PART 1 Gist
Chapter 11: Nonfiction as Literature
Writers should not be misled by the false idea that nonfiction is inferior to novels. In fact, nonfiction has become the new American literature and is closer to people's life. For those who are learning to write, nonfiction is a more suitable and comfortable genre.
Chapter 12: Writing about People: The Interview
Writers can animate their writing by adding human elements into their work. They should master the skills of conducting an interview. Zinsser gave several tips in this regard. He suggested that writers should choose interviewees who touch some corner of the readers' life and they should keep their notebook out of sight until they need it. Although juggling and eliding is inevitable, they should never fabricate quotes or surmise what their interviewees might have said.
PART 2 Expressions
1. I think we should banish all further mention of the words "literature" and "literary" and "literati".
banish: 1. 放流；放逐 SYN exile; 2. to not allow sb or sth to stay in a particular place; 3. to try to stop thinking about sth or sb
I was banished to be a distant corridor.
banish the memory/ thought/ image etc (of sb/ sth)
They tried to banish the memory from their minds.
2. We explained that these were writers we admired for their ability to harness the issues and concerns of the day.
harness: 原意是给马套鞍具；引申为 to control and use the natural force or power of sth 利用或控制
We can harness the power of the wind to generate electricity.
3. Those of us who are trying to write well about the world we live in, or tp teach students to write well about the world they live in, or to teach students to write well about the world they live in, are caught in a time warp.
time warp: （n.）(科幻中的)时间错位
be caught/ locked/ stuck in a time warp: to have not changed even though everyone or everything else has
The house seemed to be stuck in a 19th-century time warp.
4. That was the high tide of "literature".
Magazines were swept along on the same tide.
tide这里指 the way in which events or people's opinions are developing
With the tide of public opinion against him, the president may lose.
The tide of battle turned against the Mexican army.
swim with/ against the tide: support or oppose what most people think
5. You will quail at the prospect of keeping your readers, or even yourself, awake.
quail: (n.) 鹌鹑； (v.) to be afraid and show it by shaking a little bit or moving back slightly SYN shrink
She quailed visibly at the sight of the prison walls.
6. The whole building turned out to be just such a mixture of scholars and searchers and crackpots.
crackpot: 怪人；狂人 someone who is slightly crazy
But in his time, a lot of people thought that Christopher Columbus was a crackpot.
7. It subsisted on the whims of a capricious public.
subsist: (v.) (靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活
We had to subsist on bread and water.
Old people often have to subsist on very low incomes.
8. They have the sound of spontaneity, the refreshing absence of a writer hovering over the product and burnishing it to a high gloss.
burnish: 擦亮(金属)； 磨光； to work hard in order to improve sth
He missed no opportunity to burnish his image.
gloss: 光彩；光泽
polish/ shine to a high gloss
The silverware had been polished to a high gloss.
9. When you first heard them they sounded so felicitous that you didn't give them a second thought.
felicitous: [fɪˈlɪsɪtəs] well-chosen and suitable (措辞等)恰当的；贴切的
Her prose style is not always felicitous; she tends to repetition.
a felicitous choice of candidate
(o.) infelicitous
10. Finally, don't strain to find synonyms for "he said".
strain: (v.) 拉紧
strain (sth) to do sth/ strain for sth： to try very hard to do sth using all your strength or ability
She was straining to keep her head above the water.
Bill choked and gasped, straining for air.
strain your ears/ eyes: try very hard to hear or see
I strained my ears, listening for any sound in the silence of the cave.
PART 3 Thoughts
If a speaker chooses his words carefully you should make it a point of professional pride to quote him verbatim. Most interviewers are sloppy about this; they think that if they achieve a rough approximation it's good enough. It's not good enough: nobody wants to see himself in print using words or phrases he would never use.
高中时有一次学校组织在郊外学农，当时正好有武警部队在那里训练，兵哥哥们空下来的时候帮我们干农活、打扫甚至有去男生寝室帮忙叠被子。当时我负责写班里的通讯稿，学农快结束的时候我写了一篇关于武警新兵的采访稿。在采访前我心里已经有了一个底稿，关于他们如何吃苦耐劳、勇敢坚韧的，但是当我真正在和他们交谈的时候，我发现他们每一个人都有自己的特色和独特的故事，这些远比概念化的士兵形象要有趣生动得多。最后我在稿子里用了大量兵哥哥们的原话，不加任何修饰，反而打动了学校宣传部的编辑给我用了一整版刊登。我并不是想偷懒，而是真的不觉得有什么话可以更好地去表达他们的意思，而且我觉得还原他们的故事和语言是对他们最好的尊重。我很喜欢看《鲁豫有约》，我觉得主持人鲁豫最可贵的地方是她很少去引导嘉宾朝着某一方向去说一些事，而是更多地作为一个倾听者，鼓励嘉宾自己去述说自己的故事，并且给予他们以充分的信任。我认为，一个好的采访者应该让被采访人呈现出最好的状态并且让被采访者成为主角而不是素材。