Blog 20- Story critiques

Ben

I really liked the underlying theme of bandwagon fans. The description of the stampede of people trying to get in the stadium and crowd around you was vivid and contained many status details. A sports events becoming a social scene is a really interesting concept, the expensive drinks and skyscraper heels make it seem like a fancy nightclub.

Rachel

“But his slim frame, wit and the way he tosses around curse words make me forget he could be my gradfather” – I like this sentence a lot!

“…his stature makes him seem like a tentative adolsceant, afraid of a chill”

You have some really great descriptions and I feel like a get to know the coach very well.

Ginny

Great relevant topic -  You used a lot of great dialogue. I can see you reported this article thoroughly. There was a recent article down in time magazine about the changing trends of marriage. I thought the article in Time was super boring. If it had something like this, personal examples, it would have been much more interesting.

Sadie

There was a lot of good status details and dialogue in this story. I like the development you showed from all the work that goes into the making of the food to the people enjoying them.   The story was well rounded, had a nice ending and lots of literary elements. Also, the story was heart-warming. And I like that you left yourself out of it. I don’t think it’s a story that’s meant to be “Gonzo”.

Casey

I really liked this article! The descriptions of the frigid lab really made me feel like I was there.  You did really good reporting, had many good status details.

“It is easy to forget that these are humans, but subtle reminders constantly bring Alyssa back to reality- a hand, a tattoo, painted fingernails” Great sentence! Good status details. I also like where you went with this – how to students become accustomed (and hungry) at the sight and smell. Also, the smelling salts were a great status detail. Overall, excellent, the only thing that could have improved it is a few more quotes, although I can imagine it’s hard to find people willing to talk about this experience. 

Blog 19- Tracy Kidder

Tracy Kidder uses literary techniques, extensive reporting and an adherence to facts to convey his stories.  We see in the excerpt from “The Soul of a New Machine,” Kidder structures his story in an interesting fashion. He first lets the scene set the tone. He talks about the highway and how in the 1960’s deer was a motorists biggest concern. He then goes to describe the non-ostentatious building of Data General. He mentions the orange carpet and the big brother cameras that make him scared to walk on the grass. “The lobby could belong to a motor inn,” he says. He sets the scene for a new industry to grow out the ruins of an old industry that lost itself to outsourcing.

The level of extensive research is apparent in his discussion of how Data General was formed. He discusses to emergence of IBM and their monopoly over the first computers. He even goes so far back as to discuss the invention of chips. He documents the general history of how mini computers were made and marketed and the atmosphere in the business at the time of a revolutionary trade that can make a ton of money without having to be flashy.

The story moved to de Castro, the outlaw that has been omitted from the history of Data General. He discusses the phenomenon of young computer engineers’ tendency to form small businesses producing personal computer outside of their larger firm, using their resources. Note: Steve Wozniak split from HP after they turned down his plans for a personal computer, started his own company and designed Apple-1 and then Apple-2 with Jobs out of his garage.  The story’s message is not a history of computers, but a journey into uncharted waters, the chance for new smart young men to make millions out of a beauty parlor or in Jobs case, a garage.

His story was interesting and I wouldn’t rule out “process” journalism. The little man, big picture approach is intriguing and I plan on using it in my non-fiction story. I feel that I could utilize this approach in my story. Since I am doing my story on a farm that has 127 retired, abused and malnourished horses, there is a lot of room for personal stories. The granddaughter horse to Secretariat (who won the Triple Crown in 1973) was a recent addition after being experimented on in a research facility for 16 years. I am considering that as a starting point.

In one of the descriptions, it portrays Kidder as “hanging around” to get his story. Kelly Benham French spoke to our class the other day and made the same point. She said if you give her a few people she could find a story, but if you send her out on foot in a large group of people she could not. This is the principle that stories are there if you scratch the surface or “hang around” long enough. In his book documenting genocide in Africa he starts off with the remarkable story of a man who fled his country and became a medical student. He takes the story further by telling the story of him going back to give medical attention to his country. He then ties the story into the main issue of genocide in those parts. Again we see little man big pictures threads.

Overall, I admire Kidder’s technique. With the combination of good writing, expensive reporting and strong facts his stories are solid and enjoyable. 

Blog 18

Literary Journalism in the History of America

In the article, Meyer defends news writing of literary standard. He points out in early America essayists were sometimes values above hard news. Addison states an idea that we often discuss in class and something that is still relevant, the notion of objectivity. He classified himself as a spectator of mankind. The article points out the literary nature of papers in America as early as 1690 with writers such as Benjamin Franklin and Defoe.

Meyer states that revolutionary pamphlets and papers from authors such as Paine, Hamilton, Jay and Madison has literary value and were often eloquently written. Post revolutionary paper in circulation such as the Minerva modeled themselves on truth and openness.

Meyer reflects on Bryant who in 1826 mirrors Wolfe’s “personal journalism” style. In the nineteen century Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman began writing for papers in New York which became journalism central. Whitman’s writing were accessible to the rich and poor alike.

As the West began to develop writers such as Twain continues the literary trend. Papers in the south such as the Atlanta Constitution emphasized an educated paper with writers such as Harris who pursued his own literary aspirations.

Back in New York in the late 1800’s writers such as Crane and Norris wrote of politics and happenings with “attention and detail.”

Literary journalists were continuing to be praised throughout the twentieth century. Writers such as Steinbeck continued the tradition they had been since early America.

Meyer’s point in the article is to show that literary journalism is something that is inherent in American history and has always been praised, something even above hard news. Many famous names wrote literary journalism and it has made American’s more educated and adept in literature throughout the centuries. 

Blog 17

   

                                                            The Traffic Jam

        

     Cars are at a standstill in all directions. I- 75 is in complete congestion. There is no movement whatsoever, not even a 5-mile-per-hour crawl. This is the definition of bumper-to-bumper. Drivers look around at each other with a face of half frustration, half bewilderment. The man in the silver Element punches his steering wheel and takes out his phone to try and figure out what disaster could cause such a build up.

The dogs wake up from their restless slumber in the backseat and go from window to window snorting and wagging their tails; antsy to see what destination they have arrived at. They spot an older brown dog with a white beard in the car next door and one of them lets out a whine. He shoves his big blocky head out the half open drivers side window and then snouts the driver of the car as if to ask to be let out to go say hello. She wipes her face and yells, “Marley! Calm Down back there.” She playfully laughs and retrieves her I Phone out of her purse.

Ten minutes go by and still no movement, twenty minutes-still stuck. The driver turns off the car, “We’re going to be here for awhile.” One by one people exit their vehicles and come together with a shared intent to get information, any tid-bit that may tell them why they are being held up in this mess.

“I’m gonna go see if anyone knows anything” the driver said.

A helicopter flies over. “They must be bay-flighting them to the hospital,” someone says. Everyone frowns in sympathy for the unidentified victims- they knew that meant that it was a bad accident. The dog in the backseat is in a staring competition with the old brown dog next door. He tail sticks out straight as it does when he is on guard when he walks in the woods, ready to react just in case this ancient beast decides to worm out of the window.

An old man hops up on the median divider and stares off into the distance to try and get a look. He squints and cups his hands over his face to block the sun.  He hobbled back down and shrugged his shoulders then folded his arms and joined the conversation again.

Two more join the circle of confusion A man in a green polo, jeans, and reef sandals, had his collar popped. His petite companion had blonde teased hair, skinny jeans and ballet flats. They were in their 50’s but could have passed for teenagers from a distance. A boy sections off from the group, sticks one finger over his ear to block the sound of the traffic barreling along in the other direction and sticks his phone in the other ear. He jabbers away and paces few feet forward and then back a few feet in the same direction. He hangs up and jogs back over to the group.

“My sister is towards the front of the jam and she said they cut two people out of the car and they still have to cut the third,” said the boy.

“The jaws of life man…that’s bad,” said the man with the popped collar.

A woman walks her dog by the car and both dogs fumble to get the best spot in the driver side window.  All three tails wag and the dog pulls the woman towards the car before she regains control and tugs back on the leash. She scolds the dog and continues walking.

“They opened up the right lane, so we should be movin’ pretty soon here. I’ve got some bottled water in the trunk if you girls are thirsty,” the man shouts from the car next door. His old brown dog stares blankly at him.

In the distance engines started and brake lights flashed like hundred of red starts in a sea of metal and asphalt. Everyone smiled, waved good-bye and hurried back to their vehicles. The driver hopped back in the car.

“Buckle up,” she said.

The cars crawled along for four or five miles. Only one lane was open and the two lanes were littered with glass, metal and plastic pieces. Cars courteously let each other over, keeping in mind their hour-long kinship with their other frustrated companions. Men in bright orange vests swept the road and picked up larger pieces of rubble. All fire trucks, ambulances and the helicopter were already gone. The victims were nowhere to be seen, but people slowed down and scanned the mess inquiringly as to see what the cause was of their delay.  A tow truck had just finished loading the wrecked vehicle. It was a gold pickup truck with its top smashed in to the point where it looked like one flat golden rectangle- it had definitely rolled. 

Blog 16

Morris Markey's "The Drift"- a very literary piece

Blog 16

Morris Markey paints a bleak look at what happens to the unidentified dead in “Drift.” He takes the reader through the identification process, to the overcrowded morgue, a dark boat ride to the burial grounds and finally the sardine-cane burials that the lower class receives.

Word choice is very prevalent throughout the piece. For example when the detective and the superintendent are discussing the body almost being matched to a pickpocket by fingerprints, the superintendent responds, “Did you ever here of a pickpocket turning on the gas?” This gives the reader a little more visual than if the writer was to just come and say it was a suicide. Markey uses “Number 48,227” throughout the piece to refer to the unidentified body. This word choice accentuates the notion that he is simply just a number, an unidentified question mark, whose identity will soon be buried. “There was no marking stone over the grave where Number 48,227 lay now. But in the office was a long slip of paper. It bore the number of the grave, and the names of all its occupants. Except, of course, that in one space it bore a numeral instead of a name.” The word choice again implied that vague and non-personal burial in which the man received. He also described the trip to the burial plot with many words associated with death, describing the “shimmer on the water that hid the eternal filth of oil and refuse” and the “immortal and even a little more benign” building. 

Status detail functions in the piece to establish tone.  For example, “In the vast room, there were more than a hundred who lay beside him in long ranks. None other of these, however, were touched with the air of mystery that lay upon him.”  Markey describes that feeling associated with the unidentified body. Markey mentions the flag being flown at half-mast, which is typically associated with death. This sets the tone for the slow, dark death ride to the mass grave. “His motionless companions were lifted down to lie beside him, as close as the attendants could contrive, as soon men were working with shovels to cover them from the bright day.” He uses status detail to imply the close and impersonal burial setting of all of the dead which no one claims.

Markey uses scene-by-scene construction to move the story along in a linear fashion. He starts with a day-in-the-life of a detective assigned to the morgue, describing the building in detail. He then goes on tell the anecdote of the unidentified man, which he threads throughout the piece as it grows into a larger story telling the reader about the mass grave.

Morris Markey wrote for the New Yorker as a “reporter at large” and in this case is searching for the process of unidentified bodies, and also the concept of mass graves for the have-nots of society. His task at the New Yorker was to “roam the city and write down what you see” which caused him to stumble upon many published stories. His stories set the intellectual yet light tone of the New Yorker. He uses the “I am the camera technique” in his piece and other conventional reporting techniques such as personal presence. His pieced gave readers a look into New York society.
Story Ideas:
1.) I am thinking of documenting the personalities that inhabit Lillian's Bar, my place of employment. A few of the bartenders have worked there and had local customers for over 20 years. Lillian's prides itself with its history, live music and strong drinks, creating an atmosphere that attracts people from all walks of life, students, professionals, and long-time regulars. Many expressive personalities inhabit Lillian's, and since I have become friendly with many of them, I am sure they would let me interview them.
2.) Since I love animals, and volunteer at the Humane Society, I was considering a piece on the process a dog goes through from being rescued off the street an a bad situation, training and wellness, possible fostering and being placed in a better home.

Blog 15- Undercover Reporting

            Undercover journalism his mixed reviews in my book. On one end, stories such as “Ten Days in a Mad-House” by Nelly Bly are interesting and solve real-world social issues. By posing as a crazy person, Bly was able to uncover to precarious conditions that the mentally insane were subject to. Bly uncovered the truths and changes were made, people were helped. However, things could have gone bad and Bly could have been abused or worse.

            Bob Steele discusses the ethics of undercover reporting and situations where it may be appropriate. He says that if it will have a great social impact and help society then it may be appropriate. I concur, but think that social impact is arbitrary to ones own interests.

            For example, Pam Zekman went undercover to expose dodgy dance studio cheating money from seniors. What cares? This is of no particular importance and probably made for a boring read. She also went undercover to expose an abortion clinic giving fake abortions.  That not only makes for an interesting read but also will spare many women from having to go through the emotional turmoil and unnecessary expense of the fake abortions.

            In the case of Mirage Tavern, I do not see any problem there. Although the bars purpose was to record code violations and such from official, it was still a bar, and patrons came on their own accord. Many establishments have surveillance systems and no one was being deceived in this situation.

            There are many other ways to formulate a good story without having to breach the line of honesty. Interviews from past employees, documented offences, etc could provide a similar effect.

            To conclude I would say that undercover reporting is appropriate if it serves to alleviate an undesirable circumstance or situation that is important to the writer. If it makes you sleep better at night to know that solved a major issue, benefited society or helped people, then it’s worth it. If you spent weeks of research lying to expose a dodgy dance studio, then you might want to evaluate your morals. I would probably do minor undercover reporting if it did not endanger my well-being and there was reason to believe that it could significantly help something I am passionate about in some way. For example, if I could single-handedly take down the circus and its animal cruelty by employing myself with them for a short period of time, I would do it because the ends would justify the means in my opinion. 

Blog 14-Jimmy Cannon

            One of the most well-known sports writers, Jimmy Cannon, began his career at age 15 when he dropped out of school to be a copy boy. Cannon wrote for the Daily News and the Journal American. He was known as the voice of New York City itself, with the ability to rouse emotion in his readers. He is also credited with founding a new type of journalism in the 1940’s. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame and also awarded the Red Smith Award for his sports writing. Cannon’s writing is descriptive and at times poetic which we see in “Lethal Lightning.”

            “Lethal Lightning” documents the 1945 boxing fight between Joe Louis and Billy Conn. He uses literary techniques and a unique style of writing to make the story different.

            Cannon starts out with a description of a morphine-induced hallucination about the black night creeping into his brain. He then goes on to incorporate this into the knockout of Conn. He tells the reader in the second paragraph,

            “I remember the last night in the Yankee Stadium when Joe Louis knocked out Billy Conn in the eighth round of a fight that had been tautly dull.”

            He then goes to incorporate the blackness motif into the situation,

            “I felt the old dream coming from a long way off and finding not me, but Billy Conn, who lay in the spurious day of the ring lights and had the aching blackness all to himself.”

            Cannon then goes to tell the story of the fight and thread the darkness motif throughout the story.

            He never comes up front and tells the reader that Louis was much bigger and more intimidating than Conn, but through his descriptions, the reader gets the idea. He describes Conn in a “green-bordered satin bathrobe” entering the ring with his manager who “layed his flabby white arm along the rope and looked into Conn’s face as though he were trying to remember the features before they were destroyed.” He then describes Louis as “big in his flashy red-edged blue robe of silk…moving in the wind of the night.” This is a much more intimidating description. Louis was almost 40 pounds heavier than Conn at the time of the fight, which Cannon never tells us and doesn’t have to.

            He uses status detail to report the fighters and also the observers. For example he points out the “thick cord of fat hanging off his belly when he moved” of Conn which accentuates his weaknesses. The details he used made Conn seem weaker, older and softer than Louis.

            He contrasts the two fighters as the “agile scientist” and the “ignoramus of the ring with nothing but strength.” And later in the story as “big man” and “little man.” Conn being the smaller man who had to strategically place punches and use his moves to try and outsmart the slower but stronger Louis.

            Cannon uses interesting metaphors other than the darkness throughout the piece such as Louis catching punches like snowballs thrown by a child.

            Cannon uses dialogue to present the personalities of the fighters in the end. For example he records Conn saying “I should re-enlist in the army I was so lousy tonight.”

            I think the purpose of this piece is to entertain, not simply just report. Cannon creates a more descriptive piece for readers, which was not common in 1940’s sports writing.

            My question for the class is: What are your opinions on NFL games being “blacked out” for increase ticket revenue and does this create the need for a more literary and descriptive type of sports writing?

Blog 13

Ted Conover is the ultimate immersion journalist. He goes as far as playing the role of an illegal immigrant, living without any luxuries and being in the brotherhood of a pack in Mexicans for the good of the story.

His purpose for writing “Coyotes” is to describe to the reader a day in the life of a misunderstood social group. By doing this he transports the reader into the reality and everyday life of an illegal immigrant.

Conover uses scene construction to describe his surroundings. For example, when he has to pile into an Impala with 8 other grown men and eat his McDonalds in the tight space he gives the reader a sense of the physical and psychological closeness that is associated with being in this Mexican brotherhood. He also used dialogue to accentuate some of the important conversing among characters. For example:

“I’ll tell you what my wishes are…You know what I would like? What I would prize most of all? A green card!”

Conover also puts all Spanish dialogue in italics in order to show when Spanish is spoken. Word choice is important in the piece to convey his relations with the other Mexicans. For example he expresses his need to convey “some wolfish hunger” to prove his manliness. He also describes that avoiding eye contact is a “necessary survival skill.” This accentuates that the Mexicans are actually fighting for survival.

The plot basically takes the reader through a typical evening he spends with the Mexicans. A narrative thread is the main character Martin and how he takes care of the other Mexicans that do not have as much money as him. He buys dinner and beers for the other Mexicans and Conover even though he is described as being on the poverty line. The narrative goes further than to just describe a day in the life but to illustrate a mutual connection, simple moments, joys laughter while facing uncertainty and struggle. He describes Martin as nicer than 99 percent of the people he knows. It is a story of hope, friendship, and morality of man.

Ten Conover is considered one of the best of the new new journalists not only because of his writing style but of his technique of completely submerging himself in the culture he is documenting at the time. This participant-observer style usually means a complete change of lifestyle for Conover, especially coming from the upper-middle class. For his senior thesis at Amherst, Conover gave up all if his luxuries and became a train-riding hobo in order to document this subculture of traveling non-conformists. Out of this came Rolling Nowhere (1984). He did the same thing for Coyotes(1987), where he traveled around with illegal Mexican immigrants, crossing the border multiple times. For Whiteout (1991), Conover worked as a reporter and cab driver to document Aspen’s celebrity culture. Again for NewJack (2000), Conover got a job as prison guard at Sing Sing in order to observe the subculture of prison guards. Conover documents subcultures that are foreign to most readers with an unbiased tone, neither pitying, or praising, simply documenting their lifestyle.

            Although Conover never studied journalism, he worked at a variety of small newspapers when he was younger. Conover instead took a liking to Anthropology, which he credits to be what sparked his interest in seemingly insignificant subcultures. He chooses to saturate himself in the subculture’s environment to get all of the unseen, unspoken, hidden detail that a simple interview can’t get. He thinks that the emotional toll is worth it to get a good story.

            Conover always has an unbiased attitude going in. He credits this to his grade school days where he was bussed in to an interracial school in which he was the minority. He describes this as “liberating”.

            He chooses his stories based on which groups have conflict and change. He then finds the appropriate place and job in order to properly observe his subjects. For NewJack, he completed 7 weeks of training and then worked as a prison guard for 10 months to complete his story. He had to be in complete secret or else he would have been fired or worse. For Coyotes, he traveled with immigrants for 9 months, crossing the border multiple times.

            Conover’s strategy for getting a good story is to try and fit in as much as possible, becoming the character in outward appearance without crossing the line of being so submerged in the lifestyle that you forget to observe. He claims he is always himself although admitting a lot of it is performance based.

            Conover prefers interviews in person to observe a person’s body language and actions.  He relies in small spiral notebooks, which he writes down notes in, while undercover. He opens conversation by first speaking about himself and his past, which gives his subject a sense of trust then asking leading questions.

            Although Conover is submerged in the subjects he writes about, he always keeps his identity as an American journalist. It is almost as if he putting on an act for the sake of fitting in. Dennis Covington on the other hand is open about the fact that he doing a story and seems to be doing “Snake Handling and Redemption” to satisfy his own personal curiosities.

            Covington structures his piece into tiers. He starts off by telling the reader about his own personal love for snakes. He talks about his personal history with snakes and his own history of himself. The first half of the story is about him. He even goes as far to discuss his alcoholism and infertility with the reader. The second part of the story is a factual account of poisonous snakes, something you would find on animal planet: Facts about colors, disposition, danger factor, etc. The third part of the piece goes into the main subject of the sort: a church that uses snake handling to praise god. He describes the church and some expressive personalities and then moves into the last part of the piece, which ties all previous tiers together, his personal experience with snake handling and redemption. He ultimately sees the light and is moved by this act of snake handling.

            Word choice is used throughout this piece in an ironic fashion. For example:

           

“I was hung over. My first wife Susan and I had taken a Sunday drive to visit old cemeteries. It was springtime, and tarantulas were crossing the road in droves.”

This sentence is full of a very distinct word choice. “My first wife” and “In droves” go to show his distinct and rather ironic language. Status detail is also prevalent in this piece. He describes his religious experience as well as the characters he encounters. There is a lot of dialogue in the piece; mainly between himself and the character he encounters which goes to express his feelings about the religious experience he shares with them. For example Brother Charles tells him to be careful who he takes a snake from which is in fact a bigger allegory in the story an encompasses a notion of trust.

            Covington is a participating writer in this piece with a lot of the story focused around him. The story is written in first person. He is invested in the subjects because of his childhood, ancestors, and personal affiliation with snakes. The piece was about the practice of snake handling and his self-discovery.

Question for the class:

Is Ted Conover in fact committing a moral crime by misleading his subjects into trusting him or is he doing them a favor by writing the story about their struggles in the first place? Is Covington more justified by identifying himself as a journalism up front?

Blog 12

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

            Slouching Towards Bethlehem is a collection of essays by Joan Didion on various topics in the 1960’s. The book is divided into three parts.

The first is titled “Life Styles In The Golden Land” which chronicles the eight different situations. The first “Some Dreamers Of The Golden Dream” is an essay about the alleged murder Gordon Miller by his seemingly innocent wife Lucille. The article discusses the breakdown of fundamentalism that inevitably led to an unhappy housewife to find escape by burning her husband alive. 

“John Wayne: A Love Song” is a look at John Wayne behind the scenes on his 165^th movie.

“Where the Kissing Never Stops” documents Joan Benz, a folk singer, who would turn down shows and money for a quiet, calm lifestyle. Benz runs a school, which teaches peace and non-violence and lives a simple, ambiguous lifestyle. She believes in peace but does not associate herself with any movements or political parties.

“Comrade Laski” who is the president of a small communist party in California in the 1960’s. This man constructed a world for himself in the communist group and even had a few followers. Even though the group was widely unpopular, and poor, it emphasized the fact that Laski was trying to appeal to the poor of American to start revolution, which was not working.

“7000 Romaine” is about a neighborhood in Los Angeles Didion refers to as “middle class slum of model studios,” outside of Howard Hughes property. The article document Hughes and the way people view him. Hughes pays his barber to be on staff whenever he needs him, keeps giant empty studios, and has a whole crew of actors essentially “on call.” This is the American ideal of convenience, being able to attain anything at any time.

“California Dreaming” documents the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. This is an elusive and private mansion where certain intellectuals are invited to come and discuss democracy and get paid a salary. The point of this cultural phenomenon is to record all of the intellectual conversation and produce papers and try and shape politics by the use of intelligent correspondence.

“Marrying Absurd” documents the fast-paced wedding phenomenon in Vegas. It looks into a few couples who have married and chapels that crank out one wedding after another.

“Slouching Towards Bethlehem” is the last article that is a deep look into the Haight-Ashbury district where many runaways gathered. The country was socially fragmented and Didion examines the reason for the runaways the their everyday lifestyle. This is a grim look at the “hippies” which goes as far as recounting a 5-year-old child being given LSD. This portrays the counterculture as not a social revolution but a group of misguided teenagers that are irresponsibly rebelling against their strict parents.

The second part of the book, “Personals,” is a look into the life of Didion, and how she views herself. Didion addresses her own self-loathing, her life, morality, self-respect, and going home.

The third part of the book, “Seven Places of the Mind”, Didion writes seven short essays about places she has gone and the significance of them in her life. Of the seven she discusses her home, the Sacramento Valley, New York, Hawaii, Alcatraz, Newport, Los Angeles, and Mexico. Each place reflects her mood and growth.

Since my book was collection of essays, the plot line was very convoluted. The article has many different messages about Didion’s reflection of herself and of society. Didion writes about characters or groups that are socially fragmented. People that do not fit in, live by the beat of their own drum, and not for the better of society, just because. The book is a bleak look at American Culture, and what it is becoming: Housewives who burn their husbands alive, parents giving their children LSD, a millionaire hoarding money and property for the hell of it, the industry of trashy weddings. All in all, this is grim look at California culture of the 1960’s. There’s no hope for society in this book. People are represented as either crazy or oblivious.

Scene construction is used heavily in the book. The desert, the Santa Anna wind, and the cold rocky coast are vividly described in many of the articles as well as the places section. Dialogue is also used to convey a sense of characterization of the people Didion wrote about. Didion uses expressive personalities to base each article around. Didion writes most of the articles in third person, making the first section of the book read like fiction. Didion uses precise word selection, she does not go into great detail, and has an almost Hemingway-like way of putting things.

A new element of literary journalism I could offer from this book is an expression of fragmentation. In most books we have read there is some sort of individual, group, or mass fragmentation whether it is in ones own life, such as “Up in the old hotel”, when we see Louie struggle with his identity, or “The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test” where we see a group cut off from the rest of society. In some way the character(s) do not fit in are struggling for acceptance or change.

Joan Didion is an American essay and novel writer who often writes about fragmented America. Didion is from Sacramento and classifies herself as introverted and shy. Tragedy struck Didion when her husband and daughter died. She also wrote “The Year of Magical Thinking” which documents her husband’s death and her coping with it.

My book had reoccurring themes of insanity, poor parenting, morally bankrupt individuals, and suicide. My question for the class is why do you think a lot of new journalism has such a negative and grim portrayal of American culture?

Rearch Paper Outline

Research Paper Outline

Michelle Klug

Introduction

Throughout this class, we have studied new journalism, and tried to pinpoint what makes it “new”.  Three new journalists in particular have had some of their best-known works come out of portraying the west coast as it was known in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Joan Didion give as a dark look at a few expressive personalities as well as her own experiences in the mid 1960’s in “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”. The three-part collection of essays first explores the accounts of a few different people, all in different situations with different perspectives on the happenings of the 1960’s. The second part is Didion’s own account on her past and present. The third part is about a few memorable places, how these places came to shape her and ties in the previous parts of the book.

Tom Wolfe takes us on a wild drug-induced ride in “The Electic Kool Aid Acid Test”. Although Wolfe is not directly in the book, and does not speak of his personal involvement very often, he gives a colorful and innovative account of a group of experimental travelers led my Ken Kesey. Wolfe reflects some individual and group voices and gives the reader a look into the culture of the 1960’s as seen through the eyes of a Merry Prankster.

Hunter S. Thomson uses gonzo journalism in many articles published in “The Great Shark Hunt”. His focus is on the late 1960’s and early 1970’s culture if a different manner than both Didion and Wolfe. His total immersion, wild, and crude account of his own experiences give the reader a different perspective on the counterculture, their happenings, and ideals.

Research Question

What are the techniques and styles used by Thomson, Wolfe, and Didion to portray the 60’s and 70’s counterculture and represent the social fragmentation of this time period?

Literature Review

Reading and explanation of works of the three authors are necessary. While I have a pretty good understanding of these works, I will use articles, videos, and excerpts to show how each author portrays the culture. I will also use literature to explore the authors’ roles in the books, their feelings toward and involvement in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and how this is reflected in each of their stories.

Research Methods

Some themes I will explore are rejection of tradition, sexuality, individuality, and distrust of authority. I will explore how each of these authors represent these themes and how it reflects on the generation and the view of new journalism as a whole.

I have read works from all three authors. I will choose the articles from The Great Shark Hunt that describe Thomson’s reflections the best. I am using “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” and “The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test.” I will analyze all three and show how each differ in showing the themes above and how each author represents the counterculture of the 1960’s.

Results

After a close analysis of the books, I will compare and contrast each and express the results in my research paper.

Discussion

How a distinct culture can be represented in different ways using select groups. What are the negative and positive of the cultural revolution were portrayed and were the authors justified in focusing on these aspects?

Bibliography

Thompson, Hunter S. (1992). Gonzo Papers, Volume 1: The Great Shark Hunt. New York, NY. Ballantine Books.

Didion, Joan. (1968). Slouching Towards Bethlehem. New York, NY. Simon and Schuster.

Wolfe, Tom. (1968). The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. New York, NY. Farrar, Straus, and Girox

Staub, Michael E. (1997). Black Panthers, New Journalism, and the Rewriting of the Sixties. Representations. 57. Pp. 52-72. Retrieved September 13, 2010, from htt://jstor.org/stable/2928663

This article discusses how new journalism portrays a true reality of social fragmentation of the 60’s. The article discusses objectivity and the reasons for the rise of new journalism.

Wimmer, Natasha. "Joan Didion: Telling It Like It Is (or Should Be)." Publishers Weekly 248.42 (2001): 41-42. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Muggli, Mark Z. "The Poetics of Joan Didion's Journalism." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography 59.3 (1987): 402-421. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Konas, Gary. "Traveling 'Furthur' with Tom Wolfe's Heroes." Journal of Popular Culture 28.3 (1994): 177-192. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Bortz, Eli J. The New Journalism and Its Editors: Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Their Early Experiences. Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida, 2005. Internet resource

Meyers, Paul T. New Journalist As Culture Critic: Wolfe, Thompson, Talese. , 1989. Print.

Thompson, Hunter S, Alison Ellwood, Alex Gibney, and Johnny Depp. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Los Angeles, Calif: Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2008.

           

Blog 11

            Hunter S. Thompson uses a dynamic and powerful word choice in his writings. In “The Scum Also Rises”, the title itself is a coarse allegory to the novel by Hemingway, “The Sun Also Rises.” Thompson’s writing is very straightforward with each section being broken off by a descriptive and comical title such as,

“The suck-tide reaches San Clemente…Ziegler beings the news to the boss…General Haig and the bag if dimes…The sybaritic priest and the mentally retarded Rabbi…More talk to the ‘Suicide Option’.”

            Thompson sets the scene for a morbid administration that seems to be falling apart, slowly decaying, until finally the bottom falls out. He describes the “rotting roofs of our nation’s capital” in the first paragraph.

“The rats are deserting the ship at high speed.” Thomson uses this quote in the very beginning of the story and compares the corrupt politicians to vile creatures scurrying out of a ship.

            Thomson often refers the event as the “Deathwatch” since everyone seemed to know the end result and was just sitting around watching to downfall of Nixon. He also makes reference to the ‘suicide option’ that also makes reference to a self-destructive death of his position as president.

“The wheels of doom begin rolling.” This statement sets the stage of the unavoidable downfall and impeachment trial.

            His vocabulary is sarcastically cynical during the piece such as, “The Boss himself had appointed to the Court might now cheerfully endorse a concept of presidential immunity that mocked both the U.S. Constitution and Magna Carta…” This particular word choice voices Thomson’s thoughts and the subject and make Nixon’s defenses seem so far fetched they are on the verge of insanity.

            During the ocean scene, Thomson makes reference to the “sucking water” around Nixon’s ankles. This is a foreshadowing word choice on what’s in store for Nixon. The water (court) wants to suck him out to sea to drown in his own lies and cease to be president. Throughout the piece there are words that allude to death, rot, destruction, which parallels the break down and death of Nixon’s administration.

            The Lead of the “The “scum” also rises” captures the reader by incorporating a crafty quote as the first sentence. “American politics will never be the same”. This makes the reader wonder why will it never be the same? And keeps them reading to the next paragraph. Thomson then describes the place from which he is writing and the dark dreadful scene that is the Capitol. This is foreshadowing and sets the mood for the rest of the story.

            The ending is also very metaphorical. He describes a disoriented Nixon, stumbling to get on the helicopter. This is the story seen by Hunter S., and heard by Hunter S. He brings himself into the story once again in his final description of Nixon exiting the Capitol and the presidency altogether.

Question for the class:

“The scum also rises” is play on words to Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises.” What similar ideas and writing strategies so you see in these two pieces? Why do you think this piece eludes the Hemingway’s book? Here is the poem Hemingway presents at the beginning of his book, which his title is based on:

"The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose."

Blog 10

From my understanding, Gonzo journalism can be defined by taking all of the rules we have learned in our classes, and doing the exact opposite, while still keeping a clever and informative writing style. Objectivity, accuracy, not interjecting, and courtesy are irrelevant. Hell, you can even admit to being hammered-drunk and on multiple drugs during your story.

I guess it’s only appropriate to start with the true Gonzo journalist, the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Hunter S. Thomson. Thomson often gives a drug and alcohol induced account of the underbelly of American culture. Whether it’s a motorcycle race, a gang of violent bikers, or a political catastrophe, Thomson sheds light on the corrupt and the insane nature of the different cultures he documents. Thomson is ultimately immersed in the story and in times IS the story. He is always present in his story; his actions make up the structure of the writing.

His stories follow his convoluted stream of consciousness into the dark nature of his subjects and their downfall of logical thinking. His language is crude and at times offensive. He uses sarcastically cynical language to describe these scenes. His technique is not outrage (like Taibbi) but a smirk at the ugly side of the American Dream.    

Taibbi is similar to Hunter S. in a lot of ways. His writings are a blatant attack on the aristocracy of American’s culture. His stories go to expose the wrongdoings of the higher-ups in control. He is not at all objective, and sets out to expose the ugly truth and only that. There is no doubt in my mind Taibbi has been sued for Slander. His revelations about supply and demand control are almost unbelievable. It sheds light on a messed up situation and makes the democratic system look like it is in shambles. His motive is to expose the corrupt market manipulations by bank and government authorities and his means is a rant of outrage, very knowledabe, well-written, well-researched outrage. For example, in the “The Great American Bubble Machine”, Taibbi said,

“The bank's unprecedented reach and power have enabled it to turn all of America into a giant pump-and-dump scam, manipulating whole economic sectors for years at a time, moving the dice game as this or that market collapses, and all the time gorging itself on the unseen costs that are breaking families everywhere — high gas prices, rising consumer credit rates, half-eaten pension funds, mass layoffs, future taxes to pay off bailouts. All that money that you're losing, it's going somewhere, and in both a literal and a figurative sense, Goldman Sachs is where it's going: The bank is a huge, highly sophisticated engine for converting the useful, deployed wealth of society into the least useful, most wasteful and insoluble substance on Earth — pure profit for rich individuals.”

This is a crude and blatant outrage on Goldman Sachs. There is no other side to the story and this “I don’t give a damn” sort of attitude is shown throughout the rest of the piece. Although Taibbi does interject his opinions, he does not interject himself and his actions as we see with Hunter S.

Ron Rosenbaum, on the other hand, does not seek to expose a corrupt American, but instead seems to write to satisfy his personal curiosities. He interjects himself immensely, but not to the point where the story becomes about him more than it does about the subject. Rosenbaum seems to be investigating puzzling situations, or something that may be misconceived. The reader follows his stream of consciousness from an anecdote, to a personal story, to what sparked his curiosity and then his quest. For example, in the Photo Scandal article this anecdote starts the story,

“ONE AFTERNOON IN THE LATE 1970's, deep in the labyrinthine interior of a massive Gothic tower in New Haven, an unsuspecting employee of Yale University opened a long-locked room in the Payne Whitney Gymnasium and stumbled upon something shocking and disturbing.

Shocking, because what he found was an enormous cache of nude photographs, thousands and thousands of photographs of young men in front, side and rear poses. Disturbing, because on closer inspection the photos looked like the record of a bizarre body-piercing ritual: sticking out from the spine of each and every body was a row of sharp metal pins.”

We then get into his personal interjection and reason for writing the article,

“One fall afternoon in the mid-60's, shortly after I arrived in New Haven to begin my freshman year at Yale, I was summoned to that sooty Gothic shrine to muscular virtue known as Payne Whitney Gym. I reported to a windowless room on an upper floor, where men dressed in crisp white garments instructed me to remove all of my clothes.”

 His quest involves a series of clues, dead-ends, and revelations until we finally get the big picture. By the end of the story we know quite a bit about Rosenbaum and get a sense of his curious nature, and investigative skills as a reporter.

In the Skull and Bones article, Rosenbaum does not simply seek out the secrets of the secret society but gives a deeper meaning behind the ritualistic cult. He exposes the meaning as sense of security, belonging, reminder of talent, and self-preservation. And although he leaves the reader saying, “What are the secrets”, the article achieves a different purpose than what you would expect. He chose not to write an article on the “supposed secret” from “secret sources” that may or may not be telling the truth, but he takes it in a different direction, which I found very interesting.

Blog 9

Blog 9

Michelle Klug

Rational Vs. Romantic Reporting

Webb brings about a modern definition of new journalism that rejects five preconceived ideas of what journalism was and instead replaces them with parallel ideas that change and context and style of the writing.

            Webb emphasized the old style of journalism as being strictly based on fact and objectivity. This he terms “rational reporting”. This emphasizes the reporter as a man or woman who is able to reason and see outside reality. This reporter knows the uniform nature of human beings and writes for an unchanging world. He or she understands things in pieces. The reporter does just than, reports. He or she stays objective by not immersing himself or herself, just observing, and relaying his or her message back to the reader

            The “new journalism” that Webb describes is termed “romantic reporting” as a reportage that extends the writers emotions into the piece. The romantic reporter longs to find the internal thoughts and emotions of others as well as embraces the diversity of human nature. He or she views the subject in their ups and downs and looks at their effect on the human ecosystem as a whole, instead of in pieces.

            Webb is smart to rename new journalism because in fact it is not necessarily new. Some of the elements he described are present in earlier pieces we have read. And also some “old” or “rational” journalism techniques are present in some of the most recent pieces we have read.

            On one end of the spectrum, I would place Wolfe as the most romantic writer. He is ultimately immersed in the culture in “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” (1968). He goes into detail to the point where you might think he was actually present in the situation. He was “on the bus” although he may not have been present in the bus trip. The book is based around his feelings of what is happening and the book is understood in terms of thought and interaction with others. Wolfe captures internal thoughts of the pranksters and reflects on them in their diverse roles. He is documenting a new culture, on that is dynamic and experimental. Ken Kesey and his experimental bus trip are characterized by ultra-changing actions and mindsets, the opposite of a static situation. Although he gives emphasis to individual roles he captures the collective voice. There is a communal understanding of letting go and being who you are and doing what it is that is “your thing”, as long as it functions well with the community.

                                    If “new” journalism is strictly in reference to time period, then Boswell must be a time traveler because his biography of Samuel Johnson has many of the romantic journalism elements. The book coins the era of writing as “distanced objectivity”. This is the opposite. Not only does Boswell interject himself into the story, he stages scenes, and then admits to it! Boswell constructs scenes, incorporates dialogue, and gives status detail to paint a picture for the readers. Overall, this piece is very romantically written and is almost 200 years before its time.

            Hersey’s “Hiroshima” is no Wolfe but ranks pretty high in romantic writing. Hersey does in interject himself or his feelings into the piece but instead does massive research in order to captures others internal reality and feelings. Each character is diverse and exists independently of the group, however he ties links together and captures the feeling of the Hiroshima bombing as a whole at the end. The story is not as objective as others we have read but very detailed, vivid, and strongly worded.

            Jones’ “The Things That Carried Him” is another example of romantic writing. This piece is full of emotion and internal characterization. Each and every character, from the gravedigger to the widow, is portrayed as real and full of feeling and life. The story is dynamic, taking through all walks of life, and different places in the world, then coming to a whole as one interconnected life as we see how the rituals and burial process of a fallen soldier.

            Bragg’s tornado story vs. the wire service version showed us just how different two pieces can be when written romantically vs. rationally. At one end Bragg takes us through the emotional plight of each diverse character and captures the towns feelings of loss in a wholistic view. The piece focuses on the characters’ internal realty as they search for answers and question their own faith after such a horrific accident. The wire service version is the opposite. It simply gives the cold hard facts, and is void of color and emotion.

            Herr’s excerpt from “Dispatches” (1977) also strikes me as romantic writing because of his word choice and interjection into the story. Herr has internalized his own reality as opposed to Wolfe’s internalization of others realities. He expresses his fear, worry, and disgust. The story is dynamic, telling the good stories and the bad. This writing is objective in that it does not glorify the soldiers or war but tells the story in his crude and informal way, documenting human nature and war culture.

Capote has many elements of romantic writing but also some of rational as well. The characterization and extreme detail is what makes this piece dynamic. Perry, Dick, and the Clutters are all very diverse and Capote captures the air of the community very well (suspicious, watchful, scared). The piece isn’t quite as emotional as some of the other pieces we have read, and sometimes plays on the rational mind. For example, the story made Perry seem very child-like, kind of just going along with Dick’s master plan. Although there is a wholistic view, the story is best understood in the parallel pieces Capote dissects it to.

            Mitchell’s “Up in the Old Hotel” I would characterize as semi-romantic. He characterizes Louie very well and we at times see Mitchell’s own interjection into the story. Louie is a complex character who is often times nostalgic about his old town. He does not seem to be able to completely cope with not having a history and prominence in his new country and is severely disappointed when he finds his establishment doesn’t either. Mitchells grasps the elements of emotion and internal reality. The group message did not stand out to me, since the story is focused on the thoughts and actions of one person for most of the story.

Green’s biography of Sean Connery is characterized by his own opinions, broken expectations, and scene selection. He chooses a nostalgia approach, accenting his fallen hero’s, then goes on the portray a injured James Bond, but one that he still admires. He captures his internal reality, but not the reality of his subject. The character he displays is not very diverse; in fact we don’t learn that much about him besides his doctors visits. Overall, I would not rate this as romantic or rational, but maybe somewhere in the middle.

            Dickens and Defoe both seem to capture a more rational approach to journalism. Both seem to be a search for truth, and wanting to portray a preconceived notion in a more factual light. Although there is dialogue and dynamic characters, the pieces are not particularly emotional and do not capture anyone’s internal reality and group message.

            Breslins’s portrayal of Kennedy’s funeral is written in plain style; without long, winding, detailed sentence. Breslin takes a Hemingway approach with short strong worded sentences. Although this piece is not void of emotion it is not written to greatly express any one character’s innermost feelings. The characters are not dynamic, but the piece does have a feeling of community understanding and respect of the dead president. This piece reads more as a rational piece to me.            

My question for the class is : We have focused on our three main literary elements being dialogue, status detail, and scene-by-scene construction. Is there a connection of the level of “romantic” journalism and the presence of these elements?

Blog 8

Blog 8

The reading that I think most exemplifies the notion of plain but powerful is Breslin’s representation of Kennedy’s funeral. I find this piece emotionally void and the author to be separated completely from the people he is writing about. The piece itself is very plain and Breslin does not give his opinions but it still has a very powerful effect that draws emotion in the reader.

Breslin gives 2 short accounts that are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The first is a gravedigger, who is honored to help in burying this deceased president. He gives the details of the special care the man takes to make the gravesite presentable for such an important funeral. Breslin hints at the irrelevancy of the man’s low wage, and the man’s respect and patriotism towards the memory of his president.

The second story centers around the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy. He describes her strength in plain words. For example, Breslin says, “She walked past silent people who strained to see her and then, seeing her, dropped their heads and put their hands over their eyes. She walked with tight steps and her head was high and she followed the body of her murdered husband through the streets of Washington.” There is no excessive detail in this sentence. There is no description of sobbing Americans or their emotions because it doesn’t even need to be mentioned. The piece is a series of short unembellished descriptions. But the descriptions are powerful. The quote gives the reader an idea of Kennedy’s strength and the respect she is receiving from the onlookers.

Both simply written stories serve to show ideas of strength, patriotism, and respect. The gravedigger had feelings of honor, even with a low wage, to have been a part in the president’s funeral. Then, we see Jacqueline Kennedy’s strength even when she has to bear the burden on loneliness and loss.

Another line I find simple yet powerful in when Breslin states, “In front of the grave, Lyndon Johnson kept his head turned to his right. He is President and he had to remain composed.” This sentence is very simple. Yet the thoughts that come of it are emotionally provoking. You know that to not even to be able to bear to look at the casket in the fear the a grown man, and the president of the United States, would break down into uncontrollable tears is heart-breaking. Overall, this piece was the most powerful despite its lack of long-winded details.

            The excerpt from Tom Wolfe seemed to be the most detailed and wordy piece we read this week. And personally, it took me forever to get through this whole book when I read it a few years ago. The book itself is loosely written and Wolfe explores “grok style” by using hippie lingo and ideas as his writing style. Wolfe seems to understand the “on the bus” notion and “wailing with it” which are both prominent themes throughout the entire book. He identifies with the pranksters and I often questioned if he rode on the bus with them. Wolfe at times is omniscient, describing not only the situation, but also internal thoughts and feelings of the pranksters. There are parts of this except that are so utterly pumped with details that you forget where the story is even going. For example the following quote is incredibly detailed but has no real purpose.

            “…the fabulous love bunk-synch- can see that sleeping bag veritably filling up with sperm, the little devils swimming like mad in there in the muck, oozing into the cheap hairy shit they quilt the bag with, millions billions trillions of them, darting around, crafty little flagellants, looking to score, which is natural, if any certified virgin on the face of the earth crawled into that sleeping bag for a nap after lunch she would be hulking knowed-up mirage inside of three minute.”

            I think the reader gets the idea of the use for the sleeping bag bed after saying “love bunk” but Wolfe goes on to describe it with this detailed anecdote like he does many other things in this book. His detailed anecdotes make the book over 400 pages long. This particular excerpt from the book did not strike me as powerful. However, I do not think that was the intention. Overall, I see this piece to be quite opposite of Breslin’s and also of Greene’s. Although Greene interjects himself into his writing, he is much more distanced that Wolfe. Breslin seems to be the opposite of Wolfe’s “grok” style is not trying to share the ideas and identify with his characters, just simply describe. 

            In Greene’s portrait of Connery he describes his fears on needles and his doctors visits for injuries. Why does he highlight Connery’s weaknesses when he holds Connery is such high regard as the ultimate James Bond? 

Blog 7

Blog 7

In Capote’s “In Cold Blood” we see what was thought to be devices appropriate only for fiction incorporated in this non-fiction narrative. Capote uses status detail to characterize the townspeople, Clutter family, the detectives, and the criminals. You know everything about these characters, including their prerogatives, motives, and quirks. Take Nancy for example. We know that Nancy was a busy American small town sweetheart that baked apple pies and wanted to marry her high school sweetheart. The details that Capote gives us such as a look into her diary and when she got mad at Bobby for drinking beer gives us an idea of how innocent she was. This intense characterization moves the story from simple horizontal reporting. If Capote was to simply say “Nancy Clutter, 16, murdered in her home…” we would not be personally connected to the character as we are after he reveals the plethora of status details for each character.

He also establishes characterization by using dialogue. This element takes simple reporting to vertical reportage by creating connections with the characters, and their interactions. For example, we know that Dewey worked tirelessly to solve the murder. A lot of this is revealed by the use of dialogue between him and his wife. For example when his wife says, “Alvin, are you lighting another cigarette. Honestly Alvin, can’t you at least try and sleep?” Never in a newspaper article would find dialogue as minor as this. By having dialogue it brings the characterization to a whole new level by putting the reader in the scene and letting them listen to something so intimate as conversations by husband and wife.

This book also has many instances of scene-by-scene construction. The book flashes between scenes of what is going on with the Clutter family and the criminals. The most prominent example I can think of is the description of the crime scene. Capote goes into detail about the eyes of Mrs. Clutter, and how to bodies were tied and positioned. He gives details of where the Kenyon’s spectacles were and how there was a pillow placed under his head. Although Capote does not go into dramatic details about blood and gore he does fully describe the scene and how it was discovered. The whole Clutter house and property in general was described very well. The scene will them flash sideways to what the criminals are doing at that same time, and another scene will be constructed.

Although the story itself is written in chronological order with a few interjected flashbacks, it surpasses the normal newspaper reporting. By using the literary elements listed above it reads like a novel and achieves a different effect that a newspaper article. Most of the things we read in the newspaper we forget, even murders. This is because we do not know the characters or the complete story. However, by bringing the reader into the story and introducing us to the characters, Capote creates a lasting impression. His reportage skills make this story seem like a piece of fiction and when you learn it is not, it is that much more powerful.

We seem to stumble on the subject of objectivity a lot in class. Do you think Capote was objective in writing this book?  

Blog 6

Blog 6

Michelle Klug

9/12/10

            Whitman uses vivid scenes, strategic word placement, and the comparison of nature and war to bring the recreation of a Civil War battle to life.

            Even though Whitman was not there, you would have never known. The scenes are so detailed and sprinkled with images only a bystander would know. He enlightens the senses by being telling the reader what was seen, smelled, felt, etc.  An example of this is when Whitman said, “some of the men had their hair and beard singed”. This is such a minor detail that many would not think to ask about or include, but gives the reader an image of a burly Civil War soldier with their hair burned. He describes the sounds of “groans and scream” which is reflective of a chaotic, painful scene.  And also uses the description of, “the odor of blood” to describe the stench of war.

            Another element of this article I find particularly poetic is his strategy of word placement. When asks the open-ended question, “is this indeed humanity- these butchers’ shambles?” after he describes the wounded soldiers, this inevitably makes the reader think philosophically about the moral consequences of war. It almost serves to discourage one from the act of war. The vivid scene followed by the question of morality and the words “butchers’ shambles” to describe a human being is emotionally provoking the reader. Another example is when Whitman describes the scene by saying, “no fancy battle, no semi-play, but fierce and savage demons fighting there-courage and scorn of the death the rule, exceptions almost none”. These words make the soldiers no longer men, but animals. His word placement throughout the story serves to accent the evils of war.

            Lastly, and most importantly, Whitman has a continuous comparison of a very placid nature scene to the very not placid war scene. He sometimes even has them juxtaposing each other. There are many example of this but I will give this as one I think is particularly well constructed. Whitman said, “the flash of the naked sword, and rolling flame and smoke? Again still the broken, clear, and clouded heaven- and still again the moonlight pouring silvery soft its radiant patches all over”.  He will make a scene of brutality and violence and then follow it up with a mystic nature scene. This makes it seem like Whitman is in the scene observing the battle and taking note of the surroundings and how eerily calm everything was. Overall, all these literary techniques turn the portrayal of a battle scene into an emotionally and visually complex story.

            Michael Herr’s Dispatches is similar in the erratic style of writing. Jumping from one thought to another, without chronology, or warning. Dispatches is less poetic, and more organic in the blunt wording. His writing style is very informal, and personal.

            The story is written mostly in first person, from his view. The feelings of fear and sadness are his own. He does not go into the feelings of the soldiers, just what he visually observed of them. The story will jump from his personal feelings, to blunt and ironic statements such as, “Gee, you must see some beautiful sunsets in here”. The story will then go into song lyrics, or an excerpt about the actions of the soldiers. The time sequences are unknown and he mentions in the piece that looking back on his time, he could not differentiate time.

            As pointed out in the introduction, his writing style parallels the war. Everyone has their own fears and thoughts and fighting is erratic and messy. He often just puts random lists of things he sees to describe the scene. For example he describes the helicopter as, “saver-destroyer, provider-waster, right hand-left hand, nimble, fluent, canny, and human; hot steel, grease…”. The soldiers were not ready for what us playing out before their eyes, as Herr was not ready to see the death and destruction he encountered. He states, “How do you feel when a nineteen-year-old kid tells you from the bottom of his heart that he’s gotten too old for this kid of shit?”. 

            Although both pieces are organic in that they flow with the emotion of the writer and are not rigid, Dispatches seems to me much more random and unconventional. Although Whitman’s piece does not seem to follow an obvious logic, he has patterns of comparison with nature and metaphoric scenes.

My question for the class: Dispatches is written in parallel of the Vietnam war: “The war had no linear “front”, it was everywhere”. We see that Herr’s writing is random, not chronological, crude, and ironic. Does Whitman’s work parallel the civil war? If so how or how not? 

Paper Proposal

Paper Proposal

Michelle Klug

9/13/10

Research Topic: Unconventional journalism for an unconventional counterculture: How the writing of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Joan Didion reflect the social fragmentation of the 60’s and 70’s counterculture. 

            

Purpose and Method: My research paper will serve to analyze the techniques and styles used by Thomson, Wolfe, and Didion to portray the 60’s and 70’s counterculture. I will also examine how these different styles go to represent the social fragmentation of this time period and how it is unique to previous eras of journalism. Some themes I will explore are rejection of tradition, sexuality, individuality, and distrust of authority. I will explore how each of these authors represent these themes and how it reflects on the generation and the view of new journalism as a whole.   

Bibliography

Thompson, Hunter S. (1992). Gonzo Papers, Volume 1: The Great Shark Hunt. New York, NY. Ballantine Books.

Didion, Joan. (1968). Slouching Towards Bethlehem. New York, NY. Simon and Schuster.

Wolfe, Tom. (1968). The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. New York, NY. Farrar, Straus, and Girox

Staub, Michael E. (1997). Black Panthers, New Journalism, and the Rewriting of the Sixties. Representations. 57. Pp. 52-72. Retrieved         September 13, 2010, from htt://jstor.org/stable/2928663

Wimmer, Natasha. "Joan Didion: Telling It Like It Is (or Should Be)." Publishers Weekly 248.42 (2001): 41-42. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Muggli, Mark Z. "The Poetics of Joan Didion's Journalism." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography 59.3 (1987): 402-421. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Konas, Gary. "Traveling 'Furthur' with Tom Wolfe's Heroes." Journal of Popular Culture 28.3 (1994): 177-192. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Bortz, Eli J. The New Journalism and Its Editors: Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Their Early Experiences. Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida, 2005. Internet resource

Meyers, Paul T. New Journalist As Culture Critic: Wolfe, Thompson, Talese. , 1989. Print.

Thompson, Hunter S, Alison Ellwood, Alex Gibney, and Johnny Depp. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Los Angeles, Calif: Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2008.