JOU 6309: Journalism as Literature - Fall 2009

3020 Weimer Hall - Tuesday 6:15 - 9:15 p.m

(note: this is 2009's syllabus - this is bound to change to some degree for Fall 2010)


Dr. Ronald R. Rodgers
Phone: 352-392-8847

3053 Weimer  rrodgers@jou.ufl.edu
http://plaza.ufl.edu/rrodgers/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124120813

Believe it or not, Ozzy Osbourne has written (well, co-written with Chris Ayres) his autobiography. And I Am Ozzy comes with quite a warning label:

"Other people's memories of the stuff in this book might not be the same as mine. I ain't gonna argue with 'em. Over the past forty years, I've been loaded on booze, coke, acid, Quaaludes, glue, cough mixture, heroin, Rohypnol, Klonopin, Vicodin, and too many other heavy-duty substances to list in this footnote. On more than a few occasions I was on all of those at the same time. I'm not the fucking Encyclopedia Britannica, put it that way. When you read here is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story. Nothing more, nothing less..."



Links to Weekly Assignments

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12

Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Schedule/office hours Literary Journalism Class Blog

INTRODUCTION

The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable, and literature is not read.

Oscar Wilde (1891)

This course lies at the crossroads of journalism and literature. During the next 15 weeks we will explore the journalistic, historical and critical tangents that make up the notion of literary journalism as we read and analyze some of the best reportage ever written. In the process of reading the works of many fine journalists, we will weigh how form and content work together to create great factual literature.

This course will look back as far as the 18th century at some of the literary antecedents to what Tom Wolfe - and others before and after him - have called the "New Journalism." We will then read and analyze the works of many different literary journalists and commentators on literary journalism  from the 19th century to our present day.

If nothing else, I hope this course will disabuse you of Mr. Wilde's notion that journalism is unreadable. I know from my own experience - even as a former English Lit major - that these days I am more wont to read nonfiction than fiction. In fact, I know of one scholar who has noted that the New York Review of Books offers three reviews of nonfiction to every one review of fiction. Certainly, not all of that nonfiction would be classified as literary journalism, but this does show you that fact-based journalism is the 600-pound gorilla of genres.

What we are interested in here is content - namely the writing of nonfiction using the techniques of the fictionists - a radical - and, some would say, an ill-conceived departure from journalistic norms.

This course has a six-pronged approach. It is a smorgasbord of delectables - all, or any one of which,  I hope, you will find tasty. We will explore:

  1. Literary journalism's historical antecedents - or should we say founders?
  2. Literary journalism's future in the age of the connected computer.
  3. The criticism literary journalism has received from friend and foe alike.
  4. The theory behind this genre.
  5. The techniques that comprise and define this genre.
  6. Ways of toppling the inverted pyramid in developing our own individual writing styles using the techniques of literary journalism.

Everything we do in this course -- the readings, my minimal lecture, your maximal discussion, the analysis and the writing -- are intended to give you a historical perspective of journalism in general and its importance in society -- especially as an armature for democracy, and especially literary journalism's ability to connect the multiple subjectivities in a multifarious society.

So, how will we do this? The answer is simple, the doing is difficult.
By reading  and writing and reading and writing. For more, if you agree to accept this mission, read on.

SYLLABUS

OFFICE HOURS

I am available to you this semester – and beyond – to talk about this class, to talk about journalism and communications, to talk about your career, or to just talk. My office hours are listed on my schedule:

  • Link to my schedule
  • Or just stop by – my door is pretty much always open, and if I am in and I am free, we can talk.
  • You should also note  that  I check my e-mail  once in the morning and once in the evening  Monday  through Friday.

REQUIRED TEXTS

The Bottom of the Harbor by Joseph Mitchell Dispatches by Michael Herr Hells Angels by Hunter S. Thompson
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee
Somebody Told Me: The Newspaper Stories
of Rick Bragg, by Rick Bragg
Reporting Back: Notes on Journalism
by Lillian Ross
Picture by Lillian Ross
Any Book by John McPhee A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
by Dave Eggers ("a quasi-fictional memoir")
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (Excerpt & interview)
  • Book 4: A contemporary memoir of your choice. You need to let me know soon whom this might be.
  • Other selected readings, to be handed out in class or by Web links.
  • Also, familiarize yourself with the Nieman Narrative Digest.This is contains good examples of contemporary  literary journalism and some excellent essays on the craft.
  • Finally, log in to the e-Learning Support Services web site at http://lss.at.ufl.edu. If you use bookmarks in your browser, this is the page to bookmark. You must have a valid GatorLink ID (username and password) to log in to e-Learning. We will be working on most assignments in and out of class through e-Learning. Keep in mind I will be putting deadline times on submissions and at a certain point the system will mark your work late or will not even accept it.
  • Submitting your assignments: Prepare all exercises as a Word file. You must submit all exercises as ATTACHMENTS and name them properly to receive credit. Following the instructions below will greatly aid the administration of the course and will ensure your assignments will be read and evaluated. Name your Word files using your last name followed by an underscore (_) and the exercise slug. For example, for Reading Reactions Abstracts:
    • Rodgers_Abstract_for_ Wk.2   
  • For Short Writing Assignments
    • Rodgers_You_the_Reporter
Some links to online book stores for cheap books

HOW THIS COURSE WORKS

This course will be conducted as a reading seminar, one of many you will encounter as a graduate student. So you must first be here and then also be prepared to participate in the class discussion. Lack of preparation is reflected in your participation, and in my book,  lack of preparation is nearly the same as being absent from class and will be graded in the same way. By the end of 15 weeks, I will have a pretty good handle on  who participates and who does not. It is essential that you complete all the assigned readings for each class meeting. We may not discuss every reading in class, but you will be responsible for all the readings.

WRITTEN WORK (Assignments with due dates in e-Learning)

1. Reading Reactions: You will bring a copy of your abstract to class. But before class you will post by 11 p.m. each Sunday  to e-Learning  a well-written and well-edited analytical and interpretive reaction to ALL of each week's reading assignments that reflect deep thinking about the subject of literary journalism. I do not want to see description only.  The reading reaction of no more than two  pages  single spaced will encompass all your readings. If a book is due in a particular week, include that in one reaction for the readings in totality that will require you, at the very least:
  1. To compare and contrast the writing or the points of view expressed in criticisms and historical discussions of literary journalism. With the examples of literary journalism, this is where you want to give deep consideration to such things as the narrative or or the use of scene-by-scene construction and the elements of the scenes; the narrative arc and narrative thread; how the author handles movement through time; how the characters are tied to the action; do the characters change as a result of the action and movement through time; the use of foreshadowing; how dialog or interior monologue is handled; what are the status details; what is the point of view; and the rhythm and pacing.
  2. To select a particularly well-crafted sentence from each of the examples of literary journalism we read. If you read three pieces of non-fiction, then you should have three sentences or passages. You should be prepared to read aloud and comment upon your selections in class. Note: Keep a copy of your reading reaction and bring it to class.
  3. To identify and explain the literary techniques our authors employ in their writing -- and this could involve more than one technique.
  4. To end each abstract with a question that arises from your reading in totality. Be prepared to ask your question in class -- and others should be prepared to offer answers. 
Here are some other ways of reacting to stories:
    • What was story paper about?
    • What literary techniques did the writer use and were they effective.
    • What was the point of view of story?
    • What worked well and why?
    • What did not work well and why?
    • What’s your favorite sentence or passage?
    • Where were you confused?
    • What did you want to hear more about?
    • What seemed out of place, too truncated, or went on for too long.

Note about grading reading reactions:

  • Each reaction is worth 10 points and all will be totaled up at end of semester on a 100-point scale.
  • A reading reaction that fails to include any of the four items listed by number above is incomplete, which garners a grade of zero. I would suggest you simply number the sections of your paper as listed above.
  • A reading reaction that is description only and fails to leap off from the readings into a brief discussion reflecting critical thinking, creative ruminations, and some interpretations about the issues of literary journalism is incomplete, which garners a grade of zero.
  • I believe, at heart, that editing oneself is the key to good writing, so a reading reaction that is poorly written and/or edited  can garner a grade of zero or better depending on the degree of the failures of writing and/or editing.
2. Short Writing Assignments and Final Non-Fiction Story: Have fun in a serious sort of way.

Short Writing Assignments:
Throughout the course, you will be given short assignments to explore different stylistic and storytelling methods. The assignments and due dates are on the assignment page. Post to e-Learning  and then bring in enough copies of a 10-paragraph section for the entire class where we will workshop many of these. Be prepared to give a class presentation. Prepare for this in advance.

Final Non-Fiction Story: Using the many principles and techniques of literary journalism you have learned through your readings, writing, discussions and analysis, you will write an at least 2,000-word story and submit it to e-Learning. To make sure there is enough meat on the bone, I  must approve all story ideas.
  • Though there are few limitations on the kind of story you write, you are required to have a minimum of four ‘people’ sources.
  • Given the constraints of time and place, this needs to be a local topic.
  • I do not want to see a story with any kind of contaminated access. For example, you write a story about your mother the lawyer who defends child molestors and often wins. But it shows such a salacious side of the law you would not publish it if you could because it would be too embarrassing.
  • Double-space the story.
  • At the end of the story, submit a source list, which should include complete contact information (phone and e-mail) for the people you interviewed, as well as bibliographic material for written sources used.
3. Four-Part Final Research Paper: The goal here is to hone your research and paper-writing skills. You will research and submit to e-Learning a clearly written, well-researched conference-ready paper around 20 pages of double spaced text around 5,000 words on a topic related to literary journalism. You may choose a topic of particular interest to you, but it must be related to our focus in this course.
Here is a link to Some Literary Journalism Research Paper Ideas, but certainly don't limit yourself to this list.
  • The paper should explore an important question that contributes to knowledge and should be original research and not duplicate what has been done in the past.
  • It should be written according the the style and standards of a recognized guide -- for example Chicago Manual of Style or APA.
  • For an objective-as-possible explanation of grading criteria see the Grading Guidelines link: General Grading Criteria for Research and Analysis  Papers
      • Briefly, however, a paper that offers simple description only would get a C at most. Description along with analysis reflecting deep thinking on your part would garner a B.  An A on your paper would require excellent writng, editing, and organization, and an explication that leads to a synthesis of your analysis in which you make a solid argument about the implications of your  research and how it adds to the body of knowledge.
As a template about how you should organize a research paper, I find students gain much from looking at papers done in the past. An excellent place to find such papers is the AEJMC Conference Paper archive at http://list.msu.edu/archives/aejmc.html  Note: The search function requires parens  around a phrase.
Another good resource for how  to write such papers and for researching your topic is Google Scholar. For example, check out this search for "literary journalism" - but you certainly would not limit yourself to just these search terms.

In general, your research paper should be organized thusly:
  1. An introduction that outlines the study, lists your research question or questions and then argues why this study is important.
  2. As part of your introduction, you should offer a review of the relevant literature that has been done on your subject. Your literature review sets up the context of your study in relation to earlier research and is the ground from which your research question or questions come.
  3. You then explain the methodology and procedures you used to gather your data. This should be explained well enough that another researcher could replicate the study.
  4. This is followed by a results section that explains what you found.
  5. The paper then ends with a discussion and argument about what your results show and what further research still needs to be done.
Deadlines for Five Stages of Writing Research Paper
(See e-Learning for time deadlines)

1. Research Paper Proposal with short annotated bibliography for research paper. File to e-Learning by Monday of Week 4. Graded on 100-point scale. Bring a copy to class.
2. Rough outline and updated annotated bibliography. File to  e-Learning by Monday of Week 8. Graded on 100-point scale. Bring a copy to class.

3. Rough draft of paper. File to e-Learning by Monday of Week 11. Graded on 100-point scale. Bring a copy to class.

4. Final paper. File to e-Learning by 1 p.m Monday of Week 15. Bring in a copy of your paper to discuss in class. Graded on 100-point scale.

5. Conference Presentation of Paper: You will give a 10-minute  presentation to class of your paper much as you would  to a journalism or humanities conference. Use of visuals encouraged if appropriate. Graded by fellow students on a 100-point scale.
For tips on presenting papers, see this link.

NOTE: I may cancel class a time or two and hold small-group meetings to discuss and hone your papers. I will announce when.

THE SEMINAR DISCUSSION

You are expected to participate in this class. That means you bring in your questions each week, offer your ideas about the subject, allow other people to express their views, respect others' opinions and exchange ideas that will make us better readers and writers. Seminar discussions require a fine balance. On the one hand, you do not want to to take over the conversation. On the other hand, you do not want to let others do all the talking. If you go on and on (and I am often guilty of this, too, as my passion for a subject will over-ride my self-editor), I will politely cut you off.

GRADING:

  • 40% Final Research Paper. This includes your grades on the first  three stages of  this paper and your paper presentation.
  • 25% Reading Reactions.
  • 25% Short Writing Assignments & Final Non-Fiction Story.
  • 10% Attendance / Participation / Classroom Demeanor / Discussion / Other Writing  Assignments / the Quality of Your Cookies.

Grade Scale
(See Grades and Grading Policies re UF's new policy on minus grades)

A = 100 to 93 B+ = 89-87 C+ = 79-77 D+ = 69-67 E = 59-0
A- = 92-90 B = 86-83 C = 76-73 D = 66-63

B- = 82-80 C- = 72-70 D- = 62-60

DEADLINES IN RELATION TO YOUR GRADES

If you fail to meet deadlines for turning in work, the penalty is severe. A zero on
reading reactions and an automatic deduction of one letter grade for each day late on short assignments, the three writing stages, and the final paper and story.

ATTENDANCE

Class attendance is required. More than one unexcused absence will result in a minimum deduction of one letter-grade from your attendance and participation grade. More than two will result in the same deduction from your overall grade.  Hey, this class only meets once a week. Arriving or leaving early will be considered an absence.
Excused absences include documented medical excuses and religious observances (with advanced notice). Please contact me before class.  University-approved absences must be documented (in advance, if for an approved university activity) according to official university policy. Obtaining written verification for an excused absence is your responsibility, as is arranging to complete any missed work.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Please let me know immediately if you have any kind of problem or disability that would hinder your work in this course. I will do my best to help you. Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office, which will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.

CAMPUS HELPING RESOURCES

See links on front page of Web site.

ACADEMIC CONDUCT:

Commit yourself to honesty and integrity if you haven’t already. If you engage in any form of academic misconduct, including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, and aiding and abetting, the penalties could be severe, including dismissal from this class. 

A NOTE ON PLAGIARISM

Everything you turn in should be your own work and not that of others. Remember, I have access to the Internet, too. Sources need to be cited. All interpretations, unless cited, should also be your own. If I find that anything you submit was done by someone else, or you use exact words without setting them off with quotation marks, or you imply that an interpretation from a source is your own without crediting the source, you  have committed plagiarism and will, at the minimum,  fail this course. You are required  to read Academic Honesty. I will work under the assumption that you have done so. For a more official elaboration of ethical conduct, see the Honor Code.

CAVEAT

Sometimes a class such as this will deal with controversial topics, so be warned that words that may be considered offensive or ideological may be spoken in the context of the subjects we are discussing. As a teacher, I have no political or social agenda, so do not try to answer in a way you believe might comport with what I want to hear or read. Feel free to advocate any position as long as you remain respectful of others' opinions, and always be able to defend your point of view.

THREE-WORD POLICY ON ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN CLASSROOM

Turn them off.  

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS

"An odious exhibition of journalists dabbling their fingers in the stuff of other people's souls."

What follows week-by-week is, of course, tentative. But it should give you a fairly accurate road map for the next 15 weeks.

SOCIAL EDITING:
Help me out by notifying me of any spelling problems or dead links below.

Week 1 - August 24-28

"Fiction is a bridge to the truth that journalism can't reach."
- Hunter Thompson
USA Today, March 26, 1998

"Journalism, you see, always moves along on a horizontal plane, telling a story, while fiction — good fiction — moves vertically, taking you deeper and deeper into character and events. By treating a real event with fictional techniques (something that cannot be done by a journalist until he learns to write good ficition)."

  1. Class Introduction
  2. A six-sentence memoir that is true: See: http://inkspell.homestead.com/memoir.html#anchor_13273 
  3. Followed by a six-word memoir: See http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/
  4. Breakable Rules for Literary Journalists
  5. Capote's Non-Fiction Novel (1966) (Horizontal and Vertical) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkzeGpGNhRs
    • "Journalism," he said, "always moves along on a horizontal plane, telling a story, while fiction — good fiction — moves vertically, taking you deeper and  deeper in character and events."
  6. The Connected Computer and Literary Journalism
  7. Schedule author abstract from The New New Journalism: You will write one page only on your author from the anthology of interviews with literary journalists by Robert S. Boynton titled The New New Journalism. This book will be on reserve in the Journalism Library. Post abstract to e-Learning. Be prepared to give a class presentation that looks primarily at author's background - what was their education or not - and how they report and write.  Due Monday of Week 2.
FOR WEEK 2

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism
(
Different Publishing Venues) Abstract should briefly explore the marriage of literary journalism and the digital world:
  1. Magazine Article: Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell (Optional: Commentary on Story) This requires a close reading.
    • What is the Sublime?
    • My short definition: The sublime is the intimation of the unseen, the unheard, the unfelt that is – through attentiveness – seen, heard, and felt. (How might this apply to Up in the Old Hotel?)
    • What is Plain Style? See Charles Lamb on presentation without "trick and artifice" in his discussion about an actor.
    • Is Mitchell's work an example of Plain Style?
  2. Newspaper Article: Rick Bragg: Read the Wikipedia article on him and then the two stories on the Piedmont Tornado
    • Compare and contrast here. A close reading of how these two stories are different says what about the possibilities of newspaper journalism? Which has more verticality and why? Make a value judgment here about which you prefer and why. Just the facts or some degree of intersubectivity?
    • To Kill a Mockingbird's Atticus Finch to his daughter Scout:
      • "First of all," he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks.  You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-"

        "Sir?"

        "-Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

    • Is Bragg's work an example of Plain Style?
  1. Online Article: ¿Qué les queda a las Farc?
  2. Online Article: Así son los que viven en las calles de Bogotá
  3. Optional: Interactive Narratives
About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.
(On Truth and Fact v. Fiction -- a running theme througout this course.  Abstract should begin melding this confrontation into your thought processes about literary journalism. Also, begin to identify the elements of literary journalism that make it distinct from traditional journalism.
  1. Joseph Mitchell's True Facts
  2. The Birth of "The New Journalism"; Eyewitness Report by Tom Wolfe
  3. The Legend on the License, John Hersey, Yale Review, October 1980, 1-25.  In Lit Journalism Readings folder on e-Learning.
  4. A brief review of Literary Journalism on Trial: Masson V. "New Yorker" and the First Amendment by Kathy Roberts Ford
  5. The Line Between Fact and Fiction by Roy Peter Clark
  6. Optional Reading: Regarding Truth: Legal Realism, The New Journalism, and "The Brethren"
  7. Optional Readings: Some notes on fiction v. nonfiction
  8. (FYI: If you have a further interest in this tension between fact and fiction in journalism you might be interested in Tom Goldstein's Journalism and Truth: Strange Bedfellows)
FOR WEEK 3
  1. Begin reading Hiroshima - finish by Week 3. Note, this is by John Hersey, author of The Legend on the License. Do his efforts in Hiroshima comport with his own statements about doing journalism? How or how not so?
  2. AOF from Hiroshima, by John Hersey -- Page 111 (Read Intro and commentary) - For Week 3
Week 2 - August 31- September 4

"Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it."
    - Russel Lynes
  • Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday
    • About reading reactions
  • Author abstract from The New New Journalism presentations
  • Seminar Discussion on literary works and works about literary journalism
    • Mitchell as elegist -- identify places where he refers or alludes to the past and change
FOR WEEK 3

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism:
Early Examples. Consider the issue of truth in these examples. Is there anything that might make you think any of these are partly or wholly made up? How was the line between fact and fiction drawn in the early days of journalism?  What are the elements here that raises this journalism to something literary? This requires a close reading and a little research.

  1. AOF from The True and Genuine Account of the Life and Actions of the Late Jonathan Wild, by Daniel Defoe -- Page 23 
  2. AOF Great Tasmania's Cargo, by Charles Dickens -- Page 38
  3. AOF from The Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell -- Page 29

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. OWL Introduction and Chapter 1-4.
  2. The Making of a Journalist  by Julian Ralph. Check out this brief century-old advice to would-be writers of journalism. Begin with last paragraph on Page 9.
  3. On the Periodical Essayists, from Lectures on the English Comic Writers, William Hazlitt. Here Hazlitt, centuries ago, is exploring the intersubjective possibilities of what was a relartively new form of writing.
  4. Hutchins Hapgood, A New Form of Literature, Bookman 21 (1905): 424-427. You might need to go to Page 424. Keep in mind here that the interview was a relatively new form (see last graph on page 47) of journalism -- and here Hapgood is talking not about inverviewing the rich and mighty. Is this century-old advice still applicable?
  5. W.T. Stead and the New Journalism: There are three readings here. Simply search out the references to New Journalism in each. Stead is considered one of the founders of the new journalism - and Thomas Hardy did not think much of it. In his essay titled Up to Easter he denigrated it and in a sense created the term New Journalism and the pejorative notions surrounding it. Explain Stead and his contribution in your Reading Reaction.
  6. Introduction to A History of American Literary Journalism: The Emergence of a Modern Narrative Form, John C. Harstock, 1-20.  In Lit Jouranlism Readings folder on e-Learning.
  7. AOF Preface, by Ben Yagoda -- Page 13 
Week 3 - September 7-11

"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read."
   - Frank Zappa
FOR WEEK 4
  • NOTE: Literary Journalism Research Paper proposal with annotated bibliography. This is due Monday of Week 4 in e-Learning.
  • Writing Assignment: Write a brief piece that recreates an event. Use sources archival or people. Interview some family member(s) or friend(s) about an event -- hopefully without too much of a snore factor. In other words, something interesting.
    • Three to four pages double-spaced. Bring in hard copies of a selected passage of at least 10 paragraphs (enough for entire class), load to e-Learning Monday before class. Due Week 5. (For examples, see Hiroshima, In Cold Blood, Tienanmen Square, Specimen Days).
Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism:
War and Conflict
  1. AOF from Specimen Days, by Walt Whitman -- Page 46
    • Powerful description of story by reporter who was not there.
    • This requires a close reading. Whitman, as you know, was a poet as well as a journalist. He has a strong grasp of the power of  language and employs words and sentences as tools. How so?
  2. AOF from Dispatches, by Michael Herr -- Page 494 (read the introduction, too)
    • How does the chaotic kind of writing work here in Dispatches? Is it somewhat similar to the staccato syle of Whitman's story?
    • Might both these authors be employing organic form?
  3. C. D. B. Bryan, Friendly Fire (In e-Learning)
    • Do some background research on the writing of this book and who Bryan is.
  4. Read The Things That Carried Him and check out Inside the Things That Carried Him and A Radio Interview With Chris Jones, who followed a soldier's body from Baghdad to its final resting place in the soldier's hometown of Scottsburg, Ind. Jones discusses the long journey in "The Things That Carried Him," a detailed article in Esquire magazine about the transfer of remains.
    • What "style" is this written in? Is it similar to Whitman's and Herr's work?
  5. AOF Tienanmen Square, by John Simpson -- Page 347 
About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:
  1. OWL Chapter 5-7.
  2. Getting at the Truth in The Perfect Storm (This is just a couple paragraphs about how author strove for versimilitude in story.)
  3. Tracing the Roots of the New Journalism, various articles, from Journalism History, Summer 1974. In Lit Journalism Readings folder on e-Learning.
FOR WEEK 5
  1. Read In Cold Blood - finish by Week 5
  2. AOF from In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote -- Page 161  (Read intro) For Week 5


Week 4 - September 14-18

"Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once."
  - Cyril Connolly
  • Proposal with short annotated bibliography for research paper . File to e-Learning by Monday of Week 4. Bring a copy to class.
  • Proposal Discussion and Brainstorming
  • Paper meetings.
  • Seminar Discussion
  • Some notes on texts
FOR WEEK 5

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS

Examples of Lit Journalism:
  1. AOF from The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe -- Page 169 
  2. AOF So ... We Meet at Last, Mr. Bond, by Bob Greene -- Page 212 
  3. AOF It's an Honor, by Jimmy Breslin -- Page 466 (note what this and the Greene piece have in common and what they don't)

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. OWL Chapter 8.
  2. Optional Reading: Research Paper: Capote's Legacy: The Challenge of Creativity and Credibility in Literary Journalism

Week 5 - September 21-25

"Dip your pen into your arteries and write."
 -William Allen White
  • Recreate an event writing assignment due in e-Learning by 1 p.m. Monday of Week 5.
  • Seminar Discussion
  • Recreate Event Workshopping
FOR WEEK 6

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism:
  1. Begin Book 3 - Your Choice from List - finish by week 8
  2. AOF from The Earl of Louisiana, by A. J. Liebling -- Page 258  

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. OWL Chapter 9.
  2. Preface to Reapers of the Dust: A Prairie Chronicle by Lois Phillips Hudson. In Lit Jouranlism Readings folder on e-Learning.
  3. The fine line between fact, fiction
  4. Literary Theft: Lifting Technique from Classics, Lynn Franklin http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?ID=1906
  5. What Preceded: The Origins of Modern American Literary Journalism (in e-Learning)
FOR WEEK 8

Writing Assignment: Write a short chapter from your memoir -- three to four pages double-spaced. Bring in hard copies of a selected passage of at least 10 paragraphs (enough for entire class), load to e-Learning by  Monday in e-Learning.
Check out readings o
n writing memoirs at:  http://delicious.com/TripleR/6309%20memoirs

Week 6 - September 28 - October 2 

“Journalism allows its readers to witness history; fiction gives its readers an opportunity to live it.”
- John Hersey

  • Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday
  • Seminar Discussion
  • Gender Genie
  • Writing problematics (tentative)
  • Research Update (tentative)
  • Recreate Event Workshopping (continued)

FOR WEEK 8

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism
(Gonzo)

  1. Excerpt from Hunter S. Thompson, Hell’s Angels
    • FYI: Hell's Angels in Google Books (limited preview)
    • Excerpt from Hell's Angels: "The daily press is the evil principle of the modern world, and time will only serve to disclose this fact with greater and greater clearness. The capacity of the newspaper for degeneration is sophistically without limit, since it can always sink lower and lower in its choice of readers. At last it will stir up all those dregs of humanity which no state or government can control."  -- Soren Kierkegaard
  2. AOF from "The Scum Also Rises", by Hunter S. Thompson -- Page 302 
  3. AOF Last Secrets of Skull and Bones, by Ron Rosenbaum -- Page 316  
  4. The Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal by Ron Rosenbaum
  5. The Great American Bubble Machine by Matt Taibbi

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. OWL Chapter 10.
  2. Gonzo:  This article  about the derivation of the word Gonzo is  available through  JStor  - which you have access through  UF  Library
  3. Matt Taibbi on immersion journalism and Gonzo journalism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN0Bpjs6D0w
  4. Gonzo Journalism's Return
  5. Excerpts from Dr. McKeen's interview with Sonny Barger about Hunter S. Thompson
  6. Optional readings if you want to know more about Gonzo journalism
  7. Optional video: Juan Thompson and the Aspen Institute hosted a symposium on July 21, 2007 on the work of the late writer Hunter S. Thompson who created his own genre of writing with Gonzo Journalism and changed American political reporting forever with his book Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72.Thirty-five years later journalists Carl Bernstein, Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, Loren Jenkins of NPR, John Nichols of The Nation and others came together in a symposium moderated by Professor Douglas Brinkley to discuss the effect of Hunter's work on political reporting and American politics. The hour and half event is exclusively available at www.HunterThompsonFilms.com in nineteen clips of free, streaming video produced by Wayne Ewing.
Week 7 - October 5-9

“People may expect too much of journalism. Not only do they expect it to be entertaining, they expect it to be true.”
  - Lewis H. Lapham

No Class this week. I will be presenting a paper at AJHA conference.
We will carry on discussion to next week.
Reading Reaction from Week 6 still due 11 p.m. Sunday

FOR WEEK 8

  • NOTE: Rough outline and updated annotated bibliography for research  paper due in e-Learning by 1 p.m.  Monday of Week 8.

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism:
Memoirs & Autobiographies

  1. "Learning to Read" from Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (In e-Learning)
  2. Black Like Me (scan through this to get a sense of it so you can write about it in your abstract and discuss it in class)
  3. Optional Reading FYI: Modern American Memoirs by Annie Dillard, Cort Conley

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:
Immersion Journalism

  1. OWL Chapter 11-13.
  2. The Perils and Promise of Memoir
  3. Immersion Journalism Readings
  4. Tom French on Organizing Narrative: http://journalism.ukings.ns.ca/journalism_3748.html

Week 8 - October 12-16

“Journalism is literature in a hurry.”
- Matthew Arnold
  • Reading Reactions from Week 7 due 11 p.m. Sunday
  • Rough outline and updated annotated bibliography. File to  e-Learning by Monday of Week 8. Bring enough copies of outline for entire class.
  • Book 3 due this week - Be ready to talk about your book and author. Introduce to class.
  • Seminar Discussion
  • Your Memoir Workshopping
FOR WEEK 9

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism:
Underworld
  1. AOF Experiment in Misery, by Stephen Crane -- Page 63 
  2. AOF from Coyotes, by Ted Conover -- Page 331
  3. AOF from The People of the Abyss, by Jack London -- Page 83  
  4. AOF Spike, by George Orwell -- Page 245  
  5. AOF from Harlem on My Mind, by Lawrence Otis Graham -- Page 384   
  6. AOF from The Bronx Slave Market, by Marvel Cooke -- Page 252
  7. AOF from Snake Handling and Redemption, by Dennis Covington -- Page 391 
About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:
  1. OWL Chapter 14 and 24.
Week 9 - October 19-23

“Journalism is concerned with events, poetry with feelings.
Journalism is concerned with the look of the world, poetry with the feel of the world.”

- Archibald MacLeish
  • Tentative: Meetings re outline and bibliography.
  • Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday
  • Seminar Discussion
  • Your Memoir Workshopping (continued)

FOR WEEK 10

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
 Examples of Lit Journalism:
Sports

  1. AOF Fight to Live, by Al Stump -- Page 271
  2. AOF Day of the Fight, by W. C. Heinz -- Page 115 
  3. AOF Lethal Lightning, by Jimmy Cannon -- Page 461
  4. AOF Silent Season of a Hero, by Gay Talese -- Page 143  (Fly on the wall interspersed with reporting – research and sources)
  5. An excerpt from A Sense of Where You Are by John McPhee
  6. Blind Sided by History by Gary Smith
  7. For your optional reading pleasure:Sports Reporting Bibliography
Optional Readings
  1. See full article on DiMaggio at  http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/talese/essays/dimaggio.html
  2. Gay Talese never had a chance to interview DiMaggio, but that did not stop him from writing a profile that has set the standard for all others. In fact, “The Silent Season of a Hero,” was named the greatest sports article of the Twentieth Century by David Halberstam and Glenn Stout, editors of The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. http://onsportz.blogspot.com/2007/05/crafting-profiles-when-main-character.html
  3. William Hazlitt (1778-1830)
    • A very early example of sports reporting: "The Fight"
  4. Sports Illustrated’s Fifty Years of Great Writing

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:
  1. OWL Chapter 17 (Writing Sports)

THE FOLLOWING IS CANCELED = FOR WEEK 11

  • Writing Assignment: Write a brief piece in the style of Gonzo journalism -- three to four pages double-spaced. Bring in hard copies of a selected passage of at least 10 paragraphs (enough for entire class), load to e-Learning by Monday before class Week 11.
Week 10 - October 26-30

"Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers another."
- Gilbert Keith Chesterton

FOR WEEK 11

 Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism:

  1. AOF Morris Markey, Drift -- Page 93 This requires a close reading.
  2. AOF from Portrait of Hemingway, by Lillian Ross -- Page 129 (Also read intro and commentary at end)
  3. AOF Lady Olga, by Joseph Mitchell -- Page 439
  4. Little Women Look Back on Lost World by Rick Bragg 
    • Compare and contrast these last two stories about similar subjects. Keep in mind one was written for a magazine and the other for a newspaper.

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. Joseph Mitchell and The New Yorker Nonfiction Writers by Norman Sims from Literary Journalism in the Twentieth Century, Norman Sims ed., 82-109.  In Lit Jouranlism Readings folder on e-Learning.
Week 11 - November 2- 6

"A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists
 is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are trying to write fiction."

- Graham Greene
  • Rough draft story. OF RESEARCH PAPER File to e-Learning by 1 p.m. Monday of Week 11. 
  • Schedule paper conferences
  • Seminar  Discussion
  • Be prepared to present excerpts from your final RESEARCH project to the class. This, of course, means you cannot put off the writing until the end.
  • Gonzo Workshopping

FOR WEEK 12

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
Examples of Lit Journalism:

  1. AOF Juke Joint, by Walter Bernstein -- Page 104
  2. AOF When Man Falls, a Crowd Gathers, by Stephen Crane -- Page 58 
  3. AOF Death of Rodriguez, by Richard Harding Davis -- Page 71
  4. Joan Didion, Slouching towards Bethlehem's John Wayne: A Love Song." (In e-Learning)

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. Up the Dark Stairs, Robert Benchley http://www.loc.gov/catdir/samples/random042/00068237.html
  2. In Defense of Literary Journalism, Avis Meyer, Nieman Reports, Autumn 1982 (4-10, 52-55)

FOR WEEK 13

  • Writing Assignment: Write a brief slice-of-life piece in the manner of Crane's sublime sketch titled When Man Falls, A Crowd Gathers. Closely read Crane's short sketch and apply what he is doing here to your own writing. That will be the basis of your grade on this. Three to four pages double-spaced. Bring in hard copies of a selected passage of at least 10 paragraphs (enough for entire class), load to e-Learning by Monday before class. Due Week 13.
Week 12 - November 9-13

"If a person is not talented enough to be a novelist, not smart enough to be a lawyer,
 and his hands are too shaky to perform operations, he becomes a journalist."

 - Norman Mailer
  • No class 
  • Paper conferences to be scheduled
  • Combine Reading Reactions for week 12 and 13: Due 11 p.m. Sunday of Week 13.
  • Presentations & Discussion carried to Week 13

FOR WEEK 13

READINGS
 Examples of Lit Journalism:

  1. Tracy Kidder, The Soul of a New Machine: How to Make a Lot of Money (Fly on the wall interspersed with reporting – research and sources) (In e-Learning)

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. OWL Chapter 15 .
  2. Literary Journalism: Newspapers' Last, Best Hope from The Connecticut Review, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Spring, 1996, pp. 59-69.Paul Many http://homepages.utoledo.edu/pmany/litjournal.html
  3. Literary Journalism Techniques Create Compelling Blackhawk Down Web Site.
Week 13 - November 16-20

"The best use of a journal is to print the largest practical amount of important truth,
-- truth which tends to make mankind wiser, and thus happier."

- Horace Greeley
  • Final Non-Fiction Story due by class time. Bring in hard copies of a selected passage of at least 10 paragraphs (enough for entire class) for workshop.
  • Combine Reading Reactions for week 12 and 13: Due 11 p.m. Sunday of Week 13.
  • Seminar Discussion
  • Slice-of-life writing assignment due Week 13 in e-Learning.
  • Slice-of-Life Workshopping

FOR WEEK 14

Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday  in e-Learning

READINGS
 Examples of Lit Journalism:

What do these have in common?

  1. AOF from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee -- Page 417 
  2. AOF Marrakech, by George Orwell -- Page 433 (note: What does this piece and Didion's have in common?)
  3. AOF Los Angeles Notebook, by Joan Didion -- Page 480
  4. Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream, by Joan Didion  (In e-Learning)

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. OWL Chapter 20-23.
  2. About Joan Didion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slouching_Towards_Bethlehem
  3. On Keeping a Notebook by Joan Didion (in e-Learning)
  4. Settling the Colonel's Hash, Mary McCarthy
Week 14 - November 23-27 (Thanksgiving Thursday)

"I read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction".
- Aneurin Bevan
CHANGE HERE TO NO CLASS AND CONFERENCES ADDED
  • No class 
  • Paper conferences to be scheduled
  • Reading Reactions due 11 p.m. Sunday
  • Seminar Discussion if time.
  • Final Non-Fiction Story Workshopping

FOR WEEK 15

About Lit Journalism - History of It, Criticism of It, Writing It, Etc.:

  1. OWL Chapter 25.


Week 15 - November 30 - December 4

"Truth is not only stranger than fiction, it is more interesting."

- William Randolph Hearst
  • Final Research Paper due. File to e-Learning by 1 p.m Monday of Week 15.
  • Be prepared to offer a 10-minute conference presentation (I will cut you off at 10) of your research paper to the class just as though you were presenting at a conference.  For tips on presenting papers, see this link.
1515

Week 16 - December 7-9 (Last day Wednesday )

  • Paper presentations continued.


A Poem for Literary Journalists?

 So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years -
Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres -
Trying to learn to use words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure
Because one has only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer disposed to say it. And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion. And what there is to conquer
By strength and submission, has already been discovered
Once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope
To emulate – but there is no competition –
There is only the fight to recover what has been lost
And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions
That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss.
For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

"East Coker" in T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets"











































  1. Style According to Form, Chapter 8 of The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing, Ben Yagoda, 166-223.  In Lit Jouranlism Readings folder on e-Learning.
  2. A Field Guide to Styles, Chapter 3 of The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing, Ben Yagoda, 46-76. In Lit Jouranlism Readings folder on e-Learning.
  3. Submersion Journalism (video) A panel discussion on the practice of submersion journalism in which the reporter is an active participant in the subject they are covering and present their reportage in the first-person.  Panelists Ted Conover, Jeff Sharlet, Ken Silverstein, and Bill Wasik present their stories from the inside that range from the prison industry to Washington lobbyists.  This event was hosted by the New York University Department of Journalism in New York City.
  4. The Future of News: A Case for Literary Journalism
  5. Literary Journalism in U.S. newspapers
  6. Angels and Demons, Tom French: Read this for style and construction -- you don't have to read all of it, but get a sense of how a daily newspaper  reporter can create Lit Journalism (See reading below in which French talks about organizing narrative:  http://www2.sptimes.com/Angels_Demons/default.html
  7. A Third Way to Tell the Story: American Literary Journalism at the Turn of the Century by Thomas B. Connery from Literary journalism in the Twentieth Century, Norman Sims, ed., 3-20.  In Lit Jouranlism Readings folder on e-Learning.