. A train slid out of the fog without making a sound. Its windows glowed amber. Mara’s brother, Tom, had disappeared on this line three years ago, and every winter she returned to the station on the anniversary. The doors opened. On the nearest seat lay a fresh ticket, damp with rain. It was printed with one destination: HOME. Mara stepped aboard. Behind her, the station clock began to tick again.

Extract B: Why railway clocks matter

Railway timetables depend on reliable timekeeping. In the nineteenth century, different towns often set their clocks by the sun, so local times could vary. This made it difficult to publish a timetable that passengers and railway staff could follow consistently. In Britain, railway companies increasingly adopted a shared standard based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Coordinated time helped trains run to published schedules and reduced confusion at stations. The change did not happen everywhere at once: local habits and systems took time to adjust. Why standard time helped - Passengers could compare departure times across routes. - Railway staff could coordinate train movements. - Timetables became clearer and more consistent. Key term *Standard time*: a shared time used across a region, rather than separate local times.

Read like an editor

Answer each question using details from the extracts where appropriate.

1.Which extract is fiction and which is non-fiction? Give one detail from each that supports your classification.

2.Choose the main purpose of Extract B.

To entertain the reader with an unexplained journey
To explain why a shared time system became useful for railways
To persuade readers to travel by train
To describe one passenger’s memories

3.In Extract A, what impression is created by the opening sentence, “At 6.12, the station clock stopped”? Explain how the precise time and the verb “stopped” help create that impression.

4.Name two visible features of Extract B that help a reader find or understand information. For each, explain its job.

5.Decide whether each statement is true or false according to the extracts. A. Extract A tells events through a character’s experience. B. Extract B says all British towns changed to GMT at exactly the same moment. C. Extract B uses a definition to clarify a key term.

TrueFalse

6.Match each feature in Extract B to its most likely purpose.

Bullet points
Key-term definition
Main heading

Explain a specialist word
Identify the topic of the text
Present several benefits in an easy-to-scan list

7.Which point of view is used in Extract A: first person or third person? Quote one word or phrase that proves your answer.

8.Describe the tone of each extract. Support each description with one word, phrase or feature from the text.

9.A display label says: “Railway companies introduced shared time because passengers found local clocks confusing.” Is this a fair summary of Extract B? Explain what the extract does say and identify one detail the label has added or overstated.

10.Rewrite the idea “The train appeared from the fog” in two ways: first as a suspenseful fictional sentence, then as a neutral factual sentence suitable for an information text.

11.Could a non-fiction text include a narrative, or could a fictional text include headings and a glossary? Explain why features alone do not always prove whether a text is fiction or non-fiction.