LITR221 – American Literature from Civil War to Present Submission Instructions: Your main discussion post should be substantive (at least 300 words). Use quotations to support your points, but make sure to balance them with your own original ideas. Please engage two of your classmates in their forum posts to help further our conversation, responses to classmates should be in at least 100-150 words each. This Week’s reading: Read one of the following pieces from "Other Perspectives" in American Literature Since the Civil War . "The Wrysons" by John Cheever "Going After Cacciato" by Tim O'Brien "Somewhere for Everyone" by John Grisham "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin "The Angel Esmerelda" by Don Delillo Part I: Unlike many of our authors in this class, video footage of Truman Capote abounds. Find a video of him. Post the link in the forum, and tell us a little about your perception of him. How might he have fit in 1960s Kansas, and how might the cultural differences, for better or worse, affected his ability "to get the story"? Part II: As Truman Capote got to know many of the characters involved in the story behind In Cold Blood , his depictions were undoubtedly influenced. Select one character from the movie that you believe was portrayed in a different light and discuss why you think this character was skewed. Keep in mind that there are a lot of possibilities to consider. Capote's own feelings could influence the work, the character may be too distasteful (for a variety of reasons), or the exaggeration could simply make a better read. Since we are dealing with a film, the possibility is also there that the change translates better to film. You are welcome to investigate this possibility as well. Please support your ideas. In this assignment, you may want to read other reports of the crime or excerpts from the book. Part III: Choose one of the literary pieces this week (found in the "Other Perspectives" section of your text). Tell us about the point of view. Do you get the feeling that you are hearing from someone within the society being represented, or are you seeing what an outsider sees? It could even be a mixture, but whatever your conclusion, you will need to support it with examples from the text. Student Response #1 – Jared Part I:  Truman Capote was a very interesting character to say the least.  He seems like a fun loving guy, but at the same time blunt and to the point. He also seems very compassionate about the work he does.  However, I also got the impression from listening to him speak, he was a little full of himself.  His personality suggest that he couldn't be trusted either.  Of course, this is just what I have perceived in viewing the short films presented over the internet.  As far as him fitting into Kansas during the 1960's, I don't think this went over to well.  The most obvious reasoning being his sexual orientation.  This was a time when rights were being fough.

1. LITR221 – American Literature from Civil War to Present
Submission Instructions:
Your main discussion post should be substantive (at least 300
words). Use quotations to support your points, but make sure to
balance them with your own original ideas. Please engage two
of your classmates in their forum posts to help further our
conversation, responses to classmates should be in at least 100-
150 words each.
This Week’s reading:
Read one of the following pieces from "Other Perspectives" in
American Literature Since the Civil War
.
"The Wrysons" by John Cheever
"Going After Cacciato" by Tim O'Brien
"Somewhere for Everyone" by John Grisham
"Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor
"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin
"The Angel Esmerelda" by Don Delillo
Part I:
Unlike many of our authors in this class, video footage of
Truman Capote abounds. Find a video of him. Post the link in
the forum, and tell us a little about your perception of him. How
might he have fit in 1960s Kansas, and how might the cultural
differences, for better or worse, affected his ability "to get the
story"?
Part II:
As Truman Capote got to know many of the characters involved
in the story behind
In Cold Blood
, his depictions were undoubtedly influenced. Select one

2. character from the movie that you believe was portrayed in a
different light and discuss why you think this character was
skewed. Keep in mind that there are a lot of possibilities to
consider. Capote's own feelings could influence the work, the
character may be too distasteful (for a variety of reasons), or
the exaggeration could simply make a better read. Since we are
dealing with a film, the possibility is also there that the change
translates better to film. You are welcome to investigate this
possibility as well. Please support your ideas. In this
assignment, you may want to read other reports of the crime or
excerpts from the book.
Part III:
Choose one of the literary pieces this week (found in the
"Other Perspectives" section of your text). Tell us about the
point of view. Do you get the feeling that you are hearing from
someone within the society being represented, or are you seeing
what an outsider sees? It could even be a mixture, but whatever
your conclusion, you will need to support it with examples from
the text.
Student Response #1 – Jared
Part I:
Truman Capote was a very interesting character to say the
least. He seems like a fun loving guy, but at the same time
blunt and to the point. He also seems very compassionate about
the work he does. However, I also got the impression from
listening to him speak, he was a little full of himself. His
personality suggest that he couldn't be trusted either. Of
course, this is just what I have perceived in viewing the short
films presented over the internet. As far as him fitting into
Kansas during the 1960's, I don't think this went over to well.
The most obvious reasoning being his sexual orientation. This
was a time when rights were being fought for African
Americans, and were no different for the rights of Gays and
Lesbians. Capote was also thought of as a liberal. I believe

3. these definitely negatively affected his ability to "get the story".
FYI, his voice drove me crazy!
Part II:
After reading a few excerpts from the story, as well as
reviews, I would say that both of the main characters of the
book, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were greatly skewed. I
say this, because some of the recounts of the occurrence were
completely different and exaggerated from what actually took
place. The reasoning for this, is undoubtedly the financial
gain. This book raked in nearly 60 million bucks during the
1960s. This is an insane amount of money during this time. By
doing so, this also may have made for a better read. However, I
don't agree with publishing things known to be false.
Part III:
The literacy piece I chose to discuss is "Sonny's Blues" by
James Baldwin. This story depicts the life of a young heroin
addict. Reading the story, I felt connected to the problems and
issues that addicts face. I felt the story was very descriptive
and as if I were looking in from the outside. I appreciated that
the story was told from a family member who has to witness the
destruction of his brother. This somehow made the story more
believable and appealing to me.
Student Response #2 – Jonathan
Part I:
My perception of Capote is a respectable one. I can relate to
his early child hood as he paid attention and did well in the
courses that interested him and more or less ignored the others.
I did find it interesting that his mother sought to make him more
manly by sending him to military school. I found this to be a
testament of the times that his mother carried such interest. We

4. later learn of Capote's first writing to carry a homosexual theme
at times. And we further understand that he was quit the gossip
within social circles.
Truman's personal culture may have affected his ability as a
writer to get the story right. Truman, a good writer who was
able to write within the confines of different genres, created his
own celebrity before much material about himself even existed.
He was quite the character indeed. Truman could be found in
the company of the rich, the social elite and he fancied himself
a popular addition within his exclusive clicks. So it should
come as no surprise that when he ventured to Kansas to begin
his work on the non-fiction title In Cold Blood, Truman
struggled to connect with the small farm community to which he
was communicating with. Despite the fact, Truman's novel In
Cold Blood, produced notoriety and wealth for the writer.
http://www.biography.com/people/truman-capote-9237547
Part II:
Truman's depiction of the characters and the events that
unfolded during the crime that laid the foundation for his non-
fiction title In Cold Blood are largely disputed. While no one
denies the years of labor that Truman slaved or the countless
notes taken by the author as he drudged through the murderous
events, some do dispute the novels classification. The genre of
non-fiction is the accounts of events believed to be factual.
However, far too many individuals have spoken on behalf of
Truman's alleged story construction for the sake of the arts. In
spite of the book making millions and receiving top honors in
the literary world, critics have challenged the story's
authenticity.
There were several false claims made to the stories structure of
scenes and changes in dialogue. The characters were also
individually addressed as falsely depicted via Truman's view.

5. For example, Bonnie (Clutters wife) was communicated as a
woman struggling with depression. This characteristic was
disputed by Bonnie's own living relatives. The one character
that I personally believe was given a skewed character
explanation was Smith. Smith was one of the two murderers
involved in the Clutter's families deaths. Upon further research
of Smith I found that his character was explained as being
intelligent and artistic. I believe that Truman's exaggeration of a
murderer made for a better read (It should also be considered
that this is how Truman was described). In the theatrical art
form such a character could leave the audience confused and
looking for answers. I believe that Truman's homosexual
feelings that were alleged towards Smith affected the portrayal
of this supposed non-fictional character.
Peele, Thomas. San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved December
22, 2104 from http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22621968/new-
documents-raise-more-doubts-about-credibility-truman
Part III:
The point of view from John Grisham's work Somewhere for
Everyone is one of compassion. Grisham examines the often
overlooked lifestyle of the homeless. Grisham's examining point
is that of a mixture. It is not a mixture, in the literal sense of
this weeks question which states, "a point of view from a
member within that society" but in my opinion it is recognizable
as a mixed point of view because while Grisham is not
homeless, he did attempt to understand their life via personal
experience. Grisham explains his childhood experiences with
the homeless, an unsettling personal experience with one
particular homeless individual during Grisham's adulthood and
lastly he attempted to communicate with the homeless society
citing a few purposeful personal encounters. Grisham explains
the encounters as he cites, "I almost froze on a park bench one
night as I tried to strike up a conversation with a homeless man
who suspected I was from the IRS. I talked politics with a

6. panhandler near the Capitol" (Grisham, 143). However, in the
most literally sense of the question it is clearly communicated
that Grisham's view is that of an outsiders. As he states, "In the
spring of ’97 my research took me into the world of the
homeless. I made the two-hour drive from my comfortable home
in the Virginia countryside to the streets of D.C." (Grisham,
143).
Grisham, John. Somewhere for Everyone. Retrieved December
22, 2014 from
http://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/1259391094/epubcfi/6/58
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