Uses of Literary Journalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Uses of Literary Journalism - Essay Example Mitchell is able to make us feel as if we actually live in this town and see it in the same way as the townspeople. He spends time describing the cemetery which contains much of the history of the town and indicates how they have thought about the world over the years. The folks he meets are people who take time out of their day to talk to their neighbor, consider the weather, and seem to be at peace with themselves. The outside world does not really intrude, because they feel so secure in themselves. This is an excellent example of literary journalism. The author does not make the story about himself, he makes it about the people and places he visits. He gets inside their heads and shows us the world as seen through their eyes. It is not just straight reporting and the five Ws. It is a piece of literary journalism in the way it shows us something a little bit more about our own world that is hard to put in simple words. It tells us to take some time to watch the river flow, like the people of Edgewater, do every day. â€Å"The First Family of Astoria† is about the Flavel family who is the most prominent family in the town. The story traces their history and the various things that have happened to them over the years. Some of these things are good and some of them are bad. The Flavels get a lot of attention from others because they are well-known, perhaps more than a family like theirs would under other circumstances. There are a number of scandals and betrayals. This is borderline literary journalism, in my opinion. It is very fact driven and the style of writing is not especially literary. The general idea behind it is that gossip can be malicious and attach to certain people regardless of what they do. That is not all that original and is kind of obvious. Overall, this does add all that much to the store of human knowledge.