Getting to work on your document

The Project Proposal

2-3 pages (Think of this as notes towards your introduction)

Double space Times New Roman 12

1.     Explain the artifact you are choosing to research

2.     Explain your interest/personal background about the artifact

3.     Explain some of the general issues you want to know about this artifact

a.     The historical time period

b.     The cultural webs of significance

c.      Why is this particular artifact is important

d.     Why it is it still important

e. What is your question based on the given from your research

One of the requirements of this project is an annotated bib of 40-50 sources.

That means you will look at 80-100 sources to see what works for you based on your givens and you central questions.

Take a look at Purdue's OWL. It is a great resource and will give you some background.

The bib is not for me it is a tool for you to use. When you are working with this much material you need to be able to keep track of it. Let me give you an example.

My project is the movie Inherit the Wind.

There are several themes working at once in this project

• McCarthyism
• Darwinism
• Cold War 
• Change of medium from play to movie
• Intentions of the author 
• Interpretations of the audience
• The fictionalization of real people
• The fictionalization of a real event

My central questions are:

 "What happens when we exchange one historical moment to explain another? Is it ethical to fictionalize a historic moment like the Scope Monkey Trial to make a completely different political point 30 years after the fact? Does the author "owe" anything to the truth of history?"

So I watched the movie three times. Read the play before and after each viewing. Read reviews of the movie from the time period. Watched remakes of the movie. Read interviews by the playwrights. Read about McCarthyism (because that is what the play was about) Read about Darwinism and the Scope Monkey Trial (because that is the historical moment the play is based on) and THEN I started to write the paper. Get it? Before then I had nothing to say. I didn't know enough to say anything but puke out what other people have said before. You want to do something that only you can do because this is your interpretation. This time I am also going to add some interviews to my updated paper. 

So when I come across a source I can't just puke it down and say "There is my source!" You need to make a note (an annotation) about:

What is an Annotated Bibliography? from Kimbel Library on Vimeo.

• What the source says
• How and where you plan to use this information in the project
• Make note of the direct quote and your summary information of it
• Where to look (very important) inside the document.   Tell yourself the quote is on page three of 10 second paragraph. Trust me. You will be happier when you know where to find the things you have worked so hard to unearth. When the numbers get this high I guarantee you that you will not remember why you wanted to use something or what way important about it.
• If it is not an electronic source (gasp) then you will have to write it all down and make sure you get everything that you need. 
• When you start to interview people you will do the same to create the annotation. Add whatever notes you need to make it as complete as possible. 

Figuring out Casablanca

Given the current political climate, what does Casablanca have to teach us about  . . .

(you fill in the blank)

"Come up with a good contemporary quote for Rick and Ilsa Lund."

What do we need to know about the time in which the film is set?
What do we need to know about the time in which the film is released? 

What are the values that we see in the movie? 

masculine
feminine
societal

What are some of the semiotics that inform the film?
What are some of the Marxist ideas that inform the film?
What are it's textual features? (What are the lines that we remember and why?)
Why are these particular actors important? (What does the casting choice mean - can you imagine someone different and how that would change the film?)

Play it again, Sigmund.
Cult Movies in Intertextual Collage
Casablanca: Cultural Impact 
Casablanca in pop culture

What are we doing again?

How does my artifact work with, and in, 

communication and culture?

Culture Defined

The symbols of expression that individuals, groups and societies use to make sense of everyday life and to articulate values. Also, learned behavior of members of given social group.

 —Cultural definition of communication—

“communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed”        

                            (James W. Carey)

—Our stories help define our culture

We know who we are by the stories we tell each other and the stories that we accept. 

—Change comes when we disregard the story. What would make us disregard the story?  

Functions and Effects  

—Limits our options and provides useful guidelines for behavior
—

Culture’s limiting effects can be negative
—

In pluralistic society, dominant culture (sometimes mainstream culture) often challenged openly (Marxist in philosophy) 
—

Co-cultures (smaller cultures within the mainstream)

 Epistemology 

—

We learn how to “be” in our culture through interpersonal communication

—We “see” our experiences interpreted in the mass media

—We  then “redefine” our experience based on the media we take into our lives = the maintenance of culture.

—Communication is the process of creating shared meaning – when we agree on the meaning of things we become a culture.

Take a look at your artifact to start seeing how it has shaped culture. 

For next Tuesday (and to be presented on Thursday): 

Watch Casablanca and ask it the following question: 

Given the current political climate, what does Casablanca have to teach us about (you fill in the blank)

Make note of the following that lends to your perspective:

Semiotics

Marxist

Psychological 

Also use the critical thinking wheel to think through your ideas. 

Put your assignment in your folder on the Google Drive. 

Thinking about your proposal

.          
       Explain the artifact you are choosing to research

2     Explain your interest/personal background about the artifact

3     Explain some of the general issues you want to know about this artifact

a.     The historical time period

b.     The cultural web of significance

c.      Why is this particular artifact is important

d.     Why it is it still important
e. What is your question based on the given from your research

One of the requirements of this project is an annotated bib of 40 sources.

That means you will look at 80-100 sources to see what works for you based on your givens and you central questions.

Take a look at Purdue's OWL. It is a great resource and will give you some background.

The bib is not for me it is a tool for you to use. When you are working with this much material you need to be able to keep track of it. Let me give you an example.

My project is the movie Inherit the Wind.

There are several themes working at once in this project

• McCarthyism
• Darwinism
• Cold War 
• Change of medium from play to movie
• Intentions of the author 
• Interpretations of the audience
• The fictionalization of real people
• The fictionalization of a real event

My central questions are:

 "What happens when we exchange one historical moment to explain another? Is it ethical to fictionalize a historic moment like the Scope Monkey Trial to make a completely different political point 30 years after the fact? Does the author "owe" anything to the truth of history?"

So I saw the movie three times. Read the play before and after each viewing. Read reviews of the movie from the time period. Watched remakes of the movie. Read interviews by the playwrights. Read about McCarthyism (because that is what the play was about) Read about Darwinism and the Scope Monkey Trial (because that is the historical moment the play is based on) and THEN I started to write the paper. Get it? Before then I had nothing to say. I didn't know enough to say anything but puke out what other people have said before. You want to do something that only you can do because this is your interpretation.

So when I come across a source I can't just puke it down and say "There is my source!" You need to make a note (an annotation) about:

• What the source says
• How and where you plan to use this information
• Make note of the direct quote or your summary information of it
• Where to look (very important) Tell yourself the quote is on page three of 10 second paragraph. Trust me. You will be happier when you know where to find the things you have worked so hard to unearth. When the numbers get this high I guarantee you that you will not remember why you wanted to use something or what way important about it.
• If it is not an electronic source (gasp) then you will have to write it all down and make sure you get everything that you need. 

Any questions?

Have this annotated bib done for next Monday. Spend the class period today working on this. This thing is too big to put off.