Blog 8

I think I am on the right track as far as research methods are concerned. Other people I have spoken to are researching more hands-on topics than I am, so their methods might not be the best avenue for the direction I want my paper to go in. I will say, though, that they all have good ideas too, respectively.

Personal references would include the book Remediation: Understanding New Media. I do believe that this book would be immensely helpful when exploring the movie section of my paper. This book was suggested to me by professor Chandler, and I have been looking for a rent-able version of it online.

Other sources include a debate forum on whether books are better than movies (which I explained in blog 7), an article from the New York Times, and an article exploring the aspect of books as an "escape."

This "escape" article goes into great detail about how reading is similar to physical pain. Author Dave Farland writes on his blog a very long essay on why people read. His main focus is the idea of reading as a way to relax, or de-stress. He talks about the biology behind pain management (endorphin usage), and compares this to Feralt's Triangle. (In my opinion, the comparison is truly brilliant. Here's the link to the whole article: http://www.davidfarland.com/writing_tips/?a=37.) He goes on to explain how the brain reacts mentally to the story, and therefore the body reacts, in suit, with the mind. This is how people get so involved with books, he says, because at some point it stops being an action and becomes an experience. I strongly believe that this article will play a heavy roll in my explanation of why people begin to read. In fact, because there is so much information in this article alone, it  may be the sole source in that section of the paper.

I still plan on mentioning the New York Times article I found, but it will not be a major contributer. The aspect I found truly useful was the idea of people being able to relate to the characters. This I feel is very important to the reading experience and will definitely include it.

A summary of intended sources:

1. Debate forum-- Debate.org (http://www.debate.org/debates/Movies-are-better-than-books/1/)

2. Reading is a physical experience/"escape": Davidfarland.com (http://www.davidfarland.com/writing_tips/?a=37)

3. Why We Read: NYtimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/weekinreview/25rich.html?_r=1&)