Updated Audiences for Memoir

Social Proof

At the BYU English Symposium, there was a panel title "Memoir: Unlocking Identity and Memory through Narrative Style." Although I was unfortunately unable to attend the panel, I plan on contacting some of the presenters to read copies of their papers. I have a class with Lisa Roylance, the girl who presented the paper "The Importance of Memory Holes in Memoir," so I'm planning on asking her tomorrow about it. Judging by the titles of the papers, I think these will be really helpful to collaborate with as I continue structuring my paper.

Paper Venue

As far as publishing my paper goes, I'm thinking I'll just go with the 1966 Journal. I'll probably submit to a few other journals, too. But right now I'm think that I won't go the blog publishing route. I think my paper is getting too long/academic to be well-suited to that type of format. Even though blogs are a sort of memoir and it might be interesting for bloggers to read about why exactly they find blogging to be so fascinating, I think the very nature of blogs (simplicity and brevity) would cause them to reject anything near an academic paper.

The Digital Petri Dish: Permutation #3 in B♭ Minor

By Umberto Salvagnin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 

Well, I think the biggest problem that I've been having with my paper as of right now is that every time I sit down to write, I am writing a new paper, because my thinking on the matter has shi
fted in one direction or another. My original stance was one highly critical of digital media, and though I felt it was representative of what I had actually experienced myself and witnessed in the lives of others, I didn't feel like it was the whole story. My most recent shift in thinking, which came about thanks to some really savvy feedback from +Eileen and Dr. Burton, has helped me to look at the Internet in a much more balanced light, seeing the good and the bad and recognizing the Internet more so as a tool than an influence--as something that cultures whatever we put into it. The problem is, that has brought me to a new impasse, in that such a stance paints societal "progress" as the source of modernity's awe deficiencies.

Erin's Terror/Awe Version 4

Here's the latest version of my paper. It is 9.5 pages long. But I still have a long ways to go as far as flushing out my argument completely and making it convincing. It is in need of some serious editing as well but I'm trying to just get as far as I can with the actual argument and sources. I still need to add the page citations for the evidence of The Road and I also have some long citations that I will cut down on.

I have changed my thesis since last week so if you wanted to take a look at the thesis and it's broken down into a general outline by bolded subtitles, that would be great.

Terror/Awe Rough Draft

Wordsworth/Awe Updated Audiences

When I last posted on possible audiences, I was leaning more towards venues surrounding pragmatism. Now I’m leaning more towards Romanticism venues because I think my research would better contribute to/diversify the idyllic Romantic discussion.

Intermediate Sources:

• PaulWestover—BYU’s own. All I would have to do is go to his office hour in the JFSB.

• H.G.Callaway—academia.edu. I’m not sure if I’m serious about contacting this guy, but I found him off of a pragmatism blog and I think he’d be cool to talk to, especially since he’s made himself so available online. Maybe I’ll send him an email or give him a call.

• Timothy Brownlow—Malaspina University-College. I found him by searching this cool site, Romantic Circles, “a refereed scholarly Website devoted to the study of the Romantic-period literature and culture.” I also found some audio clips on Romantic Circles here that helped me contextualize the Romantic conversation. He taught a course called Studies in Romantic Literature and posted his syllabus online. So maybe he’d want to chat with me. I’d have to check time differences to Canada.

Final Sources: 

• The Wordsworth Conference Foundation. Two conferences a year, one in the summer and one in the winter, where participants take walks and visit Dove Cottage by candlelight in between sessions. 250-word proposals accepted until April 15th for papers of no more than 2,750 words (that's 6.9 pages….too short, but maybe I could cut?)

• Romanticism. I found this journal before, and I think I'll stick with it as one of my submission goals. I looked for a discouraging note like, "you better have a doctorate to publish here," but can't find one, so it couldn't hurt to send them my paper. This publication limits to 5,000 to 7,000 words. 

• The European Pragmatism Association. I could submit either to their blog or to their online journal. I also like their Facebook page. 

Cycles of Awe Project: Prototype Three

I have my three poems completed. I plan on putting them on my own personal blog (my personal angle) and on Google+ with tags specific to my topic. Hopefully this generates interest and responses from relevant and interested online communities. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

My very rough draft

Only read pages 1-7.  The rest are notes are possible quotes that I am going to use.  I realize that right now the paragraphs do not flow, and I feel like there is a lot of repitition, but I am trying to just get down the thoughts that I have.  Professor Burton helped me come up with a possible structure of the paper.  First, I am discussing the negative things associated with food, and then I am moving to the positive.  My last conversation with +Cara Gillespie really helped inspire me to talk about the paradoxs of food.  How some are trapped by food, eating disorders, and how food can heal.  I really am having a hard time translating my thoughts to paper.  It may seem confusing but this week I am really focused on working out the kinks.  The venue I am submitting my paper to has a limit of 5,000 words, so I will be writing a 15-20 page paper.  Again this is very rough, but I will be working a lot on transitions and flow this week.  Also let me know if you aren't able to access my paper.  I went online to try to figure it out, so it may not work.  It should link you to a Google Doc.

Cycles of Awe Audiences

Audiences for my scholarship and targeted outlets for my final paper. Hopefully these are good sources to go after. If anyone else has any ideas for people/scholars/venues looking for topics concerning children's classic literature (namely Peter Pan and Alice and Wonderland), as well as Dubliners, or the psychology of awe would be great.

Cycles of Awe Bibiography

(sorry this post is so late. I'm doing massive catch up after a long two weeks)

Working Thesis
People experience cycles of awe (similar to how characters experience the hero's journey [ps thank you +Greg for the comment about the heroic journey]) for two reasons: first, to return to personal sources of awe because of their psychology, as these sources provides for a spiritual enlightenment, comfort, or resolution; second, whether accidentally or purposefully, these cycles continue because people become stuck in an ever circling loop without ever reaching an enlightened, comforted, or resolved state.

On Reading 0.4

Well I feel like my "paper" has really gone the rounds
back and forth, up and down

I think having a clearer idea and direction in the beginning would have been helpful
to save all this changing
but now I think I have a pretty good working idea and outline

I took the feedback of finding more authentic awe with my topic
and have gone in the direction of holding to that awe

It came from the idea of audiobooks
and originally finding "awe" in reading
it is also reminiscent of my curated digital awe with reading post

I took how I have found awe in reading
and how I have accomplished it
since I am targeting people who were in my situation
and gone off that

working paper as of now HERE

The updated first two pages of my paper

It introduces appreciating and admiring literature for its transcendent power
PDF PAPER
Please please please let me know if the link isn't working for you

Austen Scholarly Paper 0.4

Here is the next version of my paper: PAPER
It's about 8 pages right now. Two of my three sections are almost entirely finished but since I can't exceed much more than 10ish pages, I am guessing I will have to revise and cut some.
I am most worried about the first 2 pages, so if you don't want to read the whole thing it would be awesome if you could just look at my introduction. Thanks!

Tech, Awe, and Videogames (v. 0.4)

Here's my latest update to my paper on technology, awe, and videogames. I'm up to 9.5 pages, but looking back at my original outline there's a lot I haven't worked in there yet that I'd still like to be there, and the whole paper feels a little loose.

http://1drv.ms/1gS0A7A

Audiences for Awe and Advertising

Social Proof:

• Professor McKinlay in the communications department. I brought my ideas to him when I began writing my paper, so he already knows a little about the direction I'm trying to go in. It would be good to get feedback from someone who knows much more about advertising than I do.
• BYU ad lab. Same reason as the one above. They could let me know where I have weaknesses in my paper and creative project.
• Google+ community: The Art of Advertising. "Advertising can be magical, creating emotion and conveying information in a single image or a few seconds of video. This community is dedicated to sharing, discussing and appreciating the art of advertising. Professionals and fans alike are encouraged to share the ads they love, and chime in on why these ads are great."

Paper Venues:

I finally picked a journal that I want to submit my paper to! It's called Advertising & Social Review. It's an online journal that takes a multidisciplinary approach to trends in advertising and how those trends relate to society, culture, history, and the economy. Because it's published online, I'm allowed to embed commercials directly in my paper (which is perfect). The journal seems to be flexible on the submission length, but most of the articles I've seen fall between 5,000 and 9,000 words. I'll shoot for about 5,000.

Audiences on Reading

I suppose I should have worked on this after tomorrow

Because I plan on working on my paper tomorrow

which could guide where I post....

But with my current idea

I would like to target people who used to be really into reading

or considered themselves readers at one point

and now have faltered

Conference:

Perhaps some one has a good recommendation for this. 

I think that the English Symposium would actually be really fitting for this. 

Perhaps UCTE/LA would also be good. I think that I attended a panel similar to what I am thinking last year

Journal:

The English Journal's "Speak My Mind" section might be good for this. 

Again, perhaps someone knows of a good outlet that college students may read?

Maybe one of the many campus publications 

Alternative:

I think that the GoodReads blog would be a really cool place to be published. 

There are also tons of blogs talking about reading

However, I think that BuzzFeed typeish site perhaps would be a better source for the people I am trying to target. ie 5 ways to get back into reading 

Social Proof and Homies along the way:

I think that we have some really good reading specialist in our department namely Dr. Grierson and Dr. Coombs. I think that there are also some good professors in the McKay school. 

There are a lot of communities on G+ about reading and literacy and maybe librarians would be an interesting direction 

I have quite a few friends interested and passionate about reading who would give great input 

How about it! I would love input as always but especially on those things noted above 

Audiences for Videogame Scholarship

Social Proofers:

• Ian Bogost. He's a busy guy, but he's also probably the single most qualified person I know of to respond to my paper. I could send him a draft and just see what happens.
• reddit community /r/truegaming. There's a lot of very serious discussion going on in this group. I'm sure that I would get thoughtful feedback here.
• My own blog. I have built a very limited community through my own videogame writing. If asked directly, I might get some feedback here as well.

Conference:

• Dr. Burton told me and Greg there's a guy at BYU trying to start a conference on videogames. It would be really cool to contribute to the debut session of a new conference.

Journal:

• Journal of Games Criticism. I think this will be my final submission destination. A solidly academic journal but still new enough that they're looking for any good writing, not just professors.
• Game Studies. This is "the" journal of the field of game studies. Getting published here would living the dream.

Blog:

• Definitely a lot more options here, but I think of all of them, I'd go with Ontological Geek. I just like the way they do things.

Class, any suggestions on sources?

Dr. Burton has helped me shift my paper's interest to how literature facilitates connecting us to previous generations and/or gives life where it wasn't before (inspired by my late father's annotated book list of suggested readings, posted here).  I've already emailed some of BYU's professors for suggestions on relevant sources, but would love to know if anything comes to mind from your past reading experiences.

Some of the suggestions I've received from professors:
1. Petrarch's letter to Cicero
2. Marilynne Robinson's Gilead
3. Cynthia Ryland's Missing May
4. Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls
5. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief
6. Lois Lowry's A Summer to Die
7. James Baldwin's "My Dungeon Shook"
8. Montaigne's "Of Frienship"
9. Alice Walker's "Everyday Use"
10. Wai Chee Dimock's Through Other Continents
11.  Harold Bloom's The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages

Audiences for Austen

Social Proof:

There is a pretty large community on Google Plus dedicated to Jane Austen so I'm sure some of my ideas would get feedback if I posted them there. Additionally, I have a large number of friends interested in Austen so even just posting of Facebook would yield some social proof. My creative project would definitely get more attention than my scholarly paper because it's so much more accessible, but if I present my scholarly ideas properly, I should receive some good feedback.

I am also planning on taking my ideas to some professors at BYU who know more about Austen than I do. They should be able to help me fit my argument into the large discussions about Austen.

Conference:

Other than the big national JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) conference each year, I have had a hard time finding a conference where I could present my paper. It would be awesome to present as JASNA's conference but I doubt I'd get it, and the theme for next year doesn't fit my paper. So for now I am going to stick with the English Symposium at BYU. I have never submitted a paper to the Symposium so I think this would be a really great experience for me.

Journal:

I will be submitting my paper to JASNA's Persuasion: The Jane Austen Journal. This is a scholarly journal dedicated entirely to Jane Austen scholarship. They have both a print and online edition so I think I would have a good chance of actually getting published by them. They ask for papers that are 2000-3500 words so my paper won't be any longer than 10-11 pages.

Alternative:

There are a ton of blogs about Jane Austen, so I think I'm going to contact some of them about guest posting either my scholarly ideas or my creative project. Examples one, two, and three

3 target outlets for my Sanderson paper

After talking with Professor Burton, he told me I needed to have more of a theoretical basis for my paper, to ground it more in theory and to incorporate sources.  Some individuals or online communities who can provide me "social proof" and constructive feedback in the development of  your paper include my classmates, who have already provided me with excellent feedback. Also, the Writing and Research Center in the library. Brandon Sanderson can give me feedback. I've looked at pages on Google+, and I think the official Brandon Sanderson fan-site could give me feedback, although I'm not sure how analytical their comments could be. Professor Burton could give me feedback. I have two friends who can give me feedback, one a soft fantasy fan who writes in that style and another who is familiar with Sandeson's books.

My Communities

1.  Guest Blog
Yangsze Choo
http://yschoo.com/category/eat-read/
For my guest blog I found this site.  Her two main points is food and eating.  I also noticed that she had guest bloggers on her site.  I thought this good be a great place to share my ideas.

2. Publication
Graze Magazine
I have decided that I want to publish my paper to Graze Magazine.  They really seem to follow the same concepts that I am trying to share with others.  I also feel like they have a very creative magazine that will understand my vision.

3. Conference
The National Collegiate Honors Council
I also am interested in turning in my paper to this group.  They have a conference that I would be able to attend.  This would be a great way to break out of a food focused group.

4. Communities
There is a Nutrition and Health Live group on Google+ that can help me with ideas of food and its effects on people.  I am writing about eating disorders, so I thought that this could give me some great ideas on the power of food and mental health.
Alisha Parish
She is a nutrition and dietetics major.  She could also give me some good ideas on how food affects our bodies.
Professor Jarica Watts
She focuses a lot on women and literature.  I think she could give me some great ideas or sources on women and their position in society.  She could also provide me with some great feminist views.

Potential Audiences for "Reclaiming Awe"

Intermediate and Final Audiences

1. Jason Silva (Shots of Awe)

Silva has a vast following, and his works have apparently inspired awe within thousands of individuals worldwide. I am going to try contacting him to get his take on the idea of digital amplification--the notion that the digital realm essentially cultures whatever we put into it, both the awe inspiring and the mundane.

2. Google+ Communities

There are a number of digital art and new media art communities (a b c d) to which I'm going to post some of my intermediate work for social proof, and they may be interested in the final project as well. There's another community dedicated to "Digital Biology," and I feel like my discussion of awe and the digital through a psychological/biological approach would probably appeal to some people there.

 3. Jeffrey Davis

Writer and creativity consultant for "Tracking Wonder" (a sub-site of Psychology Today), which is dedicated to the connection between awe and creativity. This is right up my alley, and I bet Mr. David could be a huge help.

To Be Continued...

I am excited to put my video together.  I was able to interview 3 different women and it was exciting to hear their thoughts on food. I was hesitant at first to interview my grandmother, because I wasn't sure how she would react to the elements of women and feminism.  In the end my interview with her was by far my favorite.  Not only did she share really deep and meaningful connections with food, but I was also able to connect with her even more.  She really helped me to see how liberating being a mother and provider was even when she was growing up.  I tend to think that things sixty years ago were archaic, and that women were stuck in their gender roles, but she opened up my eyes to a different world.  It was also inspiring hearing their creative connections with food.  One of the women I interviewed is an artist, and her perspective on food was amazing because she could carry her art to the dinner table.  I will now continue onward by editing the film and  putting together their stories.  It will definitely be rough, I definitely battle with technology, but in the end I think it will open up people's eyes to food and its power.

What I Have So Far

The Language of Dance

            “Some people believe they have an intuitive understanding of dance. Lay people, social scientists, and even dancers often use the term dance with the vague and uncritical connotations of ordinary speech” (Hanna 17). After having danced for almost twenty years, I have an intuitive understanding of dance, but it’s nearly impossible for me to articulate that understanding into a definition. Because of this difficulty, most people are unaware of the complexity of dance. What most don’t understand about dance is that it is a language that is just as complex as French or German. It has different levels and aspects to it; they’re just different than those you would find in a spoken language. There are many different parts surrounding the art form of dance as a whole. However, to understand how dance functions as a language and the powerful appeal that it holds, it is important to first have an understanding of how dance is defined. “So varied are the forms of dance…that it is difficult to offer a single definition or description that encompasses all forms” (Kraus 3).  However, after extensive analysis of the different forms and motivations behind these forms of dance, Kraus comes to this definition of dance:

“Dance is an art performed by individuals or groups of human beings, existing in time and space, in which the human body is the instrument and movement is the medium. The movement is stylized, and the entire dance work is characterized by form and structure. Dance is commonly performed to musical or other rhythmic accompaniment, and has as a primary purpose the expression of inner feelings and emotions, although it is often performed for social, ritual, entertainment, or other purposes” (Kraus 13).

Dance is a difficult thing to define, if only because it’s such a fluid and complicated form of expression. The definition that Kraus gives is the most accurate that I have come across in my research, albeit a bit more clinical than some. However, my point doesn’t lie in the definition; it lies in the truth that whether or not we, as individuals, are able to express our emotions through the movement of our body, “there is an innate, creative impulse toward expressive movement in each of us human beings” (Taylor 5). It is because of this creative impulse that resides in each of us as human beings, that the language of dance is able to instill awe in audience and dancers alike.

            Mary Wigman states that “The dance is a living language which speaks of man—an artistic message soaring above the ground of reality in order to speak, on a higher level, in images and allegories of man’s innermost emotions and need for communication” (10). Certainly a large part of the language of the dance is the movement used. Movement is what gives meaning and significance to the gestures of dance. “When the emotion of the dancing man frees the impulse to make visible his yet invisible images, then it is through bodily movement that these images manifest themselves in their first stages” (Wigman 10). The movements that the dancers employ to convey meaning is deepened by the emotion and understanding that the dancer has of their own body. In order for the movement of the dancer to be effective in conveying meaning, the dancer must be able to understand what his or her body can do. While body movement alone is not what makes dance a complete language, “…it is the elemental and incontestable basis without which there would be no dance” (Wigman 10). In my research on the languages of dance, I found that expert Judith Lynn Hanna adds to the evidence that movement is essential to the art form of dance by saying that “Meaning in dance is thus found internally, in the stylistic and structural manipulation of the elements of space, rhythm, and dynamics, and the human body’s physical control. In the embodied meaning of dance, one aspect of dance points to another rather than to what exists beyond the dance performance” (Hanna 24).

Cosmere game introduced by Andrew Perazzo

After messing around with Final Cut Pro and Facebook for far too long, I finally managed to get this video out.

Please note that this video isn't really part of my final project, it is just introducing you to my final project, showing and telling you the main elements of the game, and concluding with just one of the many reasons this game evokes awe.

Cosmere game introduced by Andrew Perazzo

There are other elements of awe to this game than just the one mentioned in the video of course.  A lot of these will be explained at the back of the rule book, which will also have references to my final paper, pulling the two together.  For example, one way this evokes awe is by using the same sort of magic system building that Sanderson uses.  The systems are very structured and organized, in this case into four sections.  Two of them need outside cards to perform magic (allomancer, Elantrain), two do not.  Two decks have power specific people (allomancer, surgebinder), two decks everyone can do everything.  When taken as a x- and y- axis, these four decks fit nicely onto a little grid, kind of like how Mistborn's metal system fits nicely onto a graph.  My instructions for the game will explain all this, and point out certain elements of Sanderson's own style that evoke awe.

Stop Motion Video .3: reaching for a personal angle

At this point, I have just about finished all of my drawings for the stop motion video. I haven't compiled them into a video however, so if you need a refresher on what they are, looks at this post. My next step is to actually make the video, and this is where it gets a little bit tricky.

I will be using quotes and text throughout to guide the viewer and make my point obvious, and my original idea was to include part of my own story with Austen into these text portions. However, Dr. Burton suggested I could do a voice over instead and talk through my video. I'm am really okay with either option and now just need to choose one.

Which option do you think would be more personal? Also, I want watching my video to be an "awesome" experience, so which of these methods would help bring that about? By next week, I should have a fully functional prototype of my video.

Erin's Personal Connection to Terror

Maybe it's because my life was almost perfect. White house with black shutters. Green lawn. Friendly neighborhood. My parents took me to school everyday. Made my lunch. The cute little note from my mom in my lunch box.

But there was something missing. Real feeling. Real struggle and triumph. Emotion deep and honest and brutal.

And then began the search for the terror in my life. Music. Movies. Books. Art. Theater. The dark side of life.

While I was playing Bach and Mozart, I kept thinking in Bartok, Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Kabalevsky.

Really experiencing life. See the beauty in the struggle and the complete exploration of human emotions.

Awe.



The post-apocalyptic literature? What if there were an end to the world? What would survive? Everything would be stripped and broken down to its basic parts.

I read post-apocalyptic literature because it dramatizes the worst part of everything.



Update on my creative project: I'm narrowing down the images. I'm still trying to decide if I should choose images based on my paper or something completely different. Ideas?

Musical Experiences: Project Prototype

So I asked a few of my friends to answer a few questions about experiences they have had with musicals. I gave them some examples and asked them some questions but wanted to leave it a little bit open so they could respond genuinely. I feel like the main purpose of the creative project is to show the awe of your topic by engaging others so they invest their time in wanting to know more. I wanted a very personal feel to each persons video. I will slowly post more as I get them but so far I'll share the one that has been very helpful, informative, honest, and enlightening.

This is my friend Tanner, an acting major at BYU. It was cool to have a clip from someone on the inside if you know what I mean.

Sorry it's so long. I will need to clip it when I put them all together. If you want to let me know what I should take out that would be great.
But for sure let me know what you liked and/or learned. Did your opinion of musicals change? Did it make musicals a more serious genre for you? What do you think?

Reclaiming Awe: Take 2

We went over some brief drafts of our literature reviews in class Monday, and I wanted to post what I have so far for anyone who's interested in reading. This will hopefully provide a groundwork on which I can build the rest of my paper, though Monday's talks helped me to see that there are a lot of things that I could do to shore up my foundations.

Anyway, here's the link!

I'm Reclaiming Awe: It's Gonna Get Personal

I've been thinking about what I wanted to do to try to make my creative project more personal, because as Dr. Burton aptly noted, the personal has legitimate power and serves as a way of making something more relatable and interesting on a number of levels. In some sense, I really like the way that Jason Silva does his videos (see his newest one to the right, for example), where he intermixes the personal and the scholarly and all that, but at the same time, I think with my project, I want the two to be more subdivided. Silva's downfall is that he's creates a cult around himself without giving his ideas (which are remarkable, in many cases) the prominence that they deserve.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to be doing a short introductory section where I talk about my experiences with digital media and kind of the back story of why all this is important to me. Up until two years ago, I was one of the most ardent critics of digital media, and I had renounced video games almost entirely as time wasters. My paper for the first of my classes from Dr. Burton was one about individual creativity, and I think it fitting that my final project in my capstone class will be revisit both the disillusionment and the creative component as dual edges of the digital realm. Realistically, I'll probably just tell my story briefly and then talk about how the creative component of my project is, in itself, an attempt to bring into reality the kind of creation that I propose in the second half of my paper/project. Thus, it's kind of self-reflective and recursive and wonderful (or at least that's the hope).

Another benefit of that is that I can get out the analytical part of my creative project briefly and reserve time in the creative component just for the emotional and poetic. I've seen some instance where a combination works, but I think it helps to have some kind of subdivision to help the mind change modes. Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you feel like that will be successful, or will the introductory portion not be relatable enough to keep people interested for the latter portion?

Personal Angle on Game Changer

As far as adding a personal element to my final project, the Game Changer YouTube series, the best way might be to use my mother as an interviewee. Growing up, she didn't allow us to have a Nintendo or very many computer games at all. The culture in our house was very much one of reading and playing outside. I was often encouraged to do either of those things with my spare time.

In the past year or so while I've been studying games and writing, I've talked with her a lot about it, but she still is very distant from the whole idea of videogames and doesn't understand much of what I'm saying, I think. Interviewing her for Game Change and teaching her how to use a controller and see the themes at play and how a game can invite you to think on bigger themes and questions just like a good book would be satisfying for me and also add a great personal element to the video if I can pull it off right.

So, while my original idea of interviewing Whitney from Studio C (my brother has a connection) is cool, it wouldn't be nearly as personal. I'm also still not totally sure about her availability and stuff, so my mom might be the easier choice too.

It's a work in progress, of course.

First Draft of Final Paper (Memoirs + Awe)

Click here for the rough draft of my final paper. It's basically just the beginning of fleshing out my thesis.

part of my paper, where Sanderson's sense of epiphany is analyzed in context

A working draft of part of my paper.  I hope to expand each explaining section so that the quotes illustrate different aspects of awe that Sanderson evokes.

Storytelling

Super rough draft...
PDF

Wordsworth, Awe, Pragmatism: Developing Draft

Here's the link, although it will change a lot based on the peer review today. (Thanks, +Shelly!)

Erin's Really Rough Draft 1

Here is my working rough draft... Note that it's super rough. No outside sources yet or citations but I was just working through my ideas.

Jane Austen: Scholarly Paper .3

This document is my working paper. Thanks to anyone who skims through it! I enabled commenting so feel free to comment if you have something to say.

The Ghost of Awe in the Machine of Videogame Aesthetics (v.2)

Here's my second draft of my paper on tech, awe, and videogames.

http://1drv.ms/1gS0A7A

I've added more sources and removed the "throat clearing" Dr. Burton talked about in class.

Reading Portraits 0.3 with a Personal Touch

First off, I am getting this up early. because English Symposium.

Second, I wanted to do a self portrait
but all the madness means I haven't had time to look nice enough
that I actually want to take a picture of myself.

Thus I present an old photo from a model shoot I did with Emily London Portraits
dubbed over with why I read

and unless I am simplifying things too much
this is one of the reasons why I think reading = awe

With the shift of my paper to how we can reintroduce the awe and wonder found in reading
do I need to shift my project too?

On Reading 0.3

Well. I have been putting off writing my paper because I don't know how to make it "authentic."
I think I could make the argument that I don't know how "authentic" a lot of our subjects are
and that a lot of them would not exist if it weren't for the theme
I mean isn't that the point of a theme? giving us a theme? haha
but I will leave it at this

I went towards a revamp of making my paper more connected
and not just calling things awe just because that is the class

I mean I really do believe that the act of reading creates awe

and perhaps I just went in a circle with what I did
and I'm exactly where I was

I feel more tied down though?
like I have more of a direction and clear argument?

You can see my new working paper below or in this doc as the embedding is funky



Let me know what you think, please!

Erin's Annotated Bibliography

Working Thesis: 

According to Edmund Burke, the idea of sublime or awe is strictly related to the sense of terror and can be seen in all types of art, and especially in literature. Throughout post-apocalyptic literature, this sense of terror is largely seen and certain elements that create this terror also inspire the sense of awe within the texts. Looking at Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon and Cormac McCarthy's The Road, these elements are contrasted and bring about ultimately the sublime that is seen in the two books. These elements include the contrast between the confusion of antagonist and protagonist, the progress of characterization seen throughout the book, the characterization of the place, and the social commentary that reveals the largely seen anxiety of nuclear attacks and of a nuclear apocalypse. 

 Annotated Bibliography:

“After the End: A Look at Post-Apocalyptic Books and Films.” Extension Blog. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

In this blog from Harvard University, Sue Schopf talks about her class that she taught about post-apocalyptic literature, not only an interview but a short video in which she talks briefly about her class. She makes several great points not only about post-apocalyptic literature in general but also about why it is so relevant today.

Beckley, Bill, ed. Sticky Sublime. Canada: Allworth Press, 2001. Print.

In this book, the idea of sublime is explored and how that relates to the Gothic. This will work into the argument for Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley and how they prepare the way for the post-apocalyptic book relating to Burke’s argument.

Broderick, Mick. “Surviving Armageddon: Beyond the Imagination of Disaster.” Science Fiction Studies 20.3 (1993): 362-382. JSTOR. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.  

Broderick argues that the idea of Armageddon is not new and how that is a social ideal through which would bring about a new sort of Eden after the current world is destroyed. This relates to my ideas about the end of the world portrayed in post-apocalyptic literature.

Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas. United States of America: Start Publishing LLC, 2012. Kindle file.

Using this theoretical text to look at the ideas of sublime/awe and terror. It is Edmund Burke that presents this idea, which started my thought process of how awe and terror could be related. I will use this as a background to my argument and paper and give it strength and context.

Cordle, Daniel. “Cultures of Terror: Nuclear Criticism During and Since the Cold War.” Literature Compass 3.6 (2006): 1186-1199. Wiley Online Library. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

This article discusses the threat of a nuclear apocalypse that has been seen in society prevalently ever since the Cold War and which appears in both of the two books that I will examine.

Cowley, Christopher. Ashes to Ashes: Trauma, History, and the Ethics of Allegorical Memory in Post 9/11 Literature. MA Thesis. University of Florida, 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Cowley writes about how the event of 9/11 has influenced culture today, specifically in The Road. I plan on using events such as World War II and 9/11 to look at how it has influenced post-apocalyptic literature today and how that genre reflects society’s anxieties because of those events. 

Des Pres, Terrence. “Terror and the Sublime.” Human Rights Quarterly 5.2 (1983): 135-146. JSTOR. Web. 9, Mar. 2014.

In this article, the relation between terror and the sublime are explored according to Burke’s treatise. This relates specifically to my argument about the two being connected and how they can be explored within a specific genre.

Edwards, Tim. “The End of the Road: Pastoralism and the Post-Apocalyptic Waste Land of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. The Cormac McCarthy Journal. 6 (2008): 55-63. Literature Online. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

This article discusses the idea of landscape in The Road, which relates to my argument about the landscape or place becoming significant in the genre of post-apocalyptic literature.

Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon. Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1959. Print.

This book is one of the two primary texts that will be used to explore post-apocalyptic literature and how it may explore the themes of awe and terror. I will use this text to contrast with The Road and how the two of them may or may not portray the chosen elements of post-apocalyptic literature.

Gyngell, Adam. “Writing the Unthinkable: Narrative, the Bomb and Nuclear Holocaust.” Opticon 1826 6 (2009): 1-11. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

This article discusses the idea of writing about nuclear bombing and the idea of apocalypse that can follow. I will use this to further my argument about how two authors do specifically that.

Kunsa, Ashley. “’Maps of the World in Its Becoming’: Post-Apocalyptic Naming in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.” Journal of Modern Literature 33.1 (2009): 57-74. Project Muse. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Kunsa talks about The Road specifically and also talks about the characters and their growth throughout the novel, including the difficulty in identifying good and evil in the text. This relates specifically to my identification and discussion of certain elements in post-apocalyptic literature.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Random House, 2006. Print.

Besides Alas, Babylon I will use this text as one of my primary texts exploring post-apocalyptic literature and how it explores awe and terror within the context of the genre. This text is different from other post-apocalyptic literature and it generates terror and awe in a different way, which will help contrast with Alas, Babylon.

Mishra, Vijay. The Gothic Sublime. Albany: University of New York Press, 1994. Print.  

Mishra discusses Burke’s argument about terror and sublime in this book and how that argument can work in literature. I plan on using it as a background text to work through Burke’s argument that will set up my argument about post-apocalyptic literature.

Ray, Gene. Terror and the Sublime in Art and Critical Theory. New York: Gene Ray, 2005. Print.

Gene Ray writes about the connection between terror and the sublime, specifically referring to war and nuclear bombing. I will relate this to the text primary texts I will examine and how they portray this terror and awe.

Schopf, Sue. “The Post-Apocalyptic Novel and Film, Lecture 1.” Harvard Course – Engl E-214/W. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2013-2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Sue Schopf is a professor at Harvard University and gave a class titled “The Post-Apocalyptic Novel and Film.” The first lecture she gave was recorded and placed online in which she gives a brief history and context for the post-apocalyptic novel and an exploration into the popular craze about the same genre in literature and film. She explores several aspects that give me further ideas for ways that I could strengthen my argument and add history and proof.

Sterrenburg, Lee. “The Last Man: Anatomy of Failed Revolutions.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction 33.3 (1978): 324-347. JSTOR. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.  

Sterrenburg in this article explores Mary Shelley’s post-apocalyptic novel The Last Man and gives it a brief history and description, specifically how it relates to revolutions. This article gives a brief history of a historical post-apocalyptic novel, allowing me to cover the history of post-apocalyptic literature and how that influences the terror and awe in which we see in The Road and Alas, Babylon.

Walliss, John, and James Aston. “Doomsday America: The Pessimistic Turn of Post-9/11 Apocalyptic Cinema.” The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 23.1 (2011): 53-64. EBSCOhost Humanities Source. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

This article explores how the event of 9/11 influenced and currently influences apocalyptic cinema which relates to post-apocalyptic literature in the sense that it explores the same kinds of ideas and has a lot of the same elements. It also explores the psychological aspect of the American culture and how that influences the ideas of the end of the world and what will happen afterwards.

Wolf-Meyer, Matthew. “Apocalypse, Ideology, America: Science Fiction and the Myth of the Post-Apocalyptic Everyday.” Rhizomes 8 (2004): n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Wolf-Meyer writes about why society is interested (or obsessed) in post-apocalyptic literature and how that affects the literature. I plan on using this when I write about the social and moral commentary that we can see in post-apocalyptic literature.

Wilczynski, Marek. The Phantom and the Abyss: The Gothic Fiction in America and Aesthetics of the Sublime 1798-1856. “The Phantom and the Abyss.” Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1999. Print.

Wilczynski in this book applies the idea of sublime specifically to the literature of Edgar Allan Poe. Therefore this book explores how Gothic literature can portray the sublime (or awe) or may not. I will apply this to my argument that includes Poe’s literature and also how to tell if the text portrays awe or not in terms of sublime.

What's Next: 

I plan on continuing my research, including an interview with Harvard professor Sue Schopf (hopefully). As I continue my research and the writing of my paper, I hope to narrow down my thesis and strengthen it considerably. 

Annotated Bibliography: Memoirs + Awe

Working Thesis:

We are drawn to memoirs because, as humans, we are driven by human connection. Also, as humans, we are drawn towards superseding the ordinary by experiencing the extraordinary. We want a new ordinary, a new way of existing from day to day. Memoirs provide the ideal avenue to form human connections and to experience the life cycles of others toward awe by using the ordinary as the launching pad for awe. The process of writing and reading memoirs is part of the pursuit to experience collective awe. Thus, we read memoirs because they are dramatized, concentrated, eloquent, and sometimes exaggerated versions of the cycles toward awe we wish to replicate in our own lives by rising above the ordinary, or using the ordinary, to reach for awe and a higher plane of existence. 

Annotated Bibliography:

Carson, Rachel, and Charles Pratt. The Sense of Wonder. New York: Harper & Row, 1965. Print.

This book is probably one of my strongest literary source. Not only is it a memoir, but it is a memoir centered around finding awe. Carson finds that awe through even the smallest pieces of nature. She also discusses the process of learning in association with awe, and how to cultivate this sense of awe in children through nature. I think the ideas she presents in regard to this issue will be helpful in helping me form my own in my paper.

Forster, E. M. "What I Believe." Two Cheers for Democracy. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1951. N. pag. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://spichtinger.net/otexts/believe.html>.

This essay talks about the importance of human relationships and how they are the foundation of our society and provide the only true and lasting gratification in this life. There are many ideas and theories that he presents that I think will serve me well in backing up my paper. This quote in particular highlights the same sort of idea in regard to memoirs that I want to present in my paper:

“And one can, at all events, show one's own little light here, one's own poor little trembling flame, with the knowledge that it is not the only light that is shining in the darkness, and not the only one which the darkness does not comprehend.”

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia. New York: Viking, 2006. Print.

This memoir is about Elizabeth Gilbert’s life-changing journey around the world that ultimately put her on a completely different life path than she was before. It is also an example of a certain structure of memoirs that I have been looking into: the protagonist embarks on an awe-inspiring, unusual adventure in the hopes of leaving the doldrums of their past life behind and taking on a new persona.

Robison, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's. New York: Crown, 2007. Print.

This book is the story of the life of John Elder Robison, a successful man who lived the majority of his younger life without knowing he had Asperger’s. This memoir is particularly interesting because it is written by Robison, which gives the reader added insight into the way he thinks and perceives his world. This also strikes a chord with awe because it is basically presenting life from a fresh perspective that most people will never experience. It frames life through new lenses, and makes even the most ordinary of things interesting because they can now be seen from a new vantage point. 

Sebold, Alice. Lucky. New York: Scribner, 1999. Print.

This is a memoir that begins with the story of how Sebold was raped as a college freshman at a park just outside of her university’s campus. The memoir then goes into her recovery process and her ultimate work to discover and arrest the perpetrator. The idea of the novel that Sebold was “lucky” carries certain motifs that I think apply to memoirs as a whole.  I think it is particularly interesting because lucky is generally associated with good things, but in this memoir it has a darker connotation in applying to unusual bad things happening to someone instead of just unusual good things. I want to explore this idea of luck in regard to experience, life, and awe and how it pertains to memoirs. 

Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.

This memoir follows similar patterns as Eat, Pray, Love and perhaps that is why it was met with almost equal popularity. The author finds herself in a divorce, dealing with her mother’s death and an abortion, and recovering from drugs. In a moment of desperation, she decides to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail on her own, despite the fact that she has never really hiked before and has no prior knowledge of backpacking. The elements of awe in the book run under the vein of nature, pain, extreme physical exertion, and spiritual journeys.

Thomas, Abigail. "For You, for Me." The Iowa Review 36.1 (2006): 38-42. JSTOR. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20152118 .>.

This is a lovely piece written by Abigail Thomas about the process of writing in relation to life and memory. She talks a lot about the differences between non-fiction and fiction, and how sometimes the line is really blurred. She also talks about what makes some memories stand out to us more than others, and the role of memory in shaping our futures. I think she brings up a lot of interesting points about the importance of memoir and why we find it so interesting, which will be good for me in proving my point about how memoirs are a source of secondhand experiential awe.

Thomas, Abigail. Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life. New York: Knopf, 2000. Print.

This is one of the most engrossing memoirs I have read so far. It is basically a series of memories that are generally short. They’re almost like flashes from her life, but they are presented in such a beautiful way that even though they seem very different, they all tie together and create a beautiful portrait of her life and of humanity and experience in general. I think analyzing her techniques and the way in which she creates awe through memory and everyday life experiences will be beneficial for my paper.

Vatter, Miguel. "In Odradek's World: Bare Life and Historical Materialism in Agamben and Benjamin." Diacritics 38.3 (2008): 45-70. JSTOR. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

<http://www.jstor.org/stable/20616533 .>.

I’m not completely sure how this article will tie into my paper, but I like the ideas that he discusses in relation to the “bare life” theory. It’s pretty deep stuff, but I think some of his ideas about the nature of power over life and how that pertains to personal freedom and government could be valuable in framing my argument.

Woodward, A. "The Humanism of E.M. Forster." Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory 20 (1963): 17-34.JSTOR. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. 

<http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 41801312 .>.

I think this article will work will in conjunction with the essay by Forster. It basically analyzes the reasons and details behind Forster’s humanistic way of thinking. I think it brings up some interesting points about putting Forster’s paradigm in a historical and worldwide context, which will help me to trace these ideas of humanistic thought and maybe find other articles or philosophers who follow similar paradigms.

Next Steps:

I want to look more into the realm of memoirs in regard to spiritual journeys. I talked to Professor Burton about this genre, but I have yet to read any or research them in more detail. I think they would add an interesting level to my paper. However, I am beginning to feel like there are a thousand directions this paper could go right now and I’m starting to feel overwhelmed with just how much I could say about the topic. So my next steps will involve narrowing down my focus and honing in on the points I want to make in my paper. I also want to do more research with scholarly articles so I can strengthen the theoretical background and support of my paper.

Also, my thesis needs help.

Can You Really Annotate Dance?

Working Thesis (A really, really rough thesis): Dance as an art form is something that contains a significant amount of awe in the audience. But is that awe conveyed through the emotion of the dancers? Or is it conveyed because the audience has an understanding of the art form, outside of what the dancers bring to it?

Chaiklin, Sharon, and Hilda Wengrower. The Art and Science of Dance/Movement Therapy: Life Is Dance. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.

This book contains a collection of articles written by experienced dance/movement therapists. The topics covered are intrinsic to many areas of dance/movemment therapy and each offers a theoretical perspective followed by case studies which emphasize the techniques used in varied settings.

Ellfeldt, Lois. Dance, From Magic to Art. Dubuque, IA: W.C. Brown, 1976. Print.

Again, I don't have this book yet, but I am really excited about what this book could offer me. It seems like it's going to really explore how the creative expression of the body is an art form, and how that process of transformation happens.

Hanna, Judith Lynne. "The Language of Dance." Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 72.4 (2001): 40-45. Print.

This article discusses how dance and body movement not only resembles verbal language, but can have a deep literary impact. The author explores the impact that dance is having on schools, and the way that they approach learning in the classroom, as more classrooms are starting to have a movement based curriculum.

Hanna, Judith Lynne. The Performer-audience Connection: Emotion to Metaphor in Dance and Society. Austin: University of Texas, 1983. Print.

This books looks into the major puzzles of human communication: the communication of emotion in dance. It attempts to systematically investigate what performers wish to convey and what audiences perceive in the performance of dance. This books asks and answers the question: How did dancer and audience interact at the emotional level on occasions of a performance? Through interviews of both spectators and dancers, Judith Lynne Hanna explores the performers' ways of imparting emotion through movement and audience members' expectations and responses. In doing so she casts new light on important issues of cultural identity, sex role, historic attitudes toward dance, and even marketing the arts today.

Hanna, Judith Lynne. To Dance Is Human: A Theory of Nonverbal Communication. Austin: University of Texas, 1979. Print.

Exploring dance from the rural villages of Africa to the stages of Lincoln Center, Judith Lynne Hanna shows that it is as human to dance as it is to learn, to build, or to fight. Dance is human thought and feeling expressed through the body: it is at once organized physical movement, language, and a system of rules appropriate in different social situations. The author offers a theory of dance, drawing on work in anthropology, semiotics, sociology, communications, folklore, political science, religion, and psychology as well as the visual and performing arts.

Knapp, Debra Wright. "One Choreographer's Tale of Dance Making." Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 82.9 (2011): 16-18. Print.

In this article, the author discusses how her gifts and talents as a choreographer can influence and add to dance. The author talks about the many different ways that she finds inspiration in what she choreographs, saying that sometimes it's found in a poem or song, and other times it's what the dancer needs, and then there are times when the choreographer needs to express something for themselves.

my bibliography Posted by Andrew

Working Thesis: I argue that Brandon Sanderson’s works create awe because they (a) are written in the fantasy genre, which has inherent awe in it, (b) are written in the hard fantasy genre, which also has aspects of awe inherent in it, and (c) are written with Sanderson’s own unique style, which also carries with it elements and aspects of awe.

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Bollingen, 1972. Print.  Joseph Campbell points out major tropes and themes in form that are prevalent in fantasy and science fiction, including such things as the hero’s journey, where the hero needs to take a long trip across the world to find out who he really is.

Card, Orson Scott. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest, 1990. Print.  Orson Scott Card talks about how authors should use characters, pacing, and so forth in order to not distract the reader with them, but in order to more fully get the reader involved with the story.

Stockmann, Britta,  and Jens Jahnke.  Literature and board games at the beginning

of 21st century.  http://www.hc.amu.edu.pl/numery/5/stockjahnke.pdf A discussion of some tropes of literature.

Coppermind.net.  This is the official wiki page for everything Brandon Sanderson related.  Tons of goodies can be found here if you want to know more about his books.

Druyan, Ann. “Ann Druyan talks about Science, Religion, Wonder, Awe . . . and Carl Sagan.” ETC: A Review of General Semantics. 63.1 Jan 2006: 25-35. Raises the argument of why people separate science and religion, and how they are different ways of searching for truth.

LeGuin, Ursula K. “Myth and Archetype in Science Fiction.” The Language of the Night. New York: Putnam, 1979. 73-81.  LeGuin discusses where many archetypes came from and why we still use them today.

Mouallem, Oscar. The Ten Rules of (Golden Age) Detective Fiction http://metrowir.com/2013/06/21/the-ten-rules-of-golden-age-detective-fiction/  This deals with my topic because Sanderson often uses some of the elements of the detective genre in his books.  The best example I can think of is trying to find the spy in Well of Ascension.

Seventeenth Shard: The official website for all things Sanderson.  My intended audience hangs out here, and is one of the places where I could publish. http://www.17thshard.com

Trimble, John R. Writing with Style: Conversations on the art of writing. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.  Print.   John discusses, in chapter 7 especially, which is about readability, how we need to evoke a sense of spretitura with our writing, making it seem flawless in order for the reader not to get distracted by it.

TvTropes.org “Standard Fantasy Setting.” Tvtropes.org/pmwiki.php/Main/StandardFantasySetting.  In which different forms of fantasy are discussed, including setting, but also branching out into characters and races and so forth.

Next Steps: Finding more research on my topic.  Incorporating that research into my paper. Writing sections of my paper.  Putting the paper together.  Making the paper flow coherently.  Editing and polishing my paper.  Publishing my paper.

VideoBiblioAwesome-Ography

Here's some stuff about awe and games and stuff:

Working Thesis:

Videogames have followed the path they have not just to play to adolescent male power fantasies, but to serve that purpose of channeling and preserving the public's awe at advanced computing technology. The escapist, fantastic, and violent aesthetics within games are ultimately a result of the residue of this original purpose of the medium, and as the medium grows more into a mode of expression separated from the restraints and potential of the technologies it is bound to, videogames will depart ever further from fantasy and escapism to delve into more realistic and thematically mature content.

Annotated Bibliography:

Bissel, Tom. Why Video Games Matter. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.

This is a former Wall Street Journal writer's book on his perspective on videogames in culture. He talks a lot about the maturation of the medium and the move from "spectacle" to "message." He also makes smart comparisons to the histories of other mediums that could be useful to me.

Bills, Paul. This Storify story I curated on art and videogames might prove useful.

Bogost, Ian. How to Do Things With Videogames. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. Print.

Another source I've used before. He has a whole chapter on reverence that is a totally unique perspective on games and links well with how games can inspire awe based on their unique blend of narrative and technology.

Egenfeld-Nielsen, Simon, Jonas Heide Smith, and Susana Pajares Tosca. Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.

This is my textbook for my IHUM class on games and play right now. It gives a great overview of the history of games that I can use.

Graets, J.M. "The Origin of Spacewar." Wheels.org. Web. 21 Mar 2014.

This is an article written by one of the guys who made Spacewar! the first modern videogame. I've already quoted from it extensively in my first five pages. 

Sources and Searching

Right now I have a really interesting list of a few theorists, some ideas on certain aspects of musicals, and a book I read about Awe earlier this semester. I feel like I'm still searching for the way I want to connect the three. I really want to focus on the human connection that comes from the combination of all of the elements of a musical. Wagner had the whole idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or "his idea of unifying all the works of art via the theatre." (#1 below) and I think there is value in entertaining this idea further. Here are some of the things I've looked at and mused over:

Annotated Bib.

Allen, Alexis. "Behind the Broadway Buzz : An Analysis of the Communications Campaigns of Broadway Musicals." Honors Project--Brigham Young University, 2005., 2005. Print.

       This is a paper on how the general public is specifically catered to in the creation of musicals. What emotional aspects must be there for a genuine connection to occur. It gives specific examples of different campaigns that I will reference in my paper. 

Bernhard, Randall Lee. "Contemporary Musical Theatre : History and Development in the Major Colleges and Universities of Utah." Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Brigham Young University. Dept. of Theatre and Cinematic Arts., 1979. Print.

This paper is super specific and I am looking into a better book about History of Theater in general, I don't like the one I have. But this book has been helpful in diving into some of the more recent developments in theater. Colleges are a little incubator for new ideas to grow. This article will help me with the end of my paper as I seek to show the relevance of the musical.

Edney, Kathryn Ann Tremper. "'Gliding through our Memories': The Performance of Nostalgia in American Musical Theater." 2009. Print.

This paper is very idealistic. But also makes some very good points about how we emotionally connect to theater performances. It has some great information about the transcendent aspect of musicals in the sense that they can bring you away from the world. I don't know if I will use it as much but possibly for a brief introduction to awe.

Garber, Michael. "Reflexive Songs in the American Musical, 1898-1947." 2006. Print.

This paper focuses specifically on American Musicals and how the songs comment on the current events in context of the story. They use irony and parody and tropes to build what he calls, "An implied community." I wanted to talk about this connection, community aspect of musicals at the end of my paper. How we connect to the play and how we and the play connect to the others watching and to life in general.

Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav), 1875-1961. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Eds. Hull, R. F. C. (Richard Francis Carrington),1913-1974., C.G. Jung, and translated by R.F.C. Hull. 2nd ed. ed. 20. Vol. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980. Print. Archetypen Und Das Kollective Unbewusste.

Again with the community aspect of musicals (Can you tell I like the concept?) Any way here's a theorist on the topic. He gave me more of a way to read a musical, more of the formulaic way a musical is structured by giving me a background of stories and how they are structured and affect us.

Schneider, Kirk J. Awakening to Awe : Personal Stories of Profound Transformation. Ed. Kirk J. Schneider. Lanham, Md.: Jason Aronson, 2009. Print.

Walters, Sally. "Algorithms and Archetypes: Evolutionary Psychology and Carl Jung's Theory of the Collective Unconscious." Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems 1994: 287-306. Print.

This was particularly helpful becasue Jung talks about how our thoughts and perceptions change and are affected by outside stimuli. Gets a bit too sciencey for me but it will help in identify reasons for the reactions to musicals. Are we conditioned? 

And of course Wagner- I just found him, really excited. So excited I kind of want to base my whole paper on his ideas. Any way I'm looking for a good source for him.

I also have many (17) libretti that I have looked over and loved

I will put them in as I use them. I won't use them all. 

Also I will actually annotate, don't worry. I just haven't written the paper so I'm not exactly sure where and what I want to pull from each source, I just have a general idea. Any ideas?

Greg gave me his ideas about Miracle Plays and other suggestions that will really help with the history part of the paper. 

        Dr. Burton suggested I look at Schrader, getting on that.

       If any one has any theorists they think would work well let me know, I have Jung so far.

       Also If you guys think of a musical that would fit a specific aspect of awe (theme, imagery, showcase splendor, inspiring music, etc.) Let me know, that would be helpful to get more examples in the paper. I also just love hearing what everyone says, what the favorites are. We've got to have a little fun right?

                                                  Any suggestions are great! Thanks Guys

Wagner