Module 09: “The Common Foundation of Fact and Fiction” PS 150 American 20 th Century Political History Benedictine College Fall, 2012 Benedictine College Fall, 2012 John F. Settich, Ph.D.

“American Literature” in the Encyclopedia Britannica DVD “Like other national literatures, American literature was shaped by the history of the country that produced it. Meanwhile, the rise of science and industry, as well as changes in ways of thinking and feeling, wrought many modifications in people's lives. All these factors in the development of the United States molded the literature of the country.” American literature. (2011). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.

With writers and readers, it works both ways. They affect each other. Authors observe human events & create truthful or fanciful accounts. Readers react and live differently because of what writers record.

Thus, 20 th century American literature is a record of the times, as well as the expressed aspirations of the authors and their criticism of the events. The authors use drama and images never far from the actual record.

John Steinbeck abstracted real human tragedy from what he saw in the Dust Bowl (Grapes of Wrath), the human condition of the cast- offs (Of Mice & Men). His work dramatized ordinary humans in terms that cried out for relief.

Ida M. Tarbell did not like the term muckraker. Her History of Standard Oil (1904) set the standard for modern investigative journalism. She told clearly about corporate excesses.

Lillian Hellman draws from her own family’s experience in telling the story The Little Foxes. It describes a bitter struggle for control of a family business in Alabama in On film & on stage, it was a magnificent triumph.

In Cold Blood is Truman Capote’s (1966) accounting of a brutal massacre of a Kansas family. The research consumed Capote. The book & the film were brilliant, but he never recovered. His grand work drained his genius.

Lorraine Hansberry dramatized her own family story about living in the racially segregated Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago. She changed the facts of the central conflict, but this play & film were absolutely groundbreaking in 1959 and 1961.

Rod Serling was one of the most inventive writers of the 20 th century. He created taut scripts for 30 minute television dramas and told large political tales and small human stories with brilliance.

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, MO, raised by his grandmother in Lawrence, KS and was a major part of the Harlem renaissance. He wrote poetry, non- fiction, plays & newspaper columns. His work describes Negro life in the 20 th century, grand & not.

Joseph Heller wrote Catch-22 in 1961, based, in part, on his own experiences as a World War II bombardier. The 1970 movie adaptation was hillarious. This is dark, satirical and historical novel.

JD Salinger was enigmatic, reclusive, at least. Catcher in the Rye was his magnum opus and its angst-filled hero was the youth of his time (1951). It still sells very well. Read it, if you have not done so yet.

Tennessee Williams wrote in many forms, but his plays are his principal legacy. A Streetcar Named Desire & Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, being the best known and most produced. These are squalid and torrid tales, both earned Pulitzers!

All the King’s Men was Robert Penn Warren’s best known work. It is rooted in the truth of Huey Long’s megalomania in Louisana. Broderick Crawford won the best actor Oscar in The film reeks truth.

Toni Morrison is an academic, winner of both the Nobel and the Pulitzer prizes. Her best known works are: Beloved, Song of Solomon & The Bluest Eye.

Death of a Salesman & the Crucible are his best known works. Arthur Miller was a playwright of the first order. Miller’s Death of a Salesman earned him a Pulitzer & a Tony in 1949 for this tragedy. Several film versions were made.

The Man with the Golden Arm, Chicago, City on the Make and the Devil’s Stocking are all brilliant works born from gritty truth. He was Chicago. The film, The Man with the Golden Arm told the story of the junkie (Sinatra) and his travails. Nelson Algren

James Baldwin’s Go Tell it On the Mountain was semi- autobiographical and told of the Christian church in Black America. His works reflect his experiences with race, sexuality and religion in the 20 th century. Baldwin at D.C. civil rights demonstration in 1963 with Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando & Harry Belafonte

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, drawn from his life on Long Island and reflective of the decadence of the early 1920s. On paper and on film, the story encapsulates that time and place.

John Hersey was one of the great journalists of the century, who fused journalism with fiction- styled story telling. He was part of the movement of New Journalism. Read Hiroshima. It was a 31,000 word article that was the entire issue of the New Yorker magazine on August 31, The magazine never before, nor since did such a thing.

Module 9: The Common Foundation of Fact & Fiction Please study the list of 100 authors in this module. Re-visit one or more of their works that you have already read. Look for the lessons. Resolve to read at least 5 more before this school term is over. Then, you will better understand the 20 th Century in America.