Is it possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction?
17 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Group 1-Blk 2 The Dutchess
Our group believes that non-fiction is more of the truth than fiction because fiction is a made up story meant for entertainment. On the other hand, non fiction is soley based off of facs and true events that can be backed up by facts that someone could research if need be. For example, if one were to read a fictional story on the holocaust, most likely it is going to pull on the heart srings and bring about heavy emotions. This will make a great story or someone to read and be entertained by. However, if someone were to read a non-ficion abou he holocaust, it would be mostly facts and figures, telling the whole truth. This story will no be as entertaining, however would be he truth.
I agree with the Dutchess. Nonfiction works are based off of concrete, verifiable facts. And I also agree with her idea about fiction. Fiction is embellished and allows room for added drama and far-fetched details. This makes for a more entertaining read. But nonfiction holds more truth and believability.
While the Dutchess is right in a sense, my group believes fiction can hold just as much truth as non-fiction. Non-fiction is someone's rendition of events that happened sometime in history. By putting in one's emotions about the event you jepordize the idea of it being completely real. Most non-fiction reads are quite a bore because it is filled with just facts and no true emotions. Fiction on the other hand is not just make believe. In the Life of Pi, Martel used things from real life to help make his story more believable, such as the origin of Pi's name. There is in fact a pool in France named Piscine Molitor. Even though the whole story is real, there still is facts within it, and sometimes all those facts can tell more about the event then just the facts.
As the dutchess said, we had conflicting opinions in our group as to whether or not fiction holds more "truth" than non-fiction. We feel its up to how you define truth. If you feel truth is facts that are backed up and leave no room for doubt, of course you would believe that non-fiction has more clout than fiction and does not necessarily hold truth. If you look at truth as being an objective interpretation than fiction can hold more truth. In fiction stories may be real they are just told from different POV's. If you really think about it anything that comes out of our mouths is fiction because we've taken the facts and formatted them to fit our certain thinking or we impress upon them our experiences and personalities so they could in turn actually be considered "fiction". This question is debatable and our group discussion did lead some of use to clash with one another.
As a group we decided that no non-fiction is no more the truth than fiction. We as readers only believe that non-fiction novels are true because of their genre. A non-fiction novel could be filled with accurate facts and figures, however to make the novel more interesting the writer may throw in information or events that never really occurred. A fiction novel can almost be the same as well. A fiction novelist could write a novel based on African American enslavement with historical data but fictional characters, putting the book in the fiction genre. We decided this is just the same as a non-fiction novel with extra "fluff" to make the story more interesting for the readers. No genre of novel is more the truth than the other. Any novel can speak to a reader and change their life, truth or fiction. CEM
It is possible that fiction speaks greater truth then non-fiction. Non-fiction pieces are written with facts and deal with real life situations. However, a lot of readers can relate to the information written in a fiction piece just as easily. There are a ton of novels based on actual events but are labeled as fiction because they add their own thoughts into the book. Making it more original.
It is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than non-fiction. Our group decided for question one and question three that people tend to believe that non-fiction is the truth because it is labeled "non-fiction". To the world, non-fiction means the truth or what happened in reality or rather, that’s what we are told to believe. However, if you were not actually there or have gone through it you can't defend that it really happened. The "non-fiction" novel A Million Little Pieces by James Frey was believed by millions of people all over the world. However, it turned out that the events he experienced were not all true. It is easy for people to manipulate us with what is really the truth or fiction. Gordon Houser wrote a review on Life of Pi and stated, “The writing here is deceptively simple. Martel lets the winsome narrative voice and the intriguing plot carry us, all the while winking as he tosses out thoughts on the kinds of metaphysical questions humans have pondered for centuries. The story may not make us believe in God, but it certainly helps us enjoy asking whether we should.” This statement shows more proof that it is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than non-fiction. The story of Pi was meant to teach that you choose what you believe in. No one knows what is real, or what is fake, unless they have experienced it for themselves. Therefore, whether it is fiction or non-fiction there is still a possibility that fiction speaks a greater truth than non-fiction because you choose what you believe is the truth.
Our group believes that it is indeed very possible for a fictional novel to speak a greater truth than a nonfictional novel. Nonfictional stories are all well and good for telling truths and an account of something that has occurred, but it is limited to what actually happened. Fictional stories on the other hand can stray as far as they want to to prove a point or get a truth across. The only portion of the novel that has to be true is the truth that the novel is setting out to demonstrate, the rest of the novel can be as fictional or nonfictional as it wants to be. Nonfiction novels may be completely the truth but in many cases a fictional story will have just as much truth in it, even if it is embellished. Some real life aspects can be put into fictional stories to make it more of a believable tale, but it doesn't have to be put in to make the truth a truth. A truth is a truth no matter what the circumstances.
Our group believes that it is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction. WE believe that they are both one in the same in some cases. What one person sees in one situation is different from what another person sees. In the part three of Life of Pi Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba are trying to find out about the truth of what happened to Pi. Pi tells them the first story then, after they don't believe him, Pi tells the story that he thinks they want to hear. Which story is the real story. no one knows, yet in the end Mr Okamoto in his report writes "In the experience of this investigator, his story is unparralled in the history of shipwrecks. very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger"(Martel 319). Mr Okamoto after hearing both of Pi's stories decided to believe his first over his second, and whose to say it wasn't so, but at first he thought that it was pure fiction and that Pi was crazy.
Da Rap Game had a long discussion about this question. Fiction and non-fiction are both brought about to tell a story, whether the events included are real, or not. Yes, non-fiction may bring about the truth in a concrete fashion, but fiction can do the same. Both of these types of literature have the means to set the reader on a path towards a truth, they just go about it a different fashion. Our group (DA RAP GAME FO LYFE) actually believes that fiction speaks the greater truth.
Non-fiction sets the truth out for the reader, point blank. There's no arguments and no room for compromise. Fiction, however, is more of a personal discovery. Martel writes in the novel, "'...You want a story that won't surprise you...That won't make you seehigher or further or differently. ...You want dry, yeastless factuality'" (Martel 302). Non-fiction based works are just the straight facts. They are, in a since, "yeastless." There's a certain finesse in the style of fictional pieces that non-fiction just cannot capture. It is this finesse that keep the reader interested, and thus, makes the reader want to understand the core of the novel. Every piece of literature, whether fact or fiction, has a point. This point can also be called the "truth" of the piece. The author of said piece has a job to bring about that truth. Fiction does this better because it is not just a bland, boring, narrow path to the truth. The emotions and events captured in the story may not have really happened, but these emotions and events can always inspire the truth in a person, and it is this truth that is the greater truth.
It is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than non-fiction for a few reasons. First, ficton can speak greater truth because fiction , in order to be believable, must express truth alongside the imaginative elements for readers to believe in the story. The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling is a great example. When reading the book, you know it is definitely a fiction but in order to believe the story, J.K Rowling makes things pracatical in a sense where everything has limits and regulations like things in our world have limitations and regulations. This makes it seem reasonable whether it is placed in a wizarding world or not.
Fiction writers, in order to express their story but still have it believable, usually research or try to understand the function or purpose and try to go from their, creatively. Nonfiction can probably talk about a subject but it is usually told or written through someones point of view and might not completely shine light on some things that a fiction would have completely tried to understand. With fiction, it is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction because ficton, in order to be believable needs to know how things work and the ture essence of it.
After much discussion about the comparison of fiction and nonfiction, our group decided that it is in fact possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction. As we explain in our answer for question #1, nonfiction is of course filled with facts, but it also gives s detailed rendition of the way things were from one persons point of view. Although these views may be very accurate, there are many different ways people can interpret an event. In the essence of fiction, when it comes to fables and moral stories, many times fiction stories can bring a greater, deeper truth to the message behind the story. Some of the events and aspects of the story may be make believe, but the message it is trying to portray can actually display much more reality than that of a nonfiction story.
After much discussion about the comparison of fiction and nonfiction, our group decided that it is in fact possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction. As we explain in our answer for question #1, nonfiction is of course filled with facts, but it also gives s detailed rendition of the way things were from one persons point of view. Although these views may be very accurate, there are many different ways people can interpret an event. In the essence of fiction, when it comes to fables and moral stories, many times fiction stories can bring a greater, deeper truth to the message behind the story. Some of the events and aspects of the story may be make believe, but the message it is trying to portray can actually display much more reality than that of a nonfiction story.
Yes because the truth can be different for everyone and what may seem fiction to us may be true to another and it could end up being a greater truth compared to another. It's difficult to answer this because someone can look at fiction as being make believe and others don't. Pi's story seems to be fiction to the two men questioning him but to him it is real. he says, "I believe what i see". and Pi also states, "if you stumble at mere believeablity, what are you living for?". you can't just say that a story is fiction because of the fact that you don't believe it true because it can end up being the greatest truth of all. To elaborate more on this there is another qoute, "Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. life is hard to believe ask any scientist, God is hard to believe ask any believer. what is your problem with hard to believe?" everything could be hard to believe to a person and just because they can't believe it doesnt mean it didn't happen. if you don't try to believe something like what happened to pi you don't give the truth a chance. It is possible for fiction to speak greater truth that non fiction, you just got to give it a chance. -cinderella
Our group believes that it is possible for fiction to speak a greater truth than nonfiction. Nonfiction is the real world. It is actually what goes on in the world. However, what actually happens in the real world is not always accurate. Because of political correctness, people often have to hold back their true feelings or ideas. They are afraid of offending people or hurting people's feelings. However, in fictional writings it is completely in the authors imagination. He can write about how he sees things and what is actual opinions are. He can create stories that simulate the real world and give characters real life opinions and personalities that are more dynamic and actual than people of the real world. Actual people tend to supress their feelings when fictional characters can go all out and show their true colors.
Our group came to the conclusion that a fiction story came sometimes be more truthful than a non-fiction story. Although a non-fiction book is what actually happened, a fiction book like The Life of Pi can also seem real, however it takes you to places that you do not usually get to with non-fiction. In fiction you can elaborate more on the truth by exaggerating some details. Such as, the point when Pi comes across the island that is free floating, after reading this book you can believe that there could be something like that out in the ocean. The ocean is so vast that we cannot know everything that is out there, so even though it might be fiction, by the way Martel describes it, the land mass seems real. That is how a fictional story can be more truthful than a non-fiction story. Although, they might be about the same thing, if you present the fiction in the right way, it can seem to be truthful.
17 comments:
Group 1-Blk 2
The Dutchess
Our group believes that non-fiction is more of the truth than fiction because fiction is a made up story meant for entertainment. On the other hand, non fiction is soley based off of facs and true events that can be backed up by facts that someone could research if need be. For example, if one were to read a fictional story on the holocaust, most likely it is going to pull on the heart srings and bring about heavy emotions. This will make a great story or someone to read and be entertained by. However, if someone were to read a non-ficion abou he holocaust, it would be mostly facts and figures, telling the whole truth. This story will no be as entertaining, however would be he truth.
I agree with the Dutchess. Nonfiction works are based off of concrete, verifiable facts. And I also agree with her idea about fiction. Fiction is embellished and allows room for added drama and far-fetched details. This makes for a more entertaining read. But nonfiction holds more truth and believability.
While the Dutchess is right in a sense, my group believes fiction can hold just as much truth as non-fiction. Non-fiction is someone's rendition of events that happened sometime in history. By putting in one's emotions about the event you jepordize the idea of it being completely real. Most non-fiction reads are quite a bore because it is filled with just facts and no true emotions. Fiction on the other hand is not just make believe. In the Life of Pi, Martel used things from real life to help make his story more believable, such as the origin of Pi's name. There is in fact a pool in France named Piscine Molitor. Even though the whole story is real, there still is facts within it, and sometimes all those facts can tell more about the event then just the facts.
Block 7
Group 4
As the dutchess said, we had conflicting opinions in our group as to whether or not fiction holds more "truth" than non-fiction. We feel its up to how you define truth. If you feel truth is facts that are backed up and leave no room for doubt, of course you would believe that non-fiction has more clout than fiction and does not necessarily hold truth. If you look at truth as being an objective interpretation than fiction can hold more truth. In fiction stories may be real they are just told from different POV's. If you really think about it anything that comes out of our mouths is fiction because we've taken the facts and formatted them to fit our certain thinking or we impress upon them our experiences and personalities so they could in turn actually be considered "fiction". This question is debatable and our group discussion did lead some of use to clash with one another.
As a group we decided that no non-fiction is no more the truth than fiction. We as readers only believe that non-fiction novels are true because of their genre. A non-fiction novel could be filled with accurate facts and figures, however to make the novel more interesting the writer may throw in information or events that never really occurred. A fiction novel can almost be the same as well. A fiction novelist could write a novel based on African American enslavement with historical data but fictional characters, putting the book in the fiction genre. We decided this is just the same as a non-fiction novel with extra "fluff" to make the story more interesting for the readers. No genre of novel is more the truth than the other. Any novel can speak to a reader and change their life, truth or fiction.
CEM
Blossom:
It is possible that fiction speaks greater truth then non-fiction. Non-fiction pieces are written with facts and deal with real life situations. However, a lot of readers can relate to the information written in a fiction piece just as easily. There are a ton of novels based on actual events but are labeled as fiction because they add their own thoughts into the book. Making it more original.
It is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than non-fiction. Our group decided for question one and question three that people tend to believe that non-fiction is the truth because it is labeled "non-fiction". To the world, non-fiction means the truth or what happened in reality or rather, that’s what we are told to believe. However, if you were not actually there or have gone through it you can't defend that it really happened. The "non-fiction" novel A Million Little Pieces by James Frey was believed by millions of people all over the world. However, it turned out that the events he experienced were not all true. It is easy for people to manipulate us with what is really the truth or fiction.
Gordon Houser wrote a review on Life of Pi and stated, “The writing here is deceptively simple. Martel lets the winsome narrative voice and the intriguing plot carry us, all the while winking as he tosses out thoughts on the kinds of metaphysical questions humans have pondered for centuries. The story may not make us believe in God, but it certainly helps us enjoy asking whether we should.” This statement shows more proof that it is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than non-fiction. The story of Pi was meant to teach that you choose what you believe in. No one knows what is real, or what is fake, unless they have experienced it for themselves. Therefore, whether it is fiction or non-fiction there is still a possibility that fiction speaks a greater truth than non-fiction because you choose what you believe is the truth.
-Kebo Blk 2
Group 5
Our group believes that it is indeed very possible for a fictional novel to speak a greater truth than a nonfictional novel. Nonfictional stories are all well and good for telling truths and an account of something that has occurred, but it is limited to what actually happened. Fictional stories on the other hand can stray as far as they want to to prove a point or get a truth across. The only portion of the novel that has to be true is the truth that the novel is setting out to demonstrate, the rest of the novel can be as fictional or nonfictional as it wants to be. Nonfiction novels may be completely the truth but in many cases a fictional story will have just as much truth in it, even if it is embellished. Some real life aspects can be put into fictional stories to make it more of a believable tale, but it doesn't have to be put in to make the truth a truth. A truth is a truth no matter what the circumstances.
Group 6
Block 2
Our group believes that it is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction. WE believe that they are both one in the same in some cases. What one person sees in one situation is different from what another person sees. In the part three of Life of Pi Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba are trying to find out about the truth of what happened to Pi. Pi tells them the first story then, after they don't believe him, Pi tells the story that he thinks they want to hear. Which story is the real story. no one knows, yet in the end Mr Okamoto in his report writes "In the experience of this investigator, his story is unparralled in the history of shipwrecks. very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger"(Martel 319). Mr Okamoto after hearing both of Pi's stories decided to believe his first over his second, and whose to say it wasn't so, but at first he thought that it was pure fiction and that Pi was crazy.
Da Rap Game had a long discussion about this question. Fiction and non-fiction are both brought about to tell a story, whether the events included are real, or not. Yes, non-fiction may bring about the truth in a concrete fashion, but fiction can do the same. Both of these types of literature have the means to set the reader on a path towards a truth, they just go about it a different fashion. Our group (DA RAP GAME FO LYFE) actually believes that fiction speaks the greater truth.
Non-fiction sets the truth out for the reader, point blank. There's no arguments and no room for compromise. Fiction, however, is more of a personal discovery. Martel writes in the novel, "'...You want a story that won't surprise you...That won't make you seehigher or further or differently. ...You want dry, yeastless factuality'" (Martel 302). Non-fiction based works are just the straight facts. They are, in a since, "yeastless." There's a certain finesse in the style of fictional pieces that non-fiction just cannot capture. It is this finesse that keep the reader interested, and thus, makes the reader want to understand the core of the novel. Every piece of literature, whether fact or fiction, has a point. This point can also be called the "truth" of the piece. The author of said piece has a job to bring about that truth. Fiction does this better because it is not just a bland, boring, narrow path to the truth. The emotions and events captured in the story may not have really happened, but these emotions and events can always inspire the truth in a person, and it is this truth that is the greater truth.
It is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than non-fiction for a few reasons. First, ficton can speak greater truth because fiction , in order to be believable, must express truth alongside the imaginative elements for readers to believe in the story. The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling is a great example. When reading the book, you know it is definitely a fiction but in order to believe the story, J.K Rowling makes things pracatical in a sense where everything has limits and regulations like things in our world have limitations and regulations. This makes it seem reasonable whether it is placed in a wizarding world or not.
Fiction writers, in order to express their story but still have it believable, usually research or try to understand the function or purpose and try to go from their, creatively. Nonfiction can probably talk about a subject but it is usually told or written through someones point of view and might not completely shine light on some things that a fiction would have completely tried to understand.
With fiction, it is possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction because ficton, in order to be believable needs to know how things work and the ture essence of it.
After much discussion about the comparison of fiction and nonfiction, our group decided that it is in fact possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction. As we explain in our answer for question #1, nonfiction is of course filled with facts, but it also gives s detailed rendition of the way things were from one persons point of view. Although these views may be very accurate, there are many different ways people can interpret an event.
In the essence of fiction, when it comes to fables and moral stories, many times fiction stories can bring a greater, deeper truth to the message behind the story. Some of the events and aspects of the story may be make believe, but the message it is trying to portray can actually display much more reality than that of a nonfiction story.
After much discussion about the comparison of fiction and nonfiction, our group decided that it is in fact possible for fiction to speak greater truth than nonfiction. As we explain in our answer for question #1, nonfiction is of course filled with facts, but it also gives s detailed rendition of the way things were from one persons point of view. Although these views may be very accurate, there are many different ways people can interpret an event.
In the essence of fiction, when it comes to fables and moral stories, many times fiction stories can bring a greater, deeper truth to the message behind the story. Some of the events and aspects of the story may be make believe, but the message it is trying to portray can actually display much more reality than that of a nonfiction story.
Yes because the truth can be different for everyone and what may seem fiction to us may be true to another and it could end up being a greater truth compared to another. It's difficult to answer this because someone can look at fiction as being make believe and others don't. Pi's story seems to be fiction to the two men questioning him but to him it is real. he says, "I believe what i see". and Pi also states, "if you stumble at mere believeablity, what are you living for?". you can't just say that a story is fiction because of the fact that you don't believe it true because it can end up being the greatest truth of all. To elaborate more on this there is another qoute, "Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. life is hard to believe ask any scientist, God is hard to believe ask any believer. what is your problem with hard to believe?" everything could be hard to believe to a person and just because they can't believe it doesnt mean it didn't happen. if you don't try to believe something like what happened to pi you don't give the truth a chance. It is possible for fiction to speak greater truth that non fiction, you just got to give it a chance.
-cinderella
Pocket Group 2 Block 7
Our group believes that it is possible for fiction to speak a greater truth than nonfiction. Nonfiction is the real world. It is actually what goes on in the world. However, what actually happens in the real world is not always accurate. Because of political correctness, people often have to hold back their true feelings or ideas. They are afraid of offending people or hurting people's feelings. However, in fictional writings it is completely in the authors imagination. He can write about how he sees things and what is actual opinions are. He can create stories that simulate the real world and give characters real life opinions and personalities that are more dynamic and actual than people of the real world. Actual people tend to supress their feelings when fictional characters can go all out and show their true colors.
Our group came to the conclusion that a fiction story came sometimes be more truthful than a non-fiction story. Although a non-fiction book is what actually happened, a fiction book like The Life of Pi can also seem real, however it takes you to places that you do not usually get to with non-fiction. In fiction you can elaborate more on the truth by exaggerating some details. Such as, the point when Pi comes across the island that is free floating, after reading this book you can believe that there could be something like that out in the ocean. The ocean is so vast that we cannot know everything that is out there, so even though it might be fiction, by the way Martel describes it, the land mass seems real. That is how a fictional story can be more truthful than a non-fiction story. Although, they might be about the same thing, if you present the fiction in the right way, it can seem to be truthful.
Rafiki
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