The Function of Magic in Fairy Tales by Mineh Eisaeian and Kevork Bekarian

Our best advice to people who are doing this researched paper is to start thinking about a topic during the first couple of weeks of class because time flies! Also, pick a topic that is specific enough to cover for this assignment, but broad enough to actually be able to find good sources on. Start looking for sources before fully committing to a topic because some topics are really difficult to find sources on. For example, with our topic concerning magic, we couldn't find any critical articles on the CSULA Library Database, and therefore, had to rely strictly on books and the internet--which is time consuming.
Knowing what we know now, we would definitely pick an easier topic that wasn't so specific. Also, we would have started looking for sources before we committed to it. Most importantly, we would set a lot of time aside to look through the books we pulled out from the library, because most of them we didn't get to look at in detain due to time issues.
Our researched question was: What are the functions of magic in fairy tales, and what purpose do they serve for children and adolescents? (Our question had to get adjusted a little bit due to the sources we came across in order to have enough material to write about)

These are the sources we used  in our paper:

Ashliman, D.L. Fairy Lore: A Handbook. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2006. Print.

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New

            York: A Division of Random House, Inc., 1989. Print.

Couburn, Karissa K. UNC Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, 2006

            Web. 04 June 2013.

Jones, Steven Swann. The Fairy Take: The Magic Mirror of Imagination. New York: Twayne,

            1995. Print.

Magic-The function and Effects of Magic In Classic Anthropological Works. Science

            Encyclopedia. Web. 31 May 2013.

Magoulick, Mary. Folklore Connections. Georgia College & State University Department of

              English, Speech & Journalism. Web. 04 June 2013.

Moody, Andrew. Fairytales' magic helps define our morality. The Sydney Herald National

               Times, 2013. Web. 04 June 2013.

Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tale as Myth, Myth as Fairy Tale. Kentucky: The University Press of

               Kentucky, 1994. Print.

 

Disney Media

1. Hi everyone! This is Shaline, Vicky, and Yahaina. You guys are probably reading this message either before starting or after finishing your research paper like I did because you guys want to know what is this research about or what is blog that at the end you must post your wonderful work “research” on the blog before turn in your paper. However, you made it. Yeah! Congratulation for your hard work. You are DONE! Finally, you can release all the stress that come along for time. But what we want to do now is give you guys some trips that we (Shaline, Vicky, and Yahaina) have done before and it is a helpful trip to help you guys is: is work in group like us, 1. Need to corporate, 2. Discuss about each other opinion on the topic, 3. Don’t need to have the draft early but think about the topic early... We plan ahead “the idea” what you going to write about or to search so you don’t to stress out when it comes to have other class homework done at the same time. Throughout our experience, we had a hard time to meet up since we all have different schedule. But in the , we are VERY satisfied with what we have (15 page written research paper).
2. The research question that we came to mind and found information on was: why Disney Media and Their Stereotypical Expectations on Beauty?
3. Here are some helpful source for those who are thinking or interesting in doing this topic:
Douglas, Susan J. "Lean and Mean." The Rise of Enlightened Sexism: How Pop Culture Took Us
from Girl Power to Girls Gone Wild. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2010. 217. Print.
"What’s Wrong With Cinderella?" The New York Times. N.p., 24 Dec. 2006. Web. 28 May 2013.
http://www.nytimes.com.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. By Walt Disney. Distributed by Buena Vista Film
Distribution Co., 1937. DVD.
Cinderella. By William Peed and Wilfred Jackson. Distributed by Buena Vista Film Distribution
Co., 1949. DVD.
Beauty and the Beast. Dir. Gary Trousdale. By Linda Woolverton. Buena Vista Pictures
Distribution, Inc., 1991. DVD.
Sleeping Beauty. Dir. Clyde Geromini. By Charles Perrault. Walt Disney Productions, 1959.
DVD.
Stone, Kay. "Things Walt Disney Never Told Us." The Journal of American Folklore 88 (1975):
347. JSTOR. Web. 30 May 2013. <www.jstor.org>.
"Statistic Brain, Teenage Consumer Spending Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. Statistic Brain, n.d.
Web. 30 May 2013. <http://statisticbrain.com/>.
"ASAPS." The Mark of Distinction in Cosmetic Plastic Surgery®. Cosmetic Surgery National
Data Bak Annual Statistics, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 May 2013.
<http://www.surgery.org/>.
Parsons, Linda T. "Ella Evolving: Cinderella Stories and the Construction of Gender-Appropriate
Behavior." Children's Literature in Education 35.2 (2004): 135-54. Print.
Olfman, Sharna. The Sexualization of Childhood. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2009. Print.
Smith, Stacey. Cook, Crystal. Gender Stereotypes: An Analysis of Popular Films and TV. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media . N.p.. Web. <http://www.seejane.org/downloads/GDIGM_Gender_Stereotypes.pdf>.
Victoria, Wellman. Are our girls suffering from 'Princess Syndrome'? Disney heroines teach us to trade on our looks and value material things, claims new book. Mail Online. N.p.. Web <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2077635/Princess-Syndrome-Disney-heroines-teach-trade-looks-value-material-things.html>
Child, Ben. Brave director criticises Disney's 'sexualised' Princess Merida redesign.  The Guardian news 2013. N.p. Web. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/13/brave-director-criticises-sexualised-merida-redesign>
Orenstein, Peggy. Cinderella Ate My Daughter. HaperCollin Publishers, New York 10022. Print.

Dystopia In Reality

1. Hello you guys! This is Jeffrey and Jzaille and we want to congratulate you guys for coming this far. So, you guys are probably reading this either at the starting of your researched paper because you are curious as to what the paper will be about, or at the very end while you are going to post your blog before turning in your paper. Either way, you made it! You are done and you can finally breathe from all the stress that either this class or your other classes have given you. BUT, the most helpful tip that we (Jeffrey & Jzaille) wish we could have done and can give you guys is to START EARLY. We cannot stress that any further because if you do start earlier, you wouldn't stress as much. Throughout our experience, we had a hard time figuring out what to put on our paper since two minds are working together. But in the end, we're VERY satisfied with what we have. 

2. The research question that we came to mind and found information on was: Why are dystopian cultures a big portrayal in literature and the media?

3. Sources that might be helpful for those who are thinking about doing this topic:

BUSSEY, M. (2009). A UTOPIC REFLECTION. Social Alternatives, 28(3), 57-59.

McAlear, R. (2010). The Value of Fear: Toward a Rhetorical Model of Dystopia. Interdisciplinary Humanities, 27(2), 24-42.

Milner, A. (2009). Changing the climate: The politics of dystopia. Continuum: Journal Of Media & Cultural Studies, 23(6), 827-838. doi:10.1080/10304310903294754

MULLER, V. (2009). THE DYSTOPIAN MIRROR AND THE FEMALE BODY. Social Alternatives, 28(3), 29-34.

Resch, R. P. (1997). “Utopia, Dystopia, and the Middle Class in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Boundary 2, 24(1), 137-176. Duke University Press. 

Zombie Ideology

Research Question:  With the rise in popularity in zombies what are they portrayed as in the real world?

Why I chose this question: I decided to write about this topic because I have always been fascinated by zombies. I wanted to further my knowledge in this field of portraying societies fears to zombies. I have noticed there can be hidden messages or life lessons that one can learn from seeing any type of films.

Helpful Tips: Some may say to choose a partner to write a team paper, but I believe that its not all that necessary. I was capable of completing the task very well on my own. There are advantages of working together because of less workload. But also disadvantages because sometimes a partner can not be relied on.

There is no need to start really early but as soon as you can because of other assignments (essays) you have to complete. But it is helpful that you start looking at probable sources you can use maybe skim through some?

Do NOT Procrastinate!!!!!!!!!!!!! or else!

CSULA Database is very helpful learn how to maneuver through the website

Here are some articles I used:

Bishop, Kyle. “Raising the Dead.” Journal of Popular Film & Television 33.4 (2006): 195-205. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 May 2013

Bishop, Kyle. “Dead Man Still Walking: Explaining the Zombie Renaissance.” Journal of the Popular Film and Television 37.1 (2009) 16-25 Print 28 March 2013

William Bishop, Kyle. “The Idle Proletariat: Dawn of the Dead”, Consumer Ideology, and the Loss of Productive Labor. Journal of Popular Culture 43.2 (2010): 234-248. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 May 2013

Brandon Brown, et al. “Zombie- - A Pop Culture Resource for Public Health Awareness. “Emerging Infectious Diseases 19.5 (2013): 809-813. Academic Search Premier. Web 13 May 2013

Cruz, Ronald Allan Lopez. “Mutations and Metamorphosis: Body Horror Is a Biological Horror.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 40.4 (2012): 160-168. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 May 2013

Rick, Worland. “OWI Meets the Monsters: Hollywood Horror Films and War Propaganda, 1942 to 1945 Journal of the Cinema Department (1997) Web. 16 May 2013

Boluk, Stephanie, and Lenz, Wylie. “Infection, Media, and Capitalism: From Early Modern Plagues to Postmodern Zombies. “Journal of the Early Modern Cultural Studies 10.2 (2011) 126-147

Disney Princesses and Race

Research Question: 
What messages are Disney Princesses inferring about race?

Why we chose this question. 
We both had similar questions about Disney Princesses which led us to collaborate and write one research paper. Both of us being from cultural backgrounds, had difficulty accepting who we were and seeing ourselves through the Disney Princesses as little girls.

Helpful tips from us to you! 

• Work with a partner if possible, because it is easier in  terms of completing the research paper successfully and thinking about ideas to incorporate into the paper. 
• Save any source that you may find, regardless if you find them unhelpful at first. Things that may not seem related to your topic at first can actually be useful for counterarguments in you paper. 
• RESEARCH BEFORE YOUR RESEARCH. Many times people choose topics that are dead ends which result in not having enough to talk about. Consider writing your paper on something that interests you but also that is not too concrete so that you cannot find information. 
• Prepare to begin writing your research paper as soon as Professor Hicks gives out the research paper guidelines. (We did this and had little trouble with applying our research to the questions that were given.) 
• JSTOR was VERY HELPFUL in finding journal articles. 
• Go into depth when analyzing your sources and even your personal perceptions. 

Helpful sources for this topic. 

1. Hurley, D. (2005). Seeing white: Children of color and the disney fairy tale princess. The Journal of Negro Education, 74(3), 221-232. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.mimas.calstatela.edu 
2. Orenstein, P. (2011). Cinderella ate my daughter, dispatches from the front lines of the new girlie-girl culture. (1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
3. Gibbs, A. (December 2009/January 2010 ). Disney's Princess Tiana. Ebony, LVX(2), 62. Retrieved from www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic 

Don't leave to the last minute! GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN! :) 

P.S.. Notice how the photo above only has one princess of color and the way she's dressed compared to the other (white) princesses. 

Do

Don

Aliens and fairies

1.)What I would have done differently was not doing my research at night because the next morning I would have forgotten much of the article and I think doing a research review of your results will help you write the paper faster. I would have also tried to write the Parts in different days because I wrote the whole paper in one day thinking it was do the next day and it was not. I would also say start early if you are a procrastinator because you do not want to be locked up in your room trying to write the research paper especially when the weather is unbearably.

2.) My research question was " how are beliefs in aliens related to our old beliefs of aliens". I used a blog that had quotes from a scholarly journals and books but I only used the quotes that were cited. I did most of my research from the library database using the Academic search primer. I used search terms like extraterrestrial and fairies which gave me a pretty decent results which i mostly used them all. It is a good topic because you find stuff that you didnt not expect would be related to aliens and fairies.

1.      Brin, D. (1994). Extraterrestrial nightmares: Aliens aren't the first creatures to capture our dark imagination. Omni, 16(9), 4.

2.      “Faerie A-E,” Last accessed Saturday, December 25, 2010

3.      Gromacki, G. (2012). Ancient Aliens or Demonic Deception?. Journal Of Ministry & Theology, 16(2), 24-62.

4.      Hiebert, R. (2002). Little green gurus. Report / Newsmagazine (National Edition), 29(20), 52.

5.      In: European Journal of UFO and Abduction Studies,( 2000) , p113 -118

6.      Susan Blackmore and Marcus Cox, “Alien Abductions, Sleep Paralysis and the Temporal Lobe.” 

Evolution of Vampires

In completing my research paper, there are a few things I can advise that I think will make your lives easier regardless of your topics. First of all, when you first hear of the research paper in English 102, you might freak out a bit just like I did. However, in all honesty this paper wasn't that bad at all! and for your information, this is coming from someone who dislikes writing papers. I advise you to take this paper step by step because you do have sometime to finish. when it comes to actually finding research which I believe is the most time consuming, go to a pair tutor that im sure Mrs. Hicks will tell you about. It helped me a lot to see a pair tutor. It must have only taken me no more than ten minutes to find great articles! Also, I would obviously have to say to not slack off TOO much and literally put off the research paper until the last week. I wish that I knew about pair tutors before I started doing research at home because I was so lost . I was already starting to doubt the topic I had chosen but with help in searching for research, I found that my topic was great! probably what I would've done differently is start working on part III instead of I and II because III is definitely the most difficult.

Now, my topic was on vampires and their roles throughout time. I basically started with the origins of vampires and how they were first seen as a horror figure and through time progressed to symbolizing things such as homosexuality, STDs, and including somewhat stereotypical gender roles. My question for this paper was " How are the roles of vampires from back then different from the ones shown in more modern times?". In searching for answers to my question, the sources that I found  most useful were...

Day,Peter. "Vampires Myths And Metaphors Of Enduring Evil". Volume 28. Amsterdam-New York, NY 2006.

Dresser, Norine. "American Vampires fans, victims, and practitioners". w-w- Norton and Company- New York- London.

McGunnigle, Christopher. "My Own Vampire The Metamorphosis of the Queer Monster In Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula".

Fink, Marty. "Aids Vampires: Reimagining Illness in Octavia Butler's Fledging". Science Fiction Studies, volume 37 (2010).

Bode, Lisa. "Transitonal Tastes: Teen girls and genre in the critical reception of Twilight". Continuum: journal of Media and Cultural Studies Vol.24. No5, October 2010, 707-719.

for these sources, you could find them on the school's data base.  For the two books , I found them in the GR section in the library (Second Floor). I recommend asking a pair tutor for help if you cant find them.