Truman est fini!

So, basically, the author project is finished! (:

In class, we were grouped together by author to create one book to be published on lulu.com .

I was grouped with Rachel, Shane and Richard, which puts Truman in with Tony Kushner, Jack Kerouac and James Baldwin, respectively.

Our book is called Through a Different Lens as each of these authors had a different view on the world while they were (or still are) writing and were able to change literature in some way.

So, feel free to check out our book on lulu.com — Through a Different Lens .

“Good Country People” Aren’t Always Good People

–This is an extension of Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People”

“You wouldn’ ‘spect somethin’ like this to be happenin’ ‘round here.”

“Yah always think that they’s only Good Country People ‘round here. Never ‘spect someone sellin’ Bibles to do that.”

“Well, he wasn’t really sellin’ them Bibles. Jus’ usin’ ‘em as a ploy to get that poor girl’s wood leg, soiling the holy name of Gawd.”

“What on Earth could that disturbin’ man want with her leg? And why did he have him a glass eye?”

“Who knows? But that Joy girl sure has had a tough life….too bad she takes it all out on herself and that awful nice mother of hers.”

“I heard she’s actually goin’ by ‘Hulga’ now, what a horrendous name that is. And it is truly sad.”

Following in the aftermath of watching Manly Pointer run off with her wooden leg, Joy-Hulga was set on staying in that loft for the rest of her remaining time. But shortly after, she heard Mrs. Hopewell calling for her. When her mother climbed the ladder into the loft, she found Hulga slumped and emotionless in the corner where Manly Pointer had left her.

Mrs. Hopewell had helped her down and back home, where Hulga locked herself in her room for four days. She could hear her shuffling around, rearranging her furniture, but never crying. She realized later that it wasn’t in her daughter’s nature to cry – or show any emotion at all.

When Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga had arrived home, Mrs. Freeman was there and Mrs. Hopewell explained what she thought had happened – that Manly Pointer had ran off with her daughter’s artificial leg. Mrs. Freeman had spread the story around, since gossiping is one of her talents, and after two days, the entire town knew about Mrs. Freeman’s version of what happened with Manly Pointer and Joy-Hulga.

On the fifth day preceding the events, Hulga decided to come out of her room and came into the kitchen. Mrs. Hopewell noticed a look of content on her face and realized that Hugla was actually smiling.

“Joy, er, Hulga…? Are you alright, honey? You’ve been through quite an ordeal and you’ve been in that room of yours for four whole days…? Do you need tah talk…?”

Mrs. Hopewell looked at her daughter through a wince, expecting Hulga to scream at her and make a scene. But Hulga took a cup of coffee, sat down at the table across from her mother and shrugged her shoulders.

“I’ve had enough time to think about this all, and I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t my own fault, nothing was…not the hunting accident, not this, not anything, they were just what they were – accidents and freak occurances.”

Mrs. Hopewell stared wide-eyed at her daughter and managed to get out “Euhh…well, of course nothing has been your fault, Joy….I’ve never thought that anything was your fault.”

Hulga’s face remained emotionless and she said, “But I blamed myself for everything that made my life bad…this experience has made me realize that it’s not my fault, everything just happens.”

“Well, of course that’s it, none of those things were your fault,” Mrs. Hopewell said, agreeing mostly because she didn’t want to upset Hulga and send her into a fit.

Hulga sat up straighter, looked her mother directly in the eyes and stated, “Today I’m going into town to get a new leg which should be done by Thursday, and on Friday, I’m leaving here.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Wyoming, I’m going to get a farm and raise turkeys and chickens.”

“Well, that’s quite an ambitious goal, Joy, er, Hulga. Who’s goin’ to help you with this? You don’t know nothin’ really ‘bout raisin’ animals, you can’t just go out there on your own and ‘spect to have a farm.”

Hulga considered her mother’s words for a few seconds, then said, “I’m also going to the county office today, I’m going to change my name back to Joy. Hulga is a selfish, loathing name that I no longer feel is a part of me.” She had been mulling this over the past four days and had decided that as Hulga she had been blaming herself for her troubles and hardships.

“Why, Joy! What a surprise! It’s like you’ve gone and changed your entire outlook on life! I am so happy for you!”

“Yes, I guess I have. This whole experience has opened up my eyes.”

 

Joy and Mrs. Hopewell went into town later that day. As they walked through the streets, Joy could feel everyone’s eyes on her; she knew that they had heard what happened. Joy felt embarrassed and like they could all see her insides and knew what was going on in her mind.

“I feel like they shouldn’t be so gosh darn nosy. None of them should even care nothin’ bout you, Joy, don’t you worry ‘bout them,” Mrs. Hopewell reassured Joy, though she knew very well that the people in this town weren’t easy to ignore.

As if on cue, a woman came up and stood directly in front of Mrs. Hopewell and her daughter, scowling with her hands on her hips.

“So, I hears that you had yer leg stolen by that Bible salesman. What was you doin’ in that hay loft with him, hmmmmm?”

Mrs. Hopewell stepped in to avert the confrontation that this woman was trying to start, “It’s really none of your business, you should just be movin’ along now.”

“Well, dontcha think I knows it ain’t none of my business? I’m just curious is all. So what were you doin’ up there?”

Mrs. Hopewell had had enough and as she was pulling Joy away yelled back, “It ain’t none of your business what two people do in a hay loft! For all you needs to know, they was baling hay!”

Joy smiled at Mrs. Hopewell and they went into the doctor’s office. Their visit went without issue, Joy’s leg would be ready in two days on Thursday, and no one harassed her while she was there. They made it across the town to the city offices without any upset, and Hulga was no more.

Joy walked out of the office smiling and happy. Mrs. Hopewell returned home and spent the next two days happy. On Thursday, they went into town to get Joy’s new artificial leg and when they returned home, Joy started packing.

She left early Friday morning, leaving a note for her mother. Joy did not say when she would be back, but Mrs. Hopewell hoped that Joy would make it on her own on her farm in Wyoming and that she would hear from her soon.

 

Joy made it to the train station in town and rode the train all the way to Wyoming. As the train pulled to a stop, Joy got up and got her things ready. She moved toward the door with the other passengers. As she turned to her left to enter the aisle, she saw the woman that had confronted her in town three days before.

“What’re you doin’ here? Shouldn’ you be up in some barn with some man?”

“I’m quite obviously not in a barn with someone, and that’s certainly not where I belong,” Joy replied.

“Well, then what’re you doin’ here? You runnin’ ‘way from all yo’ problems? You think that them peoples back in that town ain’t gonna forget ‘bout you? If you do, you’re wrong. They be talkin’ ‘bout you for a long time. Who was that man that left you up theres in that barn anyway?”

“You really seem to have a knack for asking things that aren’t you business, don’t you?”

“Well, ma’am, all I wants to know is what his name was, that don’t seem like too much to ask does it?”

Joy considered the woman’s question, and since she didn’t even know the man’s real name, she figured she could give the woman any name.

“His name was Manly Pointer,” Joy said shortly, “but he told me before he left that that wasn’t his real name anyway.”

The woman’s eyes suddenly became angry and her face grew tight.

“Manly…Pointer, you say?”

“Yes…that’s the only the name he told me.”

“Manly Pointer is my husband’s name. My husband left me a week ago. I’m thinkin’ that you was layin’ up in that hay loft with my husband.”

Joy was taken aback. “I had no idea! He never said anything about being married, I swear!”

Just then, the door to the train opened and the people in line to get off in front of the two started getting off.

“Next time you think ‘bout layin’ with another lady’s husband, you remember this!” And the woman pushed Joy out of the door. Any person with both legs would have easily caught themselves, but Joy fell out of the train, hit the platform, and fell onto the tracks.

Before anyone could help Joy up, the train started moving forward. As Joy screamed in agony as both her artificial leg and her remaining real leg were sawed off by the moving train, Manly Pointer’s wife stood over her on the platform laughing hysterically.

“Fame is Only Good for One Thing” A Truman Capote Biography

“Fame is only good for one thing”

A Truman Capote Biography

Liane Lagacé

 

When people are at the end of their lives, the majority of them can’t say that they won a prize for their ground-breaking writing, that they were a socialite and had one of the most lavish parties of their era, or that they were friends with real-life country folk and Hollywood starlets alike. Most people can’t say that they were the ring leader of Hollywood’s It-List and of the Best Seller’s charts or that they befriended the rich and famous and then sent their stories to press in a tell-all exposé. Nobody can say this, unless they are Truman Capote.

Born on September 30, 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana as Truman Streckfus Persons, Capote’s childhood included multiple states and multiple parent figures. Capote’s seventeen-year-old mother, Lillie Mae Falk, had an attraction to con-men, like Truman’s father, Arch Persons, which led her to put her own problems over those of her son. During Truman’s youth, his mother and father had a turbulent relationship – his father was not responsible and his mother was unfaithful.

Perhaps for his benefit, Lillie Mae sent Truman to live with relatives in Monroeville, Alabama just before his sixth birthday. He was raised by his three great-cousins – Jennie, Callie and Sook, and his bachelor uncle, Bud. Young Truman became closest to Sook, who acted as his stand-in mother in his biological mother’s absence.

He also found friendship in his neighbor, Harper Lee, who was only a year younger than he was. They became a fast friends and their friendship lasted into adult-hood when Lee based her character “Dill” in To Kill a Mockingbird after Truman and she accompanied him on his trip to Holcomb, Kansas to research for his “non-fiction novel” In Cold Blood.

Truman was an avid writer as a child, writing for hours each day. He has said that “I began writing really sort of seriously when I was about eleven. I say seriously in the sense that like other kids go home and practice the violin or the piano or whatever, I used to go home from school every day and I would write for about three hours. I was obsessed by it.” Without his obsession with writing as a child, he may have never gotten to the status that he reached in the literary world as an adult.

After his mother divorced his father and changed her name to Nina, in 1931 she brought Truman to Manhattan with her new husband Joseph Capote. He was a Cuban textile-worker on Wall Street and he adopted Truman in 1935, renaming him Truman Garcia Capote.

In 1939, the Capotes moved to Greenwich, Connecticut where Truman started a high school education at Greenwich High School, which was put on hold when the Capotes moved back to New York, this time to a classy apartment on Park Ave. Truman finished his high school education at a private school on the West Side, the Franklin School, in 1943.

After graduating, Capote took a job at The New Yorker, with hopes of being published. When The New Yorker failed to achieve his publishing dreams, he went to Mademoiselle and Harper’s Bazaar, two magazines that published the best stories and short fiction. Capote had his first serious story “Miriam” published in Mademoiselle in 1946, which won him the O. Henry Award.

Following the publication of “Miriam,” Random House contracted Capote for Other Voices, Other Rooms, a story about 13-year-old Joel Knox living in a situation eerily similar to Truman’s own childhood. Later in life, while writing The Dogs Bark in 1973 Capote looked back and said of his first book “Other Voices, Other Rooms was an attempt to exorcise demons, an unconscious, altogether intuitive attempt, for I was not aware, except for a few incidents and descriptions, of its being in any serious degree autobiographical. Rereading it now, I find such self-deception unpardonable.” As Capote grew older, he came to terms with who he was and who he wanted to be.

Along with Other Voices being met with controversial reviews due to its content, Harold Halma’s dust jacket photo of Truman gazing into and reclining in front of the camera caused a stir among people. The image sent people into shock with its “immorality” and the altogether unprofessional manner of it. The photo was used to promote Other Voices and was distributed in magazines and papers, and when the general public saw it, some were outraged, and others were intrigued by Capote’s guts for using the photo. But Capote wanted the publicity that the photo caused – he’d intended for it to call attention all along.

After Other Voices, “Shut a Final Door” (1947) was published in August edition of The Atlantic Monthly. “Shut a Final Door” won the O. Henry Award in 1948. Random House followed up the success of Other Voices with A Tree of Night and Other Stories (1949) including “Miriam” and “Shut a Final Door.”

Capote traveled to Europe for two years writing a series of travel essays and journals. In the early 1950s, he took on a Broadway play adaptation of his novella The Grass Harp (1951), and a musical of House of Flowers in 1954 working with Harold Arlen. While traveling with a Porgy and Bess show in 1958 through the Soviet Union, Capote wrote his first book-length non-fiction The Muses are Heard.

In 1958, Capote’s most influential work was published – Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The novella featured the infamous Upper East Side eccentric socialite Holly Golightly, easily Capote’s most well known and imitated character. Holly was brought to life through Audrey Hepburn in the movie based on the story in 1961. Breakfast at Tiffany’s was also a turning point for Capote as a writer. He said to Roy Newquist in 1964 that he felt that there he had two careers – one before Breakfast at Tiffany’s and one starting with it and that Breakfast at Tiffany’s defined the change in his writing style.

On November 16, 1959 Capote was inspired by a 300-word article in the New York Times about the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. He was so inspired that he took Harper Lee with him to Kansas to start his next writing expedition. He spent the next four years getting to know the people of Holcomb, with Lee’s help, taking down notes and stories, and eventually producing the first “non-fiction novel.” Though Capote said that he quoted the people in his novel accurately, other authors who considered his story a “fabrication”<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–> and “a work of art”<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[2]<!–[endif]–> did research of their own, and many of the Holcomb residents supported their claims.

In honor of the success of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote held his legendary Black and White Ball on November 28, 1966 in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel in New York. Capote controlled who was “in” or “out” with his robin’s egg blue Tiffany invitations. It is said that Capote “invited 500 friends but made 15,000 enemies”<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[3]<!–[endif]–> with the guest list for his ball. Some of his esteemed guests included Frank Sinatra and his new wife Mia Farrow, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cronkite, designer Oscar de la Renta, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fonda, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, personal friend Harper Lee, residents from Holcomb, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Miller, Lee Radziwill and her husband Polish Prince Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł, up-and-coming model Penelope Tree and Andy Warhol.<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[4]<!–[endif]–>

Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball is said to be the “party of the century” where celebrities and socialites of Hollywood mixed with country-folks from Kansas and New York starlets danced with Plaza doormen into the morning.

At this time, Truman Capote had achieved the social life that he had fantasized about for years. He had new famous friends including Lee Radziwell, Jacqueline Kennedy’s sister. But his new fame-driven lifestyle caused riffs in his long-time relationship with author Jack Dunphy. Dunphy was ten years Capote’s senior and his personality-opposite.

In Cold Blood was undoubtedly Capote’s most famous and well-received piece of work. He became one of the most sought after writers for magazines, but his writings were scarce and his reliability waned. In 1972, Capote traveled with the Rolling Stones on their 1972 American Tour, but because of feuds with Mick Jagger, never completed the article. Capote started dabbling in alcohol and reckless decisions, frequently appearing on talk shows, often under the influence, and becoming his own cliché and a caricature of himself.

Though in the years following In Cold Blood, Capote had been creating an idea for a new book – an exposé of the rich and famous. He had been taking mental notes on all of his friends, acquaintances and enemies, preparing to tell their stories, all without them knowing.

With friends including Andy Warhol, Lee Radziwill, Harper Lee, and Babe and William S. Paley, material for Answered Prayers was easy to come across. The contract was signed in 1966 with Plume, and before the ink had dried, there was hype surrounding Capote’s next master work. But there weren’t any words even written yet, only thoughts and stories going around in Capote’s extensive imagination.

By 1975, people were speculating that Answered Prayers was a rumor spread for publicity and that it did not even exist. Capote allowed Esquire to publish the first four chapters (“Mojave”, “La Côte Basque 1965”, “Unspoiled Monsters” and “Kate McCloud”) were published between 1975 and 1976. **I haven’t read Answered Prayers yet, so I’ll fill in descriptions once I’ve read them**

The stories stressed, or entirely ended, friendships that Capote had made throughout the years. “La Côte Basque 1965” cut ties between Capote and the Paleys altogether.

In Truman Capote’s last years, he fell into a swirl of alcohol, drugs, rehab programs and hospital stays. He became anti-social and reclusive, keeping to himself and becoming only a portion of the person he had once been. One of his final attempts at writing was for Andy Warhol’s magazine, Interview, but very few articles were ever finished. However they gave him inspiration to write Music For Chameleons in 1980. He also wrote an essay, “Remembering Tennessee,” for Tennessee Williams that was published in Playboy in 1983. This would be his last published work.

On August 25, 1984, Truman Capote was found dead in the home of his long-time friend, Joanna Carson (ex-wife of Johnny Carson), at the age of 59. Capote died from “liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxications” according to the coroner’s report. His ashes were spread at Crooked Pond, between Bridgehamton, New York and Sag Harbor on Long Island. He left everything to Jack Dunphy, who passed away eight years later in 1992, even though they had a strained relationship.

Though a fantastic, groundbreaking writer, Truman Capote led a life that ultimately ended him and his career. With a thirst for fame and a need for attention, Capote was an undeniable presence in the world of literature and of socialites alike. He was his own biggest fan and critic all in one and he created a standard that very few people can come close to even in today’s world. Truman Capote will be remembered as an author, socialite and an all around influential force in both worlds.

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<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–> True crime writer Jack Olsen

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[2]<!–[endif]–> Phillip K. Thompkins in Esquire magazine, 1966

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[3]<!–[endif]–> R. Couri Hay of Capote’s Black and White Ball guest list

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[4]<!–[endif]–> “Party of the Century” Deborah Davis (2006)

Walt Whitman’s Influence in Dead Poets Society

Walt Whitman plays an obvious role in Dead Poets Society. Professor Keating quotes Whitman often to convey his ideas, Whitman’s version of free-thinking is taught by Keating and then used by the boys in Keating’s class at Welton Academy, and Whitman’s knowledge is passed along through the characters. Elements of Whitman’s writing are also displayed through the boys.

Keating’s consistent quoting of Walt Whitman inspire the actions of the boys. Whitman was a romantic, a rebel, a man who found his own course in life; all these qualities are displayed through the boys. Romanticism through Knox Overstreet’s infatuation over Chris, rebelliousness through Charlie Dalton, who goes against Welton’s uptight demeanor and even changes his name to “Nuanda,” and Neil Perry, whose life was planned out for him by his father, follows his own dream and becomes an actor.

Whitman’s influence in Dead Poets Society goes beyond the specifics of the boys in Keating’s class. Whitman wanted an entire generation and future of people to open up their minds and see things for more than just what they appeared to be. In Dead Poets Society Professor Keating has the boys in his class do ordinary things, such as taking a stroll in the courtyard, to “illustrate a point.” The point is something quite Whitman-esque: everyone falls in line eventually, and that you should keep your own “stride” and do what you want to do, not fall into place among everyone else.

Keating acts as a parallel of Walt Whitman as well in Dead Poets Society. Whitman wrote to inspire, and for other reasons, just as Keating taught to inspire his students. When Keating tells everyone in the class to write an original poem, and he knows very well that Todd Anderson is too afraid to speak in front of the class, Keating brings him to the front of the class room and has him create a poem on the spot. Keating helps, or mostly forces, Todd to get over his shyness and his fear of being judged by his classmates and friends. Keating empowers all his students to follow their dreams, be original, to make something of themselves, and, of course, “Carpe diem”, “Seize the day”.

Walt Whitman has influenced literature during and after his lifetime, as well as Dead Poets Society. Whitman’s aesthetics in his writing are transferred to the film and make it a parallel to Whitman’s work.

Identity, Apology and Forgivenss in The Crucible

 

Identity, apology, and forgiveness are three concepts that define The Crucible by Arthur Miller.  These traits are shown through the characters and the events in the play.  Each offer definition to the happenings and outcome of the story as well.

            Identity is what the story is about.  Identities being questioned, identities being fought for, identities being developed and changed al throughout the story.  The power held by the “afflicted girls” gave them the ability to say anyone is a witch, and instantly put their identity under speculation.  As shown in the end of Act II, the girls cry out names of women that they had “seen with the devil.”  Instantly the names of Sarah Good, Sara Osbourne, etc., are called out as being affiliated with the devil.  Throughout the trials, these women’s identities are destroyed.  Abigail Williams’ identity is also changed throughout the story.  She starts as Reverend Paris’ niece, a good girl as known to him, but in the town, there is a “blush” surrounding her name.  It is said in town that she and John Proctor had “known” each other while Abigail was working in his home.  Abigail believes that John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth is the one starting the rumors.  During the story, however, Abigail rises as the head of the afflicted girls, and obtains the power to deface anyone’s name in the town.  She uses this power to get back at Elizabeth.  Though Abigail stretches her power too far, also with help from John Proctor and Mary Warren coming forward and confessing, and is found to be a fraud.  Once again, Abigail’s name is no good in the town, so she flees.  John Proctor’s name is also put up for trial.  He is accused of being the devil himself.  On the morning of the day he is scheduled to be hanged, Judge Danforth has Proctor sign a paper that states his confession.  Danforth says that this will save him, and other accused people, from hanging, but it will be hung on the church door for the public to see.  Proctor denies that the statement is true, stating that “it is my name!…I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”.  Proctor is hung because of his unwillingness to sign away his name as a witch, and is hung.  This shows that identity is a major concept in The Crucible, and that it changes the outcome of the story.

            Apology is a concept that is important in the text.  Abigail Williams and the other “afflicted” girls put these people in a horrible situation; they were forced to apologize to the town for their actions, or they were hanged.  They could lie and sign their name away as a witch, and be looked down upon for the rest of their lives, or they could tell the truth and refuse to apologize, but then they were killed.  Apology weighs heavily in The Crucible because it decided so many of the peoples’ fates.  Abigail is also affected by apology.  Once she is found to be a fraud, she could have apologized, she could have even admitted that she was using her power for her own revenge, but instead she runs away.  Abigail claims no responsibility and does not apologize for her decisions.

            Forgiveness is a concept in The Crucible as well.  Once Abigail no longer has power over the town, she goes to John Proctor in the jail and asks him to run away with her.  He could have forgiven her for all the torment that she has put he and his family through, and run away with her to Barbados, but he remains in Salem.  This shows that he does not forgive her.  John asks forgiveness from Elizabeth for committing adultery with Abigail, and Elizabeth forgives him.  She suspected that he had had some sort of relationship with Abigail while Abigail was working for them, and when she learns that her speculations were true, she forgives John anyway.  Had she not forgiven him, the outcome of the story may have been completely different.

            These three concepts of identity, apology and forgiveness all have an impact on the people in Salem in The Crucible.  Without these three concepts, the outcome of the Salem witch trials shown in the text could have been very different. 

About Me

This blog is for my English class, like an online folder for assignments throughout the year. I think it’s a fabulous idea.

My name is Liane.  I listen to music, all types, I quote movies like Almost Famous almost every single day, I draw the things I see, I love my amazing  beagle Rupert/Ugg (he’s down there), and I try to keep my life in line. 

Practice Post

I deleted that “Hello World” one…accidentally…I didn’t know what I was clicking, so, I’m just posting this so it doesn’t say “Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here” because that makes me depressed. ):