Word: styron
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...entire semester. Despite these mixed results, Expos does offer first-years more than opportunities to improve their writing; occasionally they meet famous people. Recently, the two sections of Expository Writing called “The Ethics of Fiction” met for a roundtable discussion with William Styron, author of the controversial The Confessions of Nat Turner...
...Styron, a self-proclaimed “white man from Tidewater Virginia” was widely criticized in the 1960s for The Confessions, which he wrote from the point of view of Nat Turner, a black slave who led a insurrection during the height of American slavery. Because the class had just finished a critical study of The Confessions of Nat Turner and numerous primary and secondary sources, the discussion centered primarily on the nuances of the novel and the controversy surrounding...
...However, Styron also had many interesting reflections on the writing process. Since his novel would be best described as a historical novel, it is not surprising that Styron was asked how he would change his novel in the light of new historical evidence, if he were to write his novel today. With a bemused smile, Styron explained his theory: “A historical novel doesn’t profit from too much historical information,” he said. He then compared writing a novel to furnishing a room: it is necessary to add enough furniture (historical facts...
...Styron later added, after a student had pointed out his disregard of slave spiritualism in the novel, that “there is only so much one can put in a novel.” He explained that every author must make choices when creating his protagonist and the world he inhabits. “The novel is successful in elaborating upon the character if the choices are valid. I hope that my choices add up to a mosaic that form the totality of Nat Turner,” said Styron...
...Hand, a Poem in the Pocket) had already won him prizes for the best French novel written by a non-Frenchman. When Roth heard Dongala was trapped in war-torn Congo, he drew on the lobbying power of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and writer William Styron, among others, to send him the all-important visas that would allow him and his family to evacuate. Roth also secured a professorship for Dongala at Simon’s Rock College of the Bard in the Berkshires in Massachusetts where he now teaches chemistry...