In "The Tradition: Fact and Fiction," Robert Coles says that "in shaping an article .
or book, the writer can add factors and variables in two directions: social and cultural and .
historical on one hand, individual, individual or idiosyncratic on the other" ( Coles 177 ). .
In other words, historians, filmmakers, or documentarians are endowed to blend this so-.
called tradition of "fact and fiction" to create something real in "an attempt to engage, .
represent, and understand the lives of others. .
In his essay, Coles provides examples of work that is social, cultural, and.
historical. After all, his goal as a documentarian was to grasp an understanding of white .
culture facing adversity at its highest. The photographs of the "migrant mother" is a .
perfect example of ways in which artists can manipulate reality by adding special factors .
and variables. The contrast in backdrop moves the viewer from a narrow and broad scope .
of grief to a solid sense of sadness of an individual faces. Let alone, her eyes and .
expression speak for themselves in a state of deprivation. The children hide in a shy .
manner, as if they don't exist, in order to emphasize the migrant mother's puzzled and .
miserable outlook. .
An example Coles uses of a work that is individual or idiosyncratic is the .
novelist's approach of writing. "A novelist uses his or her lived experience and the .
observations he or she has made and is making in the course of living a life as elements .
of a writing life. Fictional devices, that is, inform the construction of nonfiction, and of .
course, fiction, conversely, draws upon the actual, the "real-life." With his idea of .
"human actuality", Coles suggests that fiction is a blend of facts. .
Through documentaries, the public is guided see things in a certain way. Coles.
considers this as something positive because it enhances an audience views. In addition,.
Coles promotes the addition of both cultural and idiosyncratic factors to shape an article .
