Final post fro English 112

I found the del.icio.us site to be the most helpful research tool, it was a way to organize things and make it easier to keep track of sites when moving from computer to computer. I have even tagged personal sites on my del.icio.us account. As for the wiki and the blog I looked at them long enough to do what I was required to do and that is pretty much it. They may have been helpful if I had taken the time to utilize them.

Literary Essay

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cheyenne myths and legends
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Literary Essay

So far for my literary essay I have started reading the book I found with the oral histories of the Native Americans. I haven't done any internet research yet.

Research Proposal for Literary Essay

All cultures of the world have stories of the creation of life, love, war, demise and birth. When most people in America think of these things their minds normally go to Christian beliefs, Greek or Roman mythology or other major world religions. One interesting and local source we seem to forget is the Native American beliefs. I plan to compare and contrast the myths and legends of the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes of northern America; to see similarities and differences in Native American culture. As a natural born American the indigenous culture in this country is something I feel should interest those who know little about pre-historic America.
My main source is a collection of oral history that has been documented by an archaeologist who worked with a Native American enthusiast. The sources I have collected are stories on creation, sun moon and stars, heroes and monsters, war and warriors, love and lust, tricksters, animals, spirits and the apocalypse. American Indian Myths and Legends selected and edited by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz, has been a very helpful source as it has many different native tales in a wide variety of topics.
I plan to collect oral histories using the bibliography of the book American Indian Myths and Legends. Along with the information gained from this book I plan to find and use accredited web sites on the topic, and possibly a published archaeologist in the area.
Works Cited
Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz ed. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Pantheon, 1984.

Update

I'm ashamed to admit I have completely been neglecting my literary essay due to working on the draft for my research paper. My research paper is coming along all right I neglected to find visual aides and deleted the only quote from my interview and need to incorporate one in my final draft. I also need to find a way to add more to my paper as it was short.

Feild Research

I called Sue Totterdale on March thirty-first. Sue is a minister, a wedding consultant, and a wedding planner. Sue helped develop the National Association of Wedding Professionals (NAWP). Sue was the NAWP president for four years and has been the national board chairman for two years. Sue has also received the 2005 NAWP National member of the year award. I did not have the chance to talk to Sue much but between the phone conversation and an email she sent me I have quite a bit of information from her.
I have also been to at least three weddings within the last year. Where I have witnessed so many of the traditions I have been researching.

Update on Research Paper

I have been spending time trying to organize what I have found for easier use when needed. Hopefully today I will be conducting an interview via a phone conversation for my field research. I hope the interview turns out to be quite useful, I will update on how it went at a later time.

Feild Research

I am somewhat ashamed to say I have been slacking on my field research. I hope to call a possible source next Monday for an over the phone interview. I have been to a few weddings in the past couple months and have one coming up this weekend, which will five me a chance to see some of these traditions in action, though I'm not sure it really counts as field research.

Best Tools for my Research

After reading my classmate's reviews and even trying a few of them out I found out that meacrawlers seem to be my best research tool.

Search Engines

I most often use Google or MSN when I am searching and neither one are particularly the best at getting me what I really need. I usually have to sift through a lot of useless sites but I have found some good sites from them.

Research

I have not conducted much in the way of research this week due to a heavy work load and a bout of what seems to be a flu, I hope to get more done this upcoming week.

Periodicals

I have not had the chance to find a periodical I can actually read I have found a couple that I may find helpfull but am not yet sure I can get my hands on them. I will continue to search. Here are a few of the articles:

Author(s): Friedman, Diane K.
Title: Wedding superstitions.
Source: Modern bride. 47, no. 3, (June 1995): 488Additional Info: CBS Magazines, etc.]
Alt Journal:
Key Title: Modern bride
Standard No:
ISSN: 0026-7546
OCLC No: 1758443
Article Type: Article
Database: ArticleFirst


Title: Wedding Customs--Cherished Traditions.
Source: Bride's & your new home. 62, no. 1, (February 1995): 530
Additional Info: Condé Nast Publications,Issue Id: Special Wedding Dress Issue
Alt Journal: Key Title: Bride's & your new home
Preceding Title: Bride's (Condé Nast Pubications, inc.)
Succeeding Title: Bride's (New York, N.Y. : 1995)
Standard No: ISSN: 1059-7476
OCLC No: 24706604
Article Type: Article Database: ArticleFirst



Author(s): Friedman, Diane K.
Title: Wedding superstitions.
Source: Modern bride. 46, no. 6, (December 1994): 286
Additional Info: CBS Magazines, etc.]
Issue Id: December, 1994-January, 1995
Alt Journal: Key Title: Modern bride
Standard No: ISSN: 0026-7546
OCLC No: 1758443 Article
Type: Article Database: ArticleFirst

Field Research

I do not quite have a detailed plan though I did receive a response to an email I sent to a lady named Sue, who I believe conducts wedding ceremonies. The email contains a phone number and a note saying I may contact her for an interview. The interview will hopefully be a great start to my field research.

Books I Plan on Using so Far

Carley Roney and the editors at The Knot
The Knot GUIDE TO WEDDING VOWS AND TRADITIONS,
READINGS, RITUALS, MUSIC, DANCES, AND TOASTS
First Editions
Published in New York by Broadway Books 2000

Narrowing Based On Week Two Disscussion

I was not offered much help on narrowing my topic question in the week 2 discussion. I however have been brainstorming and have thought about concentrating on the most current commonly followed traditions in the average American wedding.

Keyword

How did traditions such as the white wedding dress, standing positions of the bride and groom, rings on the hand and the many other traditions in a typical Christian wedding get their start?

Traditions
Customs
Traditional
Traditionaly

Ring
Wedding Bands

White Wedding Dress
Wedding Gown
Bridal Gown
Wedding
Marriage
Matrimony
Union
Marriage Ceremony
Nuptials

Start
Begin
Beginning
Origin
Originate
Lead
Led
Get Going
Started
Evolve
Evolved

I used a few thesaurus websites such as Word Source and the Merrian Webster dictionary to find synonyms. I thought of any way to add prefixes or suffixes to the words that might make them more helpful.

Page 39 questions

1.
A. When did such traditions as the white wedding dress, standing position for the bride and groom during the ceremony, rings on the left hands, and others start?
B. How were these traditions started?
C. Who was involved in starting these traditions?
D. Could there be new traditions evolving in the 20th century to replace some of the dated and no longer relevant traditions of the past.
E. How do marriage traditions have practical applications.
F. Should everyone be more aware of the origins of there wedding customs,
G. What customs are still practiced today and why are they still in practice and others are not.
H. Where did the common American wedding customs originate.
I. Would people use the customs as often if they knew the origins.
J. How come some traditions seem to be almost universal where as some others are very localized.
2. How were these traditions started?
3. How did traditions such as the white wedding dress, standing positions of the bride and groom, rings on the hand and the many other traditions in a typical American wedding get there start.

Early Research

I have found a couple interesting sites on the Internet with information on how certain traditions got their start. The problem I’m having is finding out who the source is. I have also found some possibly helpful books in the online library catalogue but have not had the time to go pick them up will hopefully get my hands on them tomorrow. Here’s a list of the books I found in the online catalogue.

Title Author
Getting married the way you want Arthur Dobrin & Kenneth Briggs

The Knot guide to wedding vows and traditions Carley Roney

A Short History of marriage Ethel Urlin (Ethel Lucy)

Wedding Days Anita Ganeri

The Wedding Peter Lacey

Topic for research paper

For my topic I chose the origins of wedding traditions and superstitions. This topic interests me as I am getting married in June and have an interest in how these traditions got started as well as why they were started.
I know very little about my subject, I have heard that the term honeymoon came about because the bride’s father used to provide the newlyweds with a month of honey mead. The bride being carried over the threshold was a superstitious tradition having to do with evil spirits. I’ve heard rumor that the bride stands on the left so her groom could hold her with the left while he fights off competitors with his right hand.
There is so much I want to learn about my topic. One area that really interest me is the ring on the left hand. I would also like to see if some of the other things I have heard are true.

Brainstorming Topics

History of Photography
History of Digital Photography
Genetics
Music
Marriage Traditions-Superstitions
History of the English Language
The Benefits of Physical Education in our Public Schools
Surnames
Queen Elizabeth