INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY JOURNALISM

1. INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY JOURNALISM Professor Mark Massé

2. What is Literary Journalism? • Truman Capote: Author of In Cold Blood said it was “a serious new art form” that combined the power of truth and the drama of story.

3. Role of Literary Journalism • Using in-depth research/reportage and dramatic storytelling techniques to enhance a reader’s worldview.

4. Also known as… • This genre of narrative nonfiction writing has been called “the literature of fact.” • Writers depend on advanced reporting, using historical and public records, legal documents, diaries and personal correspondence, and a myriad of material from publications, databases, and Web sites.

5. Why Literary Journalism? • Effective literary journalism enables readers to gain an enlightened perspective that reveals the extraordinary in everyday life and offers a richer understanding of the facts surrounding an individual, institution, or event.

6. Criteria • Journalistic Credibility (factual accuracy, ethics) — requires saturation/immersion reporting and field observation • Artistic Merit (literary quality)

7. Artistic Merit Metaphor • A work of literary journalism is both a window and a mirror. • Window: providing readers with a unique view of the world, a way of life, a subculture • Mirror: providing readers with experiences that make them reflect upon their own lives (the human condition)

8. Ethical Guidelines • Everything should be verifiable • Use of information not imagination • Creative presentation of facts, not “creation” of facts, scenes, or events

9. Traditional vs. Literary Journalism • Traditional journalism’s unit of construction is the FACT • Literary journalism’s unit of construction is the SCENE (witnessed or recreated/anecdotal)

10. A Literary Scene • A literary scene is a dramatic narrative that has a goal, complication, or conflict; has a beginning, middle, and end; and has a structure (e.g., complication, development, point of insight, resolution).

11. Techniques • Scenes (dramatic narrative) • Characterization (psychological depth) • Description (sensory/status details) • Dialogue (versus quotes) • Point of View (versus “objective” stance) • Metaphors/Similes • Literary Style (irony, symbolism, foreshadowing)

12. Always remember… • The literary journalist is bound by facts, opinions, observations, and other information obtained through research.

13. Among the Best of 20th Century American Journalism • The following works of literary journalism were chosen from a Top 100 list of the 20th century’s best American journalism by a panel of experts assembled by the New York University School of Journalism. • # 1. John Hersey: Hiroshima, 1946 • # 18. Tom Wolfe: The Electric Kool-Aid AcidTest, 1968 • # 19. Norman Mailer: The Armies of the Night, 1968

14. Among the Best of 20th Century American Journalism (cont.) • # 22. Truman Capote: In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences, 1965 • # 23. Joan Didion: Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 1968 • # 24. Tom Wolfe: The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, 1965 • # 25. Michael Herr: Dispatches, 1977

15. Among the Best of 20th Century American Journalism (cont.) • # 36. Joseph Mitchell: Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories, 1992 • # 43. Gay Talese: Fame and Obscurity, 1970 • # 48. Tom Wolfe: The Right Stuff, 1979 • # 54. John McPhee: The John McPhee Reader, 1976