Read works by Prof. Marsh
Objectives: Students will be able to reveal some element of culture that would have otherwise remained inaccessible or invisible through the lens of this one individual’s story.
Agenda
Do Now: Unpack the piece ” The Shadow Knows” by Beverly Lowry or ” Finders Keepers: The Story of Joey Coyle” by Mark Bowden in a small group.
- How does the story take shape based on what the author learns from your subject, rather than leading with his/her own assumptions?
- How does the story “surprise” the author and reader?
- What questions may have the author asked to gain the information or story that s/he needed to do the profile writing?
- What element of culture do you believe the author tries to reveal through the narrative?
Teaching Point with Guided Practice
- As author Beverly Lowry explains, literary journalism ventures deeper into complicated human material that the news may only touch upon; literary journalism “makes a stab at explanation.” How is your story an attempt to ” make a stab at explanation”?
- Literary journalism (or new journalism) is defined in Tell It Slant as a form of creative nonfiction that “allow[s] writers the luxury of a first-person voice and the use of literary devices—scene, imagery, and so forth—in the service of reporting” (Miller & Paola 97)How does the story you are telling sound like it is your version not anyone else’s?
- Key points in “The Narrative Idea” by David Halberstam (PDF)
- Once you have an idea, it just flows out. Taking an idea, a central point, and pursuing it, turning it into a story that tells something about the way we live today, is the essence of narrative journalism.( 11)
- The more time, the more interviews you can do, the greater the density of your work.
- Telling a good story demands a great conception, a great idea for why the story works– for what it is and how it connects to the human conditions…you must be able to point to something larger.
- The more reporting- the more anecdotes, perception, and wisdom on a subject, the better. Ask: who else should I see? The more reporting you do, the more authority your voice has. The more views of any subject that you get, the better.
- Research and examine a good story. Figure out what the reporter did and how s/he controls the story and why it worked.
In Class Writing Exercise:
- The writer must decide what larger meaning the story represents and lead the reader to that. What is the ” larger meaning” you are attempting to reveal?
- If you had enough space to run with the full dialogue of your character, letting the truth of how people really speak, the truth what you saw? Select a dialogue and rewrite it to serve a specific purpose of whether it is to reveal a character or an issue or conflict.
- Write our stories as natural story-tellers would. Don’t even stop for punctuation. Let the words fly. Based on the interviews you have conducted, tell the story within. Write non-stoppingly until the entire story is out. Don’t worry about punctuation.
Reflect:
- What is the sense of urgency or importance to your reporting?
- Even though you are not the central focus, you will still be a peripheral presence in the story. How does your own subjectivity and positionality come into play in writing this piece?
Homework: Take some ideas from Deneen L. Brown’s “To Begin the Beginning” and start shaping the beginning of your narrative. “Begin with the specifics and then explain why; What’s the story about? What’s the theme? Where can I place a character quickly in a scene? How can I tempt the reader? How can I allow a reader to enter the subject’s thoughts, show her feelings? How do I use the beginning to establish a relationship with the reader? Beginning to read a story should feel life embarking on a journey, starting toward a destination.