week 4 question

[Evan Richardson]

The term literary nonfiction refers to a style of writing that is able to retain most of the credibility of a nonfiction account while allowing the author to use creativity and artistic liberty to fill in gaps that may exist in the story. This style of writing also gives the writer the ability to create a more interesting story and is therefore easily read. This is seen in the story in cold blood when Capote describes specific actions of characters (especially those of Dick and Perry) that he probably would not have been sure happened. Since this is a true story told in a third person omniscient point of view, the reader must assume that there are some details of the story that Capote is embellishing or fabricating in order to fill gaps and keep the reader informed with the plot of the story. I believe that Capote chooses to style his story in this way so that the reader is able to both experience the detail and emotion rich read of fiction and appreciate the gruesome truth behind the story. As a result, the reader puts down this book with mixed emotions. The reader is enticed by both the truth behind the story and the characters reactions to the adversities they face, but he is also in a way disgusted by the truth that lies at the heart of this book; that the events described in this book did actually take place.

[carson]

I agree with this response, especially when you point out the struggle within the reader to extract the truth from the text. Capote took a special interest in how he described Perry, perhaps trying to draw the reader into believing he wasn't as bad as the truth portayed, thus leaving the reader in a state of confusion. Furthermore, I agree with your statement on how part of the definition of a literary non-fiction is how the author fills in the gaps between truths, altering the concept to retain its truth, but has a more welcoming appeal than that of reading a police report.

[oliviawhite]

I also agree with your definition of the word, but I do not agree with your statement dealing with credibility. It does not retain any of the original credibility that fiction had. The creativeness added by the author weakens the facts because the facts are embellished to make a better story. Hoe can any of the credit be retained it the factual story is being changed? How do you know what is the factual parts or the embellished parts?