Narrative nonfiction use case

# Narrative nonfiction use case

> Merged into [`features/narrative-essay-use-case.md`](../features/narrative-essay-use-case.md) on 2026-05-08. Kept here for history.

Placeholder spec for a narrative nonfiction course (or AssignmentType variant) with a tutor and grading assistant tuned to the genre.

## Problem

Narrative nonfiction (memoir, personal essay, literary journalism, profile, reported narrative) is a distinct genre from the thesis-driven analytical writing Yawp's defaults are tuned for. Teachers running creative-nonfiction units, journalism electives, or memoir-style assignments don't have rubric or tutor support that speaks the genre's vocabulary — scene vs. summary, voice, narrative arc, the "so what," reported detail, ethical handling of real people.

## Rough shape

- Narrative-nonfiction AssignmentType variant (or a small family of them: personal essay, profile, reported narrative, memoir).
- Tutor flow tuned to genre-specific phases: idea/angle → reporting or memory work → scene-building → revision for voice and structure. Different shape than thesis → intro → body → conclusion.
- Grading assistant rubric tuned to narrative criteria: scene vs. summary balance, voice, specificity of detail, narrative structure, ethical/factual care. Not 5-paragraph criteria.
- Possibly preloaded prompts/exemplars (with the usual no-AI-branding constraint).

## Open questions

- [ ] Is this one AssignmentType or a family? Personal essay and reported narrative have meaningfully different rubrics.
- [ ] Overlap with `features/college-essays-use-case.md` — college essays are a narrative-nonfiction subgenre. Shared rubric primitives, or independent?
- [ ] Does the tutor need a "reporting" mode (interview prep, source notes) for reported narrative, or is that out of scope for v1?
- [ ] Pilot fit — is anyone at UA, Washington, or Birmingham City asking for this, or is it a forward bet?

## Next step

Talk through which subgenre to lead with and whether to scope this as a sibling to `college-essays-use-case.md` or fold them under one "narrative nonfiction" umbrella.