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Can someone please help me with my homework??? (Might as well be upfront about it!)
I'm looking for articles about Enchantment. (The book... not the state of being.) I am playing around with the idea of writing my final paper in my "History and Theory of the Novel" class on the effect of Russian Fairy Tales on Russian Fantasy Novels. I realize that Card is not Russian, of course, so if I go with Enchantment, it'll be a similar sort of idea. Anyway, I need scholarly articles about Enchantment. I'm fairly sure that I got the only one(s) out there. I say one(s) because I also got some on russian fantasy/fairy tales and the novel in general.
I'm in the planning stage. Don't have a narrowed topic yet. Anyway... anyone know of any articles??
Title: Mindscapes, the geographies of imagined worlds [electronic resource] / edited by George E. Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin. Publisher: Carbondale, Ill. : Southern Illinois University Press, c1989.
Misogyny, the Male Gaze, and Fantasies of Female Death: Eto ia, Edichka and Russkaia krasavitsa By: Skomp, Elizabeth; New Zealand Slavonic Journal, 2003; 37: 137-42. (journal article)
Orson Scott Card: An Approach to Mythopoeic Literature By: Collings, Michael; Mythlore: A Journal of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and the Genres of Myth and Fantasy Stu, 1996 Summer; 21 (3 (81)): 36-50. (journal article)
Thanks for any help, Katarain
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
You do realize that one of the main points of research papers is learning to do research, right? You're supposed to be using the assignment as a directive goal to structure a seaching strategy around. If you just ask other people to do your looking for you, your cheating yourself out of an important educational experience.
If you want help with this, go to your school's librarians. Being knowlegable about how to do literature searches is one of their main jobs.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Not to be a wet blanket, but I thought that research included using all your sources, not just the ones under the official banners.
It looks like katarain has done research and has run out of ideas. I don't have any ideas to offer at the moment, but since he/she HAS tried through the official channels, I see no reason to deny her/him the wisdom of those who may be more creative or more knowledgeable, regarding this very specialized topic.
Posts: 2425 | Registered: Jan 2002
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MrSquicky, Thank you for being so concerned about me. I happen to work in a library full-time in the serials acquisition department. I know more than a large majority of college students--and even other graduate students on how to do research and how to find articles. And that includes using all resources to find obscure hidden articles, including a place like hatrack. (Thank you, LadyDove for pointing that out.)
I know I haven't posted very much lately, but I have participated here in the past and I lurk often--so I thought that Hatrack would be the logical place to ask about articles on an OSC book. Despite the vast research databases and resources we have here in the library, and indeed, all over the lovely state of Georgia, articles and research pertaining to fantasy and science fiction is quite lacking. I'm afraid the scholarly contributions on the subject are lacking for the less popular books--by that I mean, NON-Tolkien. There's plenty on him. What I hope to do is to be one of the ones ADDING to the presently-scant file on other authors in genre.
I totally understand if you have no articles to offer me--but I thought that there was a small chance that someone, somewhere here might have a half of a memory about an article they read once or came across about Enchantment that might be useful. Then, I can use my keen research skills to hunt said article down.
As a library employee and regular-patron, I know the librarians here would be the first to say one of the most important steps in research is knowing where to look for help, including less traditional sources.
Have I gone on long enough?? I admit, I was mildly insulted by the insinuation that I'm trying to get out of work, but perhaps I didn't explain my intentions fully enough. I simply don't want to miss important articles. Frankly, the research is the easy part--the hard part is reading and understanding it all, and then creating my own written work to add to and to counter what's already out there.
Okay... thanks for listening. I knew it was a long shot that anybody would know of something out there--but I had to try.
"How did you approach the research needed for this book? Do you use the Internet for research?
I tried the Internet for research and found it nearly useless. A more experienced friend, D'Ann Stoddard, did manage to find useful information on the manufacture of gunpowder from natural materials. But for myself, I found nothing useful directly. But in an indirect way, the best "find" was through the Internet -- when I got an email from a grad student in Russian studies who was inquiring about my use of Russian words and names in my Homecoming series. I mentioned to her the book I was working on and hired her to read my manuscript and make suggestions. The result was every speck of authenticity on Russian culture and language in the book .
Otherwise, my research was really in the folklore: A collection of Russian folk tales and a collection of Jewish folk tales. These gave me the shape of the story, for Russian folk tales make western European tales look cheery indeed. They have a way of going way beyond the "happily ever after." In one extravagantly vile tale (which I loved) the hero wins the girl's hand in marriage -- but then she tries to kill him! Naturally, I had to use a variation of that one, along with some fun Baba Yaga stuff. And the Jewish folk tales had the recurring theme of a marriage covenant broken -- a betrothal denied, and the punishment that comes until the original betrothal is honored. So that, too, became a complicating element in Enchantment. Then I also read extensively in early Russian and pre-Russian Slavic history. Not that there's all that much to read! I cite my sources thoroughly in the acknowledgments, which I treat as a bibliography whenever research is important to a book."
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Beren, No! I didn't have those--very wonderful sources, thank you. I was avoiding all of the interviews/reviews on Enchantment--and I can see that was a mistake. There's some great stuff in there on Card's process.
So thank you, very much. I haven't read the second one yet, but it looks very useful.
quote: Librarians get extremely extensive training in looking stuff up and helping find sources
quote:
quote: what makes a librarian more qualified to help than a hatracker?
I don't know, the fact that it's their job? Maybe?
OK, that's true... and mechanics get extensive training in fixing a car, and it's their job but that still shouldn't stop my friends from asking me to help them do it...
quote: AND in not helping unethically overmuch. That's why."
huh? I'm not sure how a request for raw sources could be filled unethically.
Besides, librarians may or may not actually be good at finding things (I've run into both) and the chances of finding a librarian who just happened to have read some article on Card and remembered it is much smaller than the chances of one of us doing the same.
Why should anyone hamstrings themselves by not trying every possible source of material? That's just poor research habits!!!
Posts: 409 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I'm not saying she shouldn't ask here - it's perfectly reasonable to ask around in more than one place - asking here in addtion to doing more traditional research is fine.
Asking here (and I know Katarain didn't do this) instead of using traditional sources would be a mistake IMO.
And while hatrackers are wonderfully intelligent people with tons of knowledge and great resources, we are not a replacement for professional librarians. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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My boss wants me to go get my masters in library science after I finish my masters in English, so maybe someday hatrack users WILL be a good replacement for librarians. I bet we have a couple of librarians here already anyway.
For the record, I didn't ask a librarian for help. I know how to research with the best of them. But even the best know sometimes you gotta get help.
I've managed to do a first draft of my prospectus for my paper. (A prospectus is something you turn in early that outlines what you perceive the final paper will be about.) It's not very good because I'm getting a migraine and can hardly see. I wrote most of it with my eyes close. Here's hoping the teacher is understanding.
Thanks for the help. It's really fun that I'm getting to write a paper on something that interested me. The official assignment was to focus on one of the books from class. I got special permission to do something focusing on sci-fi/fantasy. More work for me--but more FUN work for me, too.
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I'm planning on my MLIS when I finish my undergrad, so we at least have one potential librarian here. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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As for the "unethical" part - this tends to be more of an issue in schools than elsewhere.
Working as a computer lab assistant, we would often have people expect us to do their assignments or stand over their shoulder and guide them, mouse in hand, to completing the assignment.
The topper was from one girl who exclaimed loudly and rudely, "wait, I'm not finished with you yet!" as I tried to walk back to my desk.
At which point I looked her in the eye and growled, "yes. Yes you are." and walked on. (I'm not particularly subtle at 03:30. )
On the flip side, I had one girl slug me for trying to do too much of her project and instead I gave an hour and a half lecture on the basics of using Access. That was gratifying.
posted
You know, I wasn't actually trying to be a jerk. It looked to me like Katarin had done a google search and come up with some stuff. If he had said something like "I've done a formal literature search, but it's only yielded a few results, anyone got others?", I wouldn't have said what I did. I didn't see any indication that this was the case, and, as I've seen this so many times, both in RL and on Hatrack, I gave the advice you're supposed to give undergrads who are having problems coming up with sources. Relying on asking other people for sources as anything more than a supplementary research method is a common but really crappy habit.
A librarian is different because, for one already mentioned thing, it's their job. They are paid to do it and are trained in how to do it. Also, a librarian will very rarely direct you to point sources. Their job is to help you figure out where you should be looking, not usually to point you to specific articles and such.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I only scanned your question very briefly, but I hope my in-depth research will help: on page one he uses 'the' eight times, and 'a' six times. He doesn't use 'an' at all. Let me know if you want me to do page two for you, ok?
Posts: 6213 | Registered: May 2001
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I'm really looking forward to writing this. I can really see this topic expanding into a master's thesis. I wasn't planning on doing a thesis unless I found a topic I could really get interested in. (If we don't do a thesis here, we just take extra classes.) Um.. the topic being Russian Fairy Tales/Fantasy.. not sure how specific I'd get. I'm sure this paper would have a part in it, though.
This gives a bit more perspective on Baba Yaga and points you toward some other Baba Yaga sources. She is one of the most famous “crones”, so research on crones will help you with Baba Yaga research.
Personally, I’m very interested in the role of human belief in empowering gods. This was what most fascinated me in “Enchantment” and it is an important part of the Alvin Maker series. Neil Gaiman also pays homage to this idea in “American Gods”.
Posts: 2425 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Personally (not to be contrarian or anything), I'm kind of sick of that idea. It's been used well in some places, and Enchantment is one of my favorite books, but ... I dunno. I'm more fascinated by the faceless "gods" in Sandmagic who fed on the service of their followers, not just their belief.
Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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(Might as well be upfront about it!)
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I bet we have a couple of librarians here already anyway.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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