Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography
Elizabeth Kent
English Composition II
29 February 2016
Annotated Bibliography
Boorstin, Daniel J. The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America. New
York: Vintage, 1992. Print.
In Boorstins book he discusses the psychological effects that the media has on
society. Although he focuses on the presence of media on society, he also has a
lot of points in which celebrities play a huge part in the distraction. He claims
these distractions as pseudo-events which include the celebrities and their life
styles, which draw away from real and important issues of the world. His main
idea that he addressed in his work is the idea of hyperreality, which includes
how the people in society are so attracted to the famous, media, and other
societal distractions that they do not give enough attention to the people that
matter.
This source is a strong source because Boorstin is an expert in Psychological and
Sociological studies. His Ph.D. follows these studies and his account of events
and theses are based on close observation and studies. The fact that his ideas
and studies are widely accepted and his idea of psychological hyperreality has
become a study. The source is a bit old, but its content really still stick out today.
The book has a lot of implied context which could really be read in different
ways, which will lead to a careful review and use of quotes within my essay.
This source will help my paper because it really emphasizes the fact that society
has been distracted by all of these stars that have pulled away from the
heroes and leaders that we should be listening to. This book really brings new
insight into the psychological issue that resides within my topic.
celebrity worship. These negative effects are said to be really present when
worshipping the pop star celebrities, meaning those who are just in it for the
fame and money. It is also mentioned that if people worship influential leaders,
they will go through positive effects. Bouchez uses this contrast to really show
the negativity, that people choose to put themselves through.
This article is strong because it utilizes studies and professional sources from
WebMD to come up with a strong voice in the topic. Specifically this article
focuses on my topic of societies focus on celebrities and how it can affect them.
The article is a little on the older side when it comes to publication dates,
however the issue that is my topic covers the growing appearance in fame in
society, which is huge in the twentieth century. With that being said many article
across the century are pretty similar.
This article will be very helpful to my topic, especially because it shows those
negative side effects that were stated before. These studies can really boost my
point when discussing the societal issues of some celebrities. Bouchez and I are
focusing on some of the same concepts that arise when society focuses on the
famous people, who have a better lifestyle.
Martinez, Eliza. The Effects of Celebrity Role Models on Kids and Teens.
GlobalPost. Demand Media. 2016. Web. 24 February 2016.
In this article Martinez speaks about the positive and negative effects on
celebrities. These examples show both the ability of celebrities to be good role
models as well as what can happen when teens choose the wrong role model.
She focuses on the fact that people listen to celebrities, especially through
lyrics, over parents and other leadership idols. After the effects of celebrities,
Martinez also discusses the ways that parents can make sure that kids the best
celebrity role models that use their fame to do well within the community. Also
discussed are the indications and example of changes in kids when having a role
model, like changes it attitude, clothes, and other observational factors.
This article is strong because it brings the accounts of actual parents in the
community who witness changes in their kids through celebrity role models as
well as citing a different source that speaks on similar issues. Although this
article is short and discusses the positive aspects of celebrity idols, it does a
good job at laying the basis of the big picture of how the people in society are
really attracted to the words and lifestyle of celebrities.
This article will be used primarily for the base topics in my essay. Seeing as it is
not comprised of a lot of information, it will be perfect for topics and adding to
my thesis. This can easily be followed by a different source that picks up from
Martinezs idea and amplifies it.
Kohut, Andrew. Too Much Celebrity News, Too Little Good News. PeoplePress. Pew Research Center. 2007. Web. 28 February 2016.
In this study that Andrew Kohut established, researchers collected
information based on the amount of coverage that celebrities get in the news
and media, compared to the amount of coverage that more important topics
get. There findings estimated that about forty percent of news and media
coverage was about celebrity gossip and celebrity news. Meanwhile, it may
interest that the remaining sixty percent was split between politics, war,
sports, and healthcare. For these other categories, Kohut and researchers
also collected that the coverage percentage was usually lower than the
public interest percentage. While the celebrity gossip coverage was equal or
higher than the interest percentage.
This article is strong because of the number of highly educated people that
supervised and conducted this study. As this organization has been collecting
news for the people for decades, it is no surprise that they offer ample
evidence in the form of charts within their study. Personal weaknesses of this
article is the limited information that I will be able to pull from this source. As
it really only has specific information on a study, It will most likely be a
source for strong evidence.
I do see this article entering into my essay as strong supporting evidence.
This evidence will be used when showing how society pays less attention to
important matters when it comes to celebrity life. I even see it putting a twist
in my essay when I explain whose fault this really is.