Modern America
ENG 516/525: Literary Journalism
Lesson 5
July 30-August 1, 2001

Assignments

Read the works below as soon as possible. 

Read:

Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should:
  • be familiar with the general character of antebellum American journalism;
  • be familiar with the general character of antebellum American literature;
  • have explored the journalistic and literary qualities in the writings of Carl Sandburg, Richard Wright, Ernest Hemingway, and Truman Capote.

Names 

Make sure you know the meaning and significance of each of the following names:

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 July 30, 2001
© Mark Canada, 2001
mark.canada@uncp.edu
 

Introduction

We will begin Monday's class with a presentation on modern American journalism by James Bass, Sherry Loftin, Caroline Sanchez, and Sandy Smith.  During the second half of the class, Sherry will lead us through Carl Sandburg's work, and Caroline will give a presentation on Richard Wright's writing.  On Wednesday, Sandy will give a presentation on Ernest Hemingway, and James will take us through Truman Capote's "nonfiction novel," In Cold Blood.  Wednesday is also our last day of class, and we will wrap things up with a discussion of the ways literature and journalism have come together in America over the last four centuries.

As I noted in class, your final online portfolio is due at 8 a.m. this Thursday, August 2, 2001.  Please review the instructions and the criteria on the syllabus to ensure that this portfolio shows your best possible work.  Also, you should take some time to examine your portfolio online to make sure everything is there and that the links all work.  Remember, if I can't find something you created, you might as well not even have created it.  Finally, I encourage you to try to complete and post the final portfolio before you come to class on Wednesday.  That way, if you encounter problems, you can seek my assistance during our last class meeting.

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.