Homework 4/8

Annotated Bibliography of Shiloh
Luvaas, Jay, et al. Guide to the Battle of Shiloh. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996.
This book gives a detailed description of the Battle of Shiloh and the events that transpired during the battle. The book includes an unbiased account of the events, the order of battle for each of the sides, as well as photographs, maps, and figures to aid in conveying how the battle took place. This book will be useful for my essay because it has detailed information about the Battle of Shiloh, which will help to show the significance of the battle to the text.
Mason, Bobbie. “Bobbie Ann Mason.” Contemporary Authors Online. 25 March 2008. Biography Resource Center. Gale Group Databases. 07 April 2008. .
This source gives a biography of author Bobbie Ann Mason. It gives in depth information of her life, literary works, and awards won. This source provides a bit more knowledge of the author than previous sources I have looked at. For this reason, this source will be most helpful when examining the author’s background and how it relates to the story.
Mason, Bobbie Ann." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 4 Apr. 2008 .
This article is a biography of Bobbie Ann Mason, the author of Shiloh. In it, it discusses where she grew up, her education, and career. This article would be a good source to use in order to find a connection between the author’s life and a reason for writing the story. The information it gives is a general overview of the author’s life and not very detailed. Because of this, I more than likely would not use this source in my essay.
“The Recession of 1980-1982 in the U.S.” San Jose State University Department of Economics. 07 April 2008 .
This website was put together by San Jose State University and explains the recession during the early 1980’s. It gives detailed information as well as charts and graphs that show how the economy changed during the slow down and how it affected the rest of the country. This source will be helpful for my essay in analyzing how the economy of the time played a role in the text of the story.
Weeks, Dick. “Shotgun’s Home of the American Civil War.” 16 May 06. 4 Apr 08 <http://www.civilwarhome.com/>.
This website contains a wealth of information regarding the American Civil War, including descriptions of Civil War battles, timelines of the battles, biographies of those who played a large role in the War, and much more. The information provided on this site is a compilation from many different sources and put together by Weeks himself. This web page will be helpful for my essay because it gives me information regarding the Battle of Shiloh, which will help me to understand how it relates to the story.
Whitley, Peggy. ”American Cultural History 1980-1989.” September 2006. Kingwood College Library. 07 April 2008 This website gives an outline of the major events that shaped the culture and history in the 1980’s. It goes into detail in areas of art, technology, music, literature, and many more. I believe that this source will help tremendously when making connections between the story and the period in real life in which it was written.

For my third essay, I chose to write about Bobbie Ann Mason and her story Shiloh. I wanted to write about this story after I read it because it was set in modern times and would be a little easier to research.
Throughout the story, there are several mentionings of Shiloh, Tennessee and the Battle of Shiloh. This story was written in and connected to a time in our country’s history when there was a recession and economic uncertainty. Both of these appear to have had a large impact on the story.
Knowing the historical/cultural connections to the story make it easier to understand the theme of the story, although it is not necessary in order to pick up on it. It also helps in being able to place the story in a particular time period.
After taking some time to research the historical/cultural connections, I don’t think that I am struggling with any of the parts of the criticism. Other than reading through the sources I cited in my annotated bibliography, I don’t think that there is any information I still need to find.