Twenty-One Genres and How to Write Them

2 Annotated Bibliography

2 Annotated Bibliography example: Partial Annotated Bibliography for “The Logan Nunnery: Discovering an Obliterated Site,” Allie Anderson Bell, Michael Mayerfeld. “The Ghosts of Place.” Theory and Society 26.6 (1997): 813–36. Print. Bell’s article argues that ghosts are part of our everyday lives. Their presence exists even if their physical body does not. He goes on to describe how ghosts set boundaries of possession and ownership of place. A ghost will let a human know when his or her presence is not wanted by making them feel frightened, disturbed, or unsafe. Bell also explains his belief that we experience places socially, similarly to how we experience other people. Because ghosts are a part of place they become part of the social experience when discovering that particular locale. Locations that are well known for their supernatural inhabitants are treated differently. They are approached with a measured step and their aura calls out to those with curious minds. This theory very much applies to my topic of the Nunnery. Its landscape is treated differently because people believe it to be haunted. 12    Genres Bennett, Gillian. Alas, Poor Ghost: Traditions of Belief in Story and Discourse. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1999. Print. In her book, Bennett claims that even though supernatural experiences have been demoted to nursery, commercial, or fantasy worlds, people have encounters with supernatural forces that cannot be explained or put into those categories. She also explores the relationship between narrative and belief by interviewing people about their beliefs when it comes to ghosts and ghost stories and then analyzing their responses. Bennett believes that ghost stories are communal and reflect attitudes and beliefs of the society they circulate in. They also help to create and shape a community’s folklore. I found this last point to be especially useful in my research as the Nunnery has greatly impacted Logan’s folklore. Ellis, Bill. Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2003. Print. In this book Ellis takes a deeper look into legends. He studies how legends come to be and what impact they have on society. He describes legends as a kind of “living” thing because each version of a legend is somewhat the teller’s creation. He also says that legends are a process and not just a collection of texts. Ellis explains that people tell legends in order to define the world they inhabit. Legends contribute to the social experience of one’s surroundings. While conducting interviews on the legends of the Nunnery, Ellis’s research helped me have a greater understanding of the importance of the various legends I was gathering. Foote, Kenneth E. Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy. Austin: University of Texas Press Austin, 2003. Print. This book shows how violence and tragedy have affected landscape in America. Foote gives several examples of different landscapes across the United States that have been altered because of events that have occurred. He discusses what obliteration means and how violence and tragedies can cause a landscape to become obliterated. Foote is very clear in the way he presents his research and thoughts which was something I really appreciated about the book. I drew my main idea from Foote and altered his criteria of obliteration to fit that of the Nunnery. I was able to compare and contrast the Nunnery with examples he provided to further prove my own theories on obliteration of landscape. Goldstein, Diane E., Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas. Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2007. Print. This book looks at ghost lore from various angles. The authors take a closer look at how popular culture affects tradition and belief when it comes to the Annotated Bibliography     13 supernatural. Ghost stories can reveal different things about personal life, culture, and nature. This book document the authors’ field work by giving accounts of ghost stories and pictures of sites that are said to be haunted. I found this book particularly useful because it focuses on how ghost stories affect our culture today, which related to my research of the legends surrounding the Nunnery. Olwig, Kenneth R. “Recovering the Substantive Nature of Landscape.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 86.4 (1996): 630–53. Print. Olwig’s article presents several ideas on the use and meaning of landscape. He discusses how landscapes are not just places but home to nature and customs. He claims that variables such as community...