It is the goal of the annotated bibliography first to establish your control over your sources and then to show me (and yourself) how you intend to employ their information. A good annotation provides a succinct summary of the article, and it should give some insight into the articles relevance to your own agenda. This is the first step in establishing the “because” explanation (warrant) upon which the Toulmin supportive approach turns. The more relevant information you pack into the annotation, the more your own argument is going to take form before you start writing. You will also find that beyond helping to sculpt the contours of your own analysis and approach, the annotated bibliography easily becomes your works cited page (bonus!).
Example:
Grant, Barry Keith (1996). Rich and Strange: The Yuppie Horror Film [Electronic
Version]. Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 48, No. ½ (Spring-Summer 1996): pp. 4-16. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20688090
Grant examines a subgenre of the contemporary horror film, the “Yuppie Horror film,” focusing on the way that this subgenre employs the same elements of traditional horror films but shifted to exploit the 1980’s-early-1990’s social and cultural preoccupation with material success. Using a wide variety of films as his support, Grant demonstrates the way that Yuppie horror replaces monsters and the supernatural with financial horrors such as losing one’s livelihood, social standing and/or material possessions. This essay will provide material for my analysis of the salient economic anxieties and cultural tropes that motivate the affluent villains in Bret Easton Ellis’ short stories, the Devil Wears Prada (1989) and Let Them Eat Stake (1990).
Here's my topic post for A4:
ReplyDeleteI will discuss Mount Rushmore and the image of American history that it portrays; how it extends the wilderness myth by putting consumerism and the ideals of American expansion and dominance into nature; how Mount Rushmore National Park does a great job of furthering the wilderness paradox by creating neatly designed paths with various levels of ruggedness and historical insight; and how these neat paths fail to get the American community involved in caring for and controlling the park, thus weakening the dominance/control theme the park attempts to perpetuate.
- Andrew Hudson
Topic Post for A4:
ReplyDelete- I am researching on Yellowstone National Park and going to research on how well they succeed in making the park "natural" and still "recreational". I am going to talk about the different routes they offer at the park (the further you go the more isolated you are from the world/people). Also I will discuss how the commercialism at Yellowstone has hurt the "wilderness" people are supposed to explore. I will discuss how the visitors harm the resources the park has, as well as the costs and problems they have to deal with in order to care for it and maintain it.
-Nicole Azer
ReplyDeleteI am discussing how Central Park was designed to be an escape, from the “unnatural” urban atmosphere of Manhattan in which all sectors of society could go to experience and benefit from a more natural environment. Although at first the park was essentially inaccessible to the working class, as time passed Olmstead’s original vision for a park reflective upon “democratic idealism” was achieved as Central Park now provides a wide array of amenities to meet the needs of all members of the community. Also addressing how this affects how nature as well as relationships with the community are viewed outside the boundaries of the park.
-Amanda Gray
-Amanda Gray
A4 Topic Post:
ReplyDeleteI am discussing Big Bend National Park and how the vision with the park is to blend several natural ecosystems (desert, mountains, rivers, forests) all into one park to give guests a holistic view of nature in perhaps one "viewing" per se. Many parts of it are designed to make people hike and raft to get a true experience, things that force us to leave our comfort zone, to perhaps a zone that was much more familiar territory before the make of air conditioning and other technologies that changed our lives. It is not very popular, allowing an experience unimpeded by other travelers and tourists than maybe Yellowstone. Although many experiences there, including the actual boundaries and lodges, are socially constructed as Byerly discusses, it does not digress from the purpose of offering the holistic view, which tourists are excited to experience.
A4 Topic
ReplyDeleteI will be talking about Yosemite National Park and contrast how the current focus of the park sharply contrasts the original intention of its founders (people like John Muir). I will first discuss the park's founding and how it was created to preserve the natural land. Then I will transition into Yosemite today, where it has become the ultimate tourist attraction. The park is reflective of the American identity of consumerism and no longer strives to promote a spiritual connection with God and appreciation for the beauty of nature. Instead, visitors from all over the world stop by to take the same typical picture that the millions of visitors take a year and indulge in the recreational activities that Yosemite has created specifically to accommodate its visitors. I will address other aspects of the park that no longer make it a "holy shrine" as Muir once described it and highlight the dichotomy of the park now and the park when it was first founded.
I will discuss how Zion National Park is accessible to all types of people because of the wide range of activities it offers. I will also explain that the purpose of Zion is to provoke a religious or profound experience among the tourists. I will first explain Zion's history and the various cultures that inhabited Zion before it became a National park, and then I will give specific examples to show the reader how Zion carries out its myth. The texts by Byerly and Cronon will be used to back up the examples from outside sources, and to show how people perceive nature.
ReplyDeleteNatalie Shammas