Modern America

 

Unit 4 March 23-April 29, 2002 Objectives By the end of this unit, you should: be familiar with the general character of modern American journalism; be familiar with the general character of modern American literature; have explored the journalistic and literary qualities in the writings of several modern writers. Names  Make sure you know the meaning and significance of each of the following names: Truman Capote Janet Cooke Ernest Hemingway Carl Sandburg Tom Wolfe Richard Wright Week 11  March 25 Read: Eudora Welty, “A Worn Path” and “The Demonstrators”  March 29 Holiday: No class  Week 12  April 1  Read: Cather  April 5 Read: Ernest Hemingway, “Hemingway needs no introduction,” “A Free Shave,” “American Bohemians in Paris,” “Bull Fighting a Tragedy,” “Pamplona in July,” “A Paris Letter,” “Notes on Dangerous Game,” “A New Kind of War,” and “London Fights the Robots” in By-Line: Ernest Hemingway; “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” “Old Man at the Bridge,” “Soldier’s Home,” “Big Two-Hearted River: Part I,” “Hills Like White Elephants,” “The Killers,” “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” Week 13  April 8 Read: Truman Capote, In Cold Blood April 12 Read: Truman Capote, In Cold Blood Week 14:  April 15 Read: Eugene O’Neill, A Moon for the Misbegotten April 19 Read: Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff Week 15  April 22 Read: Norman Mailer, selected writings  April 26 Read: Janet Cooke, excerpt from “Jimmy’s World” Week 16  April 29 Submit: Final portfolio  Resources You can find more information about the subject covered in this lesson by consulting the print or electronic resources listed below: The Press in America is a clear, concise overview of American journalism history, from its origins to modern times.  In addition to describing important figures and trends, it covers issues related to freedom of expression. American Journalism: A History: 1690-1960 covers important people and developments in American journalism over the past three centuries. Updated April 25, 2002 © Mark Canada, 2002 mark.canada@uncp.edu

Introduction In our final unit, we will study some of the numerous modern writers who have straddled the line between journalism and literature, from the triumphs of Ernest Hemingway to the tribulations of Janet Cooke.If all goes as planned, we also will hear from graduate student James Bass, who has written a fine essay on Truman Capote, and visit a modern newsroom. Please note that your final portfolio is due at 10 a.m. Monday, April 29, 2002.For the details of the individual assignments, please consult the syllabus.As you strive to turn in your best work in this portfolio, I hope you will keep three things in mind.First, your course grade depends entirely on your final portfolio and presentation.Second, by the time the due date arrives, you will have had 15 weeks to work on your portfolio.That is plenty of time to conduct extensive research on primary and secondary sources, to take notes and to prepare an outline, and to write, to revise, and to proofread your three major assignments: the author headnote, the creative project, and the overview.If you have not used all of that time, you should plan to make up for it in the next few weeks.Finally, you are senior English majors who should be well-versed in techniques of literary research and analysis, as well as the professional standards of literary scholarship.I issue these reminders for the sake of encouragement, not discouragement.Over the course of this semester—and in the case of some of you—over the course of previous semesters, I have come to appreciate the good work that each of you is capable of doing.The portfolio you produce in a senior seminar should showcase all that you have learned about reading, researching, and writing over four years of college.In short, it should be the best work you have ever done and the best work that you are capable of doing.I sincerely hope that none of you will shortchange yourself by turning anything that is less than your best.  Discussion Over the last century or so, some of our most famous American authors have also been journalists.  The most famous of these journalist-authors, Ernest Hemingway, consciously employed news reporting style in writing his fictional works, which include novels such The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls, as well as several notable short stories and nonfictional works. Carl Sandburg worked as a political journalist before publishing his famous poems and biography of Abraham Lincoln. Richard Wright wrote journalism, along with his novel Native Son and autobiography Black Boy.  Finally, in the second half of the twentieth century, a number of writers began mixing journalism and literature to create hybrid pieces. Truman Capote, for example, reported on a mass murder in In Cold Blood, something he called a "nonfiction novel." Tom Wolfe used the term "New Journalism" to refer to such hybrid pieces, which include the book The Right Stuff.  Finally, in the last few decades, some journalists have gotten into trouble for playing a little too loosely with the facts when writing their journalism.  Most famously, Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for a series she wrote about a child named "Jimmy"--who, it later turned out, was not a real child at all, but a composite of more than one real person.  Conclusion I have enjoyed discussing literature and journalism with all of you this semester.  I hope that the experience has been a good one for you, too.