Fiction vs. Non-fiction Boundaries
Blurring the boundaries between Fiction and Non-Fiction has always been a great way for authors to make their points, yield their arguments, and to keep interest. Some may even be inclined to believe that there is not a definite boundary between the areas of fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is often used throughout non-fiction writings as more of a point of view than a character in itself. This voice is not exactly a character in the text, but it still exercises an attitude toward the material to help control the writing.
“Lola,” by Truman Capote is a great instance where these boundaries are so well mixed, that it becomes hard to tell the difference where one starts and another begins. This story is about a bird named Lola, and the main character. At first, Capote doesn’t like the bird and in fact despises it. However, towards the middle and towards the end of the story, he beings to care for the bird and treat it as a pet. This story does not state very many facts like one would expect throughout a non-fiction account, but rather tells a story like in fiction writing. By doing this, the reader would actually never suspect that the story was in fact non-fiction without being told so. It is a first person account of the events that unfold throughout the story. Capote does a fantastic job of revealing these events and holding the readers attention instead of boring the reader with the strict description, times, and dates such as one would find some non-fiction writings. He incorporates humor into the story to help with the excitement of these events. “The Kerry decided Lola was the latter. He tapped her with his paw. He chased her into a corner. She fought back, pecked his snout; her cawing were coarse and violent as the harshest cures words. It frightened the bulldog;…” This sentence revels some of the intermingling of fiction and non-fiction that Capote utilizes within the account. He is actually giving human characteristics to these animals where the dog “decides” and the bird begins to “swear”. Capote does not actually know what these animals are thinking so this is a perfect example of fiction controlling the tempo throughout a non-fiction writing.
The structure of “Lola” relates strongly to the structure of a fiction story. It includes an introduction, middle, climax, and ending. Similar to ficti...
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...ases. The reader does not know if Danny Deever is a real person or just some made up fictional character. The poem actually describes Danny and his death to the reader. “For they’re done with Danny Deever, you can hear the quickstep play. The regiment’s in column, and they’re marching us away.” These Sentences show how the poem rhymes and yet confuses the reader in the fiction or non-fiction account of the poem. The reader does never really discover what the poem is and this is the exact reason why the author made it this way. To keep the reader guessing and to hold the attention.
Blurring these boundaries between Fiction and Non-Fiction has always been a great way for authors to make their points, yield their arguments, and to keep interest. If authors did not utilize this particular technique, most non-fiction accounts would become boring and uninteresting to a reader who did not want to learn about the particular. It is completely acceptable as long as the readers are told of the fictional aspect of the work. This is not one of the easiest techniques to use but if written correctly, creating a fictional account cannot be considered anything but excellent writing.
In this study Zimbardo chose 21 participants from a pool of 75, all male college students, screened prior for mental illness, and paid $15 per day. He then gave roles. One being a prisoner and the other being a prison guard, there were 3 guards per 8 hour shift, and 9 total prisoners. Shortly after the prisoners were arrested from their homes they were taken to the local police station, booked, processed, given proper prison attire and issued numbers for identification. Before the study, Zimbardo concocted a prison setting in the basement of a Stanford building. It was as authentic as possible to the barred doors and plain white walls. The guards were also given proper guard attire minus guns. Shortly after starting the experiment the guards and prisoners starting naturally assuming their roles, Zimbardo had intended on the experiment lasting a fortnight. Within 36 hours one prisoner had to be released due to erratic behavior. This may have stemmed from the sadistic nature the guards had adopted rather quickly, dehumanizing the prisoners through verbal, physical, and mental abuse. The prisoners also assumed their own roles rather efficiently as well. They started to rat on the other prisoners, told stories to each other about the guards, and placated the orders from the guards. After deindividuaiton occurred from the prisoners it was not long the experiment completely broke down ethically. Zimbardo, who watched through cameras in an observation type room (warden), had to put an end to the experiment long before then he intended
Run Lola Run, is a German film about a twenty-something woman (Lola) who has 20 minutes to find $100,000 or her love (Manni) will be killed. The search for the money is played through once with a fatal ending and one would think the movie was over but then it is shown again as if it had happened ten seconds later and changed everything. It is then played out one last time. After the first and second sequence, there is a red hued, narrative bridge. There are several purposes of those bridges that affect the movie as a whole. The film Run Lola Run can be analyzed by using the four elements of mise-en scene. Mise-en-scene refers to the aspects of film that overlap with the art of the theater. Mise-en-scene pertains to setting, lighting, costume, and acting style. For the purpose of this paper, I plan on comparing the setting, costume, lighting, and acting style in the first red hued, bridge to that of the robbery scene. Through this analysis, I plan to prove that the purpose of the narrative bridge in the film was not only to provide a segue from the first sequence to the second, but also to show a different side of personality within the main characters.
Zimbardos Experiment was designed to discover how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated being in prison. He wanted to discover whether guards in American prisons had sadistic qualities or whether it was the role and environment that impacted their behaviour. In order
A narrative is specified to amuse, to attract, and grasp a reader’s attention. The types of narratives are fictitious, real or unification or both. However, they may consist of folk tale stories, mysteries, science fiction; romances, horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legends, historical narratives, ballads, slice of life, and personal experience (“Narrative,” 2008). Therefore, narrative text has five shared elements. These are setting, characters, plot, theme, and vocabulary (“Narrative and Informational Text,” 2008). Narrative literature is originally written to communicate a story. Therefore, narrative literature that is written in an excellent way will have conflicts and can discuss shared aspects of human occurrence.
Just like any experiment there is always an independent and dependent variable; in this case the independent variable was the roles, prisoner or guard, that were randomly assigned, and the dependent variable was the behavior and reactions of the volunteers under their
Blood here and blood there! Shots are being fired from every direction and screams begin to emerge from deep within the forest. They become louder and louder and seem to come closer with every step taken. Then there is an eerie silence and as everything seems to calm down, a grenade goes off in the distance. Does this seem real? Could this be real? The way war is portrayed in movies is not always the honest truth. Most of the times the way war is depicted very action packed and heroic. Although this is true in some cases, there are sides of war that some do not see. There are days in war where nothing extremely dangerous happens. There are also sides of soldiers, emotionally, that one does not see. In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, war and the soldiers are portrayed in way that is rarely seen. The same can be said for a poem by Wilfred Owen titled Dulce et Decorum Est. O'Brien and Owen both portray the reality of war, however O'Brien goes deeper into the truth behind the reality or war.
Authors examine many different sources to become better writers. By drawing on the writings of another author one can enhance their current writing style and also learn new ways to write. The plot, conflict throughout the story and the relationships between the characters are some examples of the parts of a story that an author can look at.
“In my estimation a good book first must contain little or no trace of the author unless the author himself is a character. That is, when I read the book I should not feel that someone is telling me the story but t...
Cell phones have changed from an item of luxury to an everyday necessity for some people. Twenty five years ago, a phone was just a way to contact someone. Mobile phones have become one of the most common tools of communications for both young and old. Cellular devices have redefined relationships and social conduct, and transformed the daily lives of many individuals. Cell phones no longer function just as a communication device. Today it has many other uses. Cell phones are used for games, calculators, texting, calendars, social sites, and pictures. In addition, there are many apps that one can download on a phone. Mobile phones help us keep track of our lives.
Engineers are valuable assets to any company because they think analytically. Engineers may advance to become technical specialists or to supervise a staff or team of engineers and technicians. Some eventually become engineering managers or enter other managerial or sales jobs.
However, this does not mean that it cannot be based on fiction, it can be out of any category. According to Jami Gold (2014), in “What makes a story believable” that the writer should make sure that the premise is plausible within the limits of the genre’s expectation. Meaning that in every genre, there is a certain level that the writer should live up to. For example, if the story was based on science fiction, the concept is definitely untrue, but the trick lies on the inside. Let the reader feel the emotions of the characters, show the inner dialogue of the protagonist, set a detailed scene where the reader can imagine what is happening clearly, remove any confusion that may cause the reader to get out of context. In the article, “How novelists can make unbelievable stories feel real”, C.S Lakin writes that characters should be wholly believable so that the unbelievable element won’t cause the reader in disbelieving the story. So, in brief, as a rule, genuine characters and a well-defined atmosphere are important for the novel’s
Historically, Civil Engineering is the oldest branch of engineering and dates back at least 5,000 years to the profession of "master builder" involving pyramids, temples and irrigation projects. Engineering has changed greatly since those days but the fundamental principles have stayed the same. Engineers solve peoples problems with applied science and innovation.
In conclusion, civil engineers have a responsibility to deal with current issues in a professional and ethical manner for the benefit of society. The topics discusses included: high energy consumption of buildings, the need for efficient water resources, transportation planning, poor infrastructures doomed to failure, the need to have higher standards to become a licensed professional engineer, how globalization has affected all engineers, and the need to have more professional use advance engineering informatics. All these subjects were pondered about how these challenges can be overcome are there effective methods that engineers can apply today. Unfortunately, not all problems are easy to handle.
Civil engineering has been one of the most important revolutionary keystones of civilization as it has been able to fundamentally change the development of the society throughout the history of mankind. It is a profession with largely human interest in mind. The civil engineers have been able to make use of the natural resources in the environment to make human life more comfortable and efficient. They have also been able to make our day to day life trouble-free by constructing buildings to live, learn and work, roads and railways to travel, bridges to connect unreachable points, airports for air travel and so on. When planning, designing, constructing the civil engineers have always given a great attention to facts such as safety, serviceability,
Engineering is one of the oldest professions. About 4400 years ago Imhotep, the first documented engineer , built a famous stepped pyramid of King Zoser located at Saqqarah. With simple equipment and mathematics Imhotep built a monument that is standing to this day. For him greatest contribution to engineering was the discovery of the art of building with material such as stones. The people that followed him carried engineering to remarkable heights using human brain which gave them skill and imagination. Thanks to Vitruvius' De Architiectura which was published 1AD in Rome which survived and gave us a look at engineering education in ancient times.