History Research Assignment

2 Assignment History Paper Must Be SCHOLARY SOURCES, Cited in MLA format. Topic is Fredrick Douglas, The first half of the assignment should be 4 scholarly sources with 2 paragraphs to each source, in total 8 paragraphs. The first paragraph should just summarize the source then the second one will be about how you plan on using the source. As for the paper it must be 1250 words and use at least 3 scholarly sources, you choose from the 4 you already used to complete the first part, the paper should have in-text citations and historically accurate with. For the paper it should be a brief summary of the persons life and make sure it has historical content, give an example of a popular myth or distortion about the person, finally provide an example of what you consider to be the persons most noteworthy contribution to American history it could good or bad. Will leave an example paper of how it should be done.

 

Instructions

Purpose:

While information abounds in the 21st century, finding reliable resources has become exceedingly more difficult. However, never fear, an annotated bibliography is here to help! This assignment will assist you with your research for your upcoming Biography Paper. Please take this assignment very seriously. At its successful completion you should be ready to dig right in and start work on your upcoming research paper.

Directions:

Using the same topic you selected from the Historical Research Part I, you will now choose FOUR SCHOLARY sources on your assigned topic that you intend to use in your upcoming Biography Paper. (For more information on scholarly sources and where to find them please refer to the first few pages of this module.) For each of your FOUR sources you will need to create a citation, which will be followed by a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph- the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. 

Format of the Annotated Bibliography:

For each of your FOUR sources you will need the following:

• Full Citation of the source. All citations must be written in standard MLA style.
• After the Work Cited entry, start a TWO paragraph annotation containing a summary and evaluation of the source. 

  Your first paragraph should provide a brief summary of your source. Basically you should hit the highlights. You should also address whether the source is scholarly, reliable and does it have any bias?   
  Your second fully developed paragraph should explain to me how you intended to use this source in your upcoming biography paper. In other words, how does this source contribute to the research for your upcoming paper. (For more information on the Biography Paper please refer to the directions provided for Historical Research Assignment Part III.)

*** Remember EACH source should have TWO paragraphs. At the completion of your assignment you should therefore have EIGHT paragraphs total. ***

Note on Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the stealing of intellectual property and is therefore illegal. If you knowingly copy information from another person’s literary work and do not give credit you will receive a zero on the assignment in question.

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Part 2 : Same topic must be SCHOLARLY SOURCES, cited MLA format.

 

Using the topic you selected in History Research Assignment Part I, you will now write a Biography Paper. Your paper can be in any format you would like. It can be written as a fictional interview, a diary entry, a ghost story, a time travel novella or even as an alien encounter. I encourage you to be creative. Regardless of what format you decide upon, in order to receive full credit you must address the following points:

1. Give a brief summary of your person’s life. Be sure to put your person into historical context. (ie when did he/she live and what was going on during your person’s life)
2. Give an example of a popular myth or distortion about your person.  (For example George Washington’s wooden teeth, or Paul Revere’s infamous night ride.)
3. Lastly, you must provide an example of what you consider to be your person’s  most noteworthy contribution to American History. This could be something good or bad.

Your paper should be no more or no less than 1250 of your own words. Direct quotes taken from others do not count towards your over all word count. All papers are to be typed, double- spaced, in 12 point type with 1 inch margins on all sides. I expect lucid prose, correct punctuation, grammar, spelling and organization.

You are required to use at least three scholarly resources in your paper. [Feel free to use more as needed.] Be sure to cite all outside resources correctly using MLA 8th ed. Your paper should include in-text citations and a work-cited page. Please note that the work-cited page does not count towards your total page count.

Note on Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the stealing of intellectual property and is therefore illegal. If you knowingly copy information from another person’s literary work and do not give credit you will receive a zero on the assignment in question.

All papers must be submitted through the Canvas. I do not accept emailed submissions of this paper.

Your assignment will be evaluated using the Assignment Rubric listed below.

Once Upon an American Dream

It was on the day of December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois that one of the most iconic men in history was born (Croce 91). I was given the privilege of watching this man grow up over the years as I was placed in his hand as soon as he was old enough to write; of course, one would always find him drawing rather than writing. I knew, even at an early age, that he was talented when it came to drawing. Before I met his grasp, I had become accustomed to amateur users who couldn’t even draw a stick figure. Unlike those before him, he was careful and detailed; he was always drawing humorous expressions, characters, and other doodles. Little did I know his passion for drawing would soon lead him to a whole new world of opportunities. As for me, I would be with him every step of the way to watch him grow into the ingenious man who America will always love, the man who changed the art of animation, and the man who encouraged the world to wish upon a star: Walt Disney.

Our journey together began in the small town of Marceline, Missouri in 1906. Although we were only there for a short time, two years to be exact, Walt and I made our mark (Croce 92). He’d sit outside the barn, paper in his lap and me in his hand, drawing for hours. Furthermore, “at the age of seven, he was already selling drawings to his Marceline, Missouri neighbors” (Greco). We loved that little town, and Walt would go on to honor it in his future projects; he replicated the barn from Marceline on his California estate, and fused other elements from the town into Main Street in Disneyland in an effort to capture small town-Midwestern life (Croce 92).

In 1910, we moved again to another town in Missouri called Kansas City. Here, Walt would take me with him to classes at the Kansas City Art Institute (Croce 92). In the early days of his training, “he realized that he was better at presenting entertaining sketches than at drafting fine art” (Croce 92). I too enjoyed helping him create his cartoons and funny faces more than his portraits, and I definitely would not be the only one to find them entertaining.

Walt continued to improve on his drawing skills throughout the years, practicing whenever and wherever he could. I remember when Walt and I left for France to drive an ambulance during World War I (Croce 92). He kept me in his back pocket, and would pull me out whenever he had free time. When those times came, “[we] drew comic characters on the sides of the truck there, [and we] would also put together a portfolio of sketches…” (Croce 92). He intended on using this portfolio to get hired as a commercial artist when we returned to the U.S. (Croce 93). When we returned, Walt, being the driven and ambitious man he always was, decided to start his own commercial art studio in Kansas City with the help of our friend Ub Iwerks (Croce 93). Unfortunately, the art studio was not successful. After a couple years of Walt slamming me down on his desk out of frustration, he filed for bankruptcy and decided it was time to move on to something else (Greco). To escape his failed studio, Walt moved to Hollywood to join his brother Roy, having only $40, me, and a few other drawing materials. (Greco).

Although most people would have given up on their dreams by now, Walt wasn’t planning on being one of them. In 1923, “[borrowing $500 from an uncle, the brothers set up a makeshift film studio…” (Greco). While there were still trials and tribulations, including losing the rights to their character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the studio proved to be more stable and successful than his first one (Jackson 442). Although losing Oswald was a heavy loss, another character that would soon become a major staple in American culture was still waiting to be created. I remember the first time Walt drew him. We were on a train heading back to Hollywood, and I could sense that Walt was deep in his thoughts (Vanpelt). Out of nowhere, he snatched me out of his jacket pocket and began pressing me onto a notepad. I couldn’t make anything out of what he was scribbling until I saw the complete product. It all became clear to me as I stared at a thin tail, a nose, and two defined oval-like ears; it was a mouse!

Walt named his new character Mortimer Mouse. However, his wife, Lillian, wasn’t too fond of the name and had another in mind: Mickey Mouse (Vanpelt). As much as I liked Walt’s first drawing of the character, Mickey needed some improvements. Ub Iwerks, our old friend, ended up being the animator who drew Mickey the best (Croce 96). Together, Walt and Iwerks designed a perfect Mickey, featuring him in his first cartoon, “Plane Crazy,” and the “world’s first fully synchronized sound cartoon, ‘Steamboat Willie’” (Greco). Mickey and his cartoons were a success, opening up new doors for Disney and his animators.

Although, Mickey Mouse was a major accomplishment, Walt wasn’t satisfied. He constantly wanted to make improvements and look towards the future. As I lay on his desk, I watched “Disney [work] tirelessly to perfect the art of animation. In successive years, he debuted Technicolor animation, multi-planing (which added greater depth and dimension to animated landscapes), and, most remarkably, the world’s first full-length animated feature, the Oscar winning, the $1.5 million groundbreaker, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’” (Greco). Snow White would be 90 minutes of Technicolor animation and because the technique was so new, animators questioned if it would even be possible (Pierce). To train his animators, “Walt hired instructors from the Chouinard Art Institute to give lessons in drawing, action analysis, and color theory…Walt wanted both to prepare his animators for challenges presented by the current feature and to deepen their appreciation of art as it might apply to later films” (Pierce). While the film proved to be one of Walt’s biggest challenges yet, the sweet and kind-hearted Snow White, her prince charming, and the silly, yet somehow relatable seven dwarfs won over America’s heart, granting the film success.

Although Walt was popular in the animation industry, with some films more successful than others, he was always working towards the next big thing. He embodied his father in this way as he too was never in one place for very long, constantly moving his family around with him. Walt’s brother Roy often said that ‘Pa always [had] ants in his pants. He could never stay in one place long enough to warm a seat’” (Croce 91). According to Walt, he had spent enough time in the animation department, and it was time to put me down and explore other fields. Still staying within the film industry, “[Walt] sought out to make movies which pleased his own family—the whole family rather than just a part of it” (Izard 36). This led to the making of True-Life Adventure movies. For this series, “[Walt] sent a group of naturalist photographers to record animals in their habitat…the aim of the picture in this series was to show the animals in their habitat doing what came natural to them” (Izard 37). It was because of these films that “Walt Disney was honored not merely as an entertainer, but frequently more as an educator. In 1955 he was awarded the Audubon Medal for distinguished service to conservation” (Izard 39). I’d often hear him say, “…that in all his years of picture-making, [the] True-Life Adventure movies provided him the most satisfaction” (Izard 37). It was true that although Walt’s journey began with his passion for animation, The True-Life Adventure series, with no animation, always held a special place in his heart.

In addition to the film industry, Disney dabbled in other fields in entertainment, including amusement park development. However, he would create something entirely different than what America was used to seeing. Once again, he would snatch me back up in his hand to draw out any ideas he had for his new and original project: a theme park. Walt’s idea of “Theming” a park “involved incorporating a uniformity of style that would keep every last detail connected to the entertaining images of Disney’s creations” (Croce 95). In other words, this park would become the place where Disney magic comes to life. In the park, Mickey Mouse and many other characters could interact with guests and movie-based rides would be created for families to feel like they are a part of the adventure (Croce 95). This park opened in 1955 and was named Disneyland: “the happiest place on earth.”

Disneyland became a huge success, and it wasn’t long until I was back in Walt’s hand scribbling out new ways to expand his kingdom. Eventually, the Florida project went into effect. The Florida project featured EPCOT or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Walt believed that current urban life faced many issues and to prove that, he wanted to create a more efficient community (Croce 92). Thus, the idea of EPCOT was born. “Disney had enthusiastic hopes for this planned, utopian community that would create a better life through the genius of American business and technology” (Croce 92). Strangely enough, Walt’s passion and trust in future technology sparked people to believe that he went as far as to have his body frozen after his death! (Roberts). (I’ve heard Walt plan and praise many things, and I can attest that this was not one of them).

Unfortunately, in 1966, Walt passed away before EPCOT’s original plans could be established. Instead, four parks would be included in the Florida project. The Magic Kingdom, a park loosely based on Disneyland, was the first to open in 1971, followed by EPCOT. EPCOT opened in 1982 and featured some of its original elements, including World Showcase. World Showcase allowed guests to take a journey around the world, giving them a taste of different cultures. Disney-MGM Studios (now known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios) would open in 1989 and Disney’s Animal Kingdom would open in 1998, forming Walt Disney World. Today, the Disney Parks welcome thousands of guests every year and are constantly expanding and finding more ways to spread magic.

While I may not have played a huge part in Walt’s journey to success, I am honored to have been along for the ride. As I lay in a corner of a desk gathering dust, my lead almost empty and my eraser sanded down, I can only think about my time with Walt. He accomplished what had seemed to be impossible, and proved to Americans that the American Dream was achievable. He began as a struggling cartoon artist, fighting his way up to the top as he reimagined the art of animation and family entertainment. Furthermore, he encouraged people of all ages to believe in their wishes and to follow their dreams. As this is still a trend within the Disney community today, I consider it to be his greatest contribution to American society. Ultimately, I believe, along with many others, that Walt Disney brought magic into our world, and I’m grateful to have been his wand.

Works Cited

Croce, Paul Jerome. “A Clean and Separate Space: Walt Disney in Person and Production.” Journal of Popular Culture 25.3 (1991): 91-103. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Greco, JoAnn. “Walt Disney (1901-1966): Linking Vision with Reality.” Journal of Business

Strategy (1999): Academic OneFile. Web.

Izard, Ralph S. “Walt Disney: Master of Laughter and Learning.” Peabody Journal of Education

45.1 (1967): 36-41. JSTOR. Web.

Jackson, Kathy Merlock. “Mickey and the Tramp: Walt Disney’s Debt to Charlie Chaplin.” The Journal of American Culture. Blackwell Publishing Inc, 27 Oct. 2003. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Pierce, Todd James. “Wow, We’ve Got Something Here: Ward Kimball and the Making of

Snow White.” New England Review, vol. 37, no. 1, 2016, p. 123+. Academic OneFile.Web.

Roberts, Sophie. “Was Walt Disney’s Body Really Cryogenically Frozen After He Died?” The

Sun. The Sun, 21 Nov. 2016. Web.

Vanpelt, Lauren. “Mickey Mouse—A Truly Public Character.” Arizona State University College

of Law, Spring 1999.Web.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~dkarjala/publicdomain/Vanpelt-s99.html

Annotated Bibliography

Croce, Paul Jerome. “A Clean and Separate Space: Walt Disney in Person and Production.” Journal of Popular Culture 25.3 (1991): 91-103. Academic Search Complete. 27 Jan. 2017.

Croce’s article takes readers behind the scenes to explain how Walt Disney’s personality influenced his work projects. For example, Disney had grown tired of unclean and disorganized urban areas. In efforts to combat these unappealing living conditions, he created the idea of EPCOT or Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. EPCOT was originally planned to be a community with permanent residents, focusing on modeling a more efficient lifestyle with the improvements of technology. However, Walt died before he could follow through with his plans, leaving EPCOT as a theme park with technological elements. Another example offered by the article that contributed to the correlation between his personality and his work was the influence of Walt’s father. Walt embodied many of the characteristics his father, Elias Disney, had, including his need to constantly go after new projects. Elias Disney was never one to stay in one place for a significant amount of time; he was constantly changing jobs and moving his family around with him. Like his father, Walt Disney went through many career adjustments and was always thinking about what he could do next. After observing the article, there are three major factors that contribute to its credibility: a notable publisher, in- text citations, and a list of sources. It shows that the piece was published by Wiley Blackwell, a publisher that has published a large collection of journals relevant to business, medicine, and technology. Because this article was published through this company, it has been peer-reviewed, making it more of a scholarly source than articles found on various websites on the internet. The article also offered numerous in-text citations to show where the author obtained his information. By doing this, the author proved that he was not plagiarizing nor forming his own opinions about the subject and stating them as a fact. In addition to his in-text citations, the author compiled a list of sources that he used to find his information, creating a works cited page. With this works cited page, not only does he give credit to his sources, but he also increases his article’s credibility.
The majority of the public actually knows very little about the man who created the Disney empire. They know he was responsible for many beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse and friends; they’ve heard of Disneyland and Walt Disney World; and they’ve seen at least one Disney movie in their lifetime. However, they don’t know what inspired this one man’s seemingly impossible dream. In my biography paper, I intend to discuss why Walt Disney wanted to tackle these projects and what enabled him to do so. For support, I will use these examples offered by the article as they offer reasoning behind Walt’s actions and aspirations. Additionally, the article provides information regarding Walt’s early life that influences his personality. It can be inferred that these early influences directly impacted his future work affairs, which I intend to explain in the biography paper. Ultimately, I will use this information to fully explain how those influences correlate with his work, define who Walt Disney was, and prove that there is more to the “man behind the mouse” than the public is aware of.
Greco, JoAnn. “Walt Disney (1901-1966): Linking Vision with Reality.” Journal of Business

Strategy (1999): Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
This article exemplifies just how prominent Walt Disney is in American culture. Greco explains that he established his own place in family entertainment, grabbing the attention of millions in America, as well as all over the world. He reimagined the art of animation, along with creating one of the world’s most recognizable cartoon characters, Mickey Mouse. In addition to his success in animation, he designed and inspired some of America’s (and the world’s) most popular theme parks including Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Prior to his world popularity, however, Disney struggled to find his way into the industry. The article explores the beginning of his journey, emphasizing on the hardships Disney had faced. While he may have had to overcome many obstacles, he continued towards his goal, becoming a perfect example of the “American Dream.”. In regards to the article’s reliability, it proves to be scholarly and credible. While the author may have had her own opinions about Walt Disney, she chose to incorporate more factual information, rather than opinions, in order to prove her thesis. The source is also credible as her information can be supported from outside resources. As this article is essentially a biography of Walt Disney, the author was careful to stay true to the Disney story. Fortunately, the author did not integrate unproven myths or theories regarding his life, including the popular urban legend of his body being frozen after his death. Had the article mentioned these types of subjects, the source would have no longer been considered a credible source. As mentioned before, the facts are what make this article strong and are truly the main contributors to the author’s purpose.
Disney is known for encouraging people of all ages to follow their dreams. While they use mostly animated characters to prove that dreams can come true, they also have one major example of someone who was able to accomplish their dream: Walt Disney. In my biography paper, I plan to look back on Walt’s journey towards accomplishing his dream, using the examples offered by this article. As stated in the summary, the article consists of several facts regarding his rocky road to stardom and features some of his most famous accomplishments. Starting from the beginning of his adventure, I will be sure to include both his achievements and his adversity into the biography paper in order to help readers fully appreciate the hard work that allowed him to achieve his dream and create magic for families across America.
Izard, Ralph S. “Walt Disney: Master of Laughter and Learning.” Peabody Journal of Education
45.1. (1967): 36-41. JSTOR. 27 Jan. 2017.

In this article, Izard explores the balance of entertainment and education within Walt Disney’s endeavors. While Disney focused on entertainment, he was also enthusiastic about the importance of education. Walt Disney was fascinated with the natural world as well as its animal inhabitants, and wanted to somehow incorporate it into his projects. From this, he developed the True-Life Adventure Series. Here, he would send naturalistic photographers and cameramen to observe and capture footage of the natural lifestyle of animals. A soundtrack played in the background of the footage, and a narrator would explain what the animals were and what they were doing in the movie. In this way, he was able to both entertain and inform the audience. Walt’s efforts made a positive impact on America, along with the rest of the world, as it encouraged viewers to understand the importance of nature and to support conservation. Today, the Walt Disney Company continues to support his love for nature and the environment with active conservational projects. Reliability-wise, it can absolutely be considered as a scholarly source. There is nothing in the article that implies that it is biased and it is careful to use factual information to support its claims. To increase its credibility, the article takes advantage of primary sources, using actual quotes made by Walt Disney in past interviews. This is more reliable than hearsay evidence, as those claims cannot be accurately supported. Furthermore, the author uses in- text citations to give credit to outside sources, and posts their full citations in footnotes. These footnotes not only contribute to the reliability of the source, but also provide readers with access to other relevant sources.
In his lifetime, Walt Disney accomplished the impossible and more. He never stopped looking for more opportunities to expand his company and to contribute to society in some way. In my paper, I want to touch on as many projects that Walt took part in, including those that are less remembered today. For instance, I will use the article’s example about his aspirations to include nature into entertainment as a perfect representation of just how outside the box Walt Disney was willing to go. I intend to use this information to prove that Walt Disney did more than just stay with the animation field, and recognize him for his positive contribution not only to entertainment, but to the planet.
Watts, Steven. “Walt Disney: Art and Politics in the American Century.” Journal of American History 82.1 (95): p84-110. Academic Search Complete. 27 Jan. 2017.

The article, “Walt Disney: Art and Politics in the American Century” focuses on Walt Disney’s growth in animation, as well as political influence. Walt Disney fused new elements into his animations, emphasizing on modernism and naturalism. For instance, while many of his animations were warm and kid-friendly, he liked to incorporate darker scenes into them. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, for example, included a terrifying scene of Snow White running through a dark forest with trees appearing as monsters. Apart from the modernistic approach, Walt sought out to create the most natural-looking animations as possible. For example, the article claims that Walt brought in a real deer for animators to observe during the production of Bambi, insisting that the character needed to act and appear as close to an actual deer as possible. In addition to these elements, Walt dabbled in composing cartoons symbolizing American politics and current events. The Three Little Pigs, for instance, provided a sense of hope for Americans struggling during the Great Depression; the character of the wolf symbolized their hardships during that time. As for its credibility, this article had various contributors to help establish it as a reliable source. For instance, the author used a lot of information from outside sources, including old interviews, manuscripts, books, and pictures. When quoting or paraphrasing the outside information, he used parenthetical citations and added the full citation of the source into a footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnotes also included a thank you to those who helped him write the article. He recognizes those who made any comments on his essay, those who helped to edit it, and those who helped him gather research material. This footnote supports his credibility as it directly acknowledges and gives credit to everyone who helped develop his article.
. When writing my biography paper, I plan to address what makes Walt Disney different than any other animator of his time. Using the examples given by the article, I will discuss his take on modernism and how he created more natural looking cartoon characters compared to older animations. This advancement in animation helps support the point that Walt was always on the verge of doing something original and different, constantly opening up new doors. Additionally, I will use the information from the article to help me examine how politics and current events in America were represented in certain cartoons, concentrating on how it contributed to his success. Ultimately, all of these components will help me express his distinct uniqueness, his growth to fame, and the foundation that created the Disney magic we have today.