E C Annotated Bibliography

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY (Extra Credit)

American Studies differentiates itself from American History partly on the basis of subject matter and partly on the basis of resources. American Studies tends to look farther afield for insights into the culture and its character, using a range of literary sources, artifacts, music, art, and popular culture of all sorts. By the end of the semester, each of you wishing extra credit will submit an informal annotated bibliography on the topic Houses and Homes in American Culture. This will include at least:

1. One Novel

2. One Short Story

3. One Poem

4. One Essay

5. One Newspaper or Journal article

6. One Painting (high style)

7. One popular illustration

8. One piece of popular music

9. One Movie, Play, or Television Program

10. Other..... Something else, of your own choice or devising,

. . .in which American houses or homes are the focus.

Illustrations or examples from our texts are not eligible.

By American, I mean residences within the geographic United States. We will be talking about European houses, but don't include European examples in your bibliography.

I want you to find these largely using the Internet. It is good for you to get as much research practice as possible. You can, of course use other sources as well. However, you will quickly learn that the Internet is a very good way to access even local news stories. For things which aren't current, remember how useful Archive.org is.

The annotation for each one will include:

How you located the item. If you found it on the Internet, include the website address and the search engine you used to find it.

A very short abstract (1-3 sentences) of the content.

A paragraph or two explaining what a consideration of this particular item added to your understanding of the role of houses and homes in American culture.

There will be no preview for this. I have opened a slot for it under "assignments" on Bridges.