Paper Proposal

Paper Proposal

Michelle Klug

9/13/10

Research Topic: Unconventional journalism for an unconventional counterculture: How the writing of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Joan Didion reflect the social fragmentation of the 60’s and 70’s counterculture. 

            

Purpose and Method: My research paper will serve to analyze the techniques and styles used by Thomson, Wolfe, and Didion to portray the 60’s and 70’s counterculture. I will also examine how these different styles go to represent the social fragmentation of this time period and how it is unique to previous eras of journalism. Some themes I will explore are rejection of tradition, sexuality, individuality, and distrust of authority. I will explore how each of these authors represent these themes and how it reflects on the generation and the view of new journalism as a whole.   

Bibliography

Thompson, Hunter S. (1992). Gonzo Papers, Volume 1: The Great Shark Hunt. New York, NY. Ballantine Books.

Didion, Joan. (1968). Slouching Towards Bethlehem. New York, NY. Simon and Schuster.

Wolfe, Tom. (1968). The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. New York, NY. Farrar, Straus, and Girox

Staub, Michael E. (1997). Black Panthers, New Journalism, and the Rewriting of the Sixties. Representations. 57. Pp. 52-72. Retrieved         September 13, 2010, from htt://jstor.org/stable/2928663

Wimmer, Natasha. "Joan Didion: Telling It Like It Is (or Should Be)." Publishers Weekly 248.42 (2001): 41-42. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Muggli, Mark Z. "The Poetics of Joan Didion's Journalism." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography 59.3 (1987): 402-421. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Konas, Gary. "Traveling 'Furthur' with Tom Wolfe's Heroes." Journal of Popular Culture 28.3 (1994): 177-192. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.

Bortz, Eli J. The New Journalism and Its Editors: Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Their Early Experiences. Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida, 2005. Internet resource

Meyers, Paul T. New Journalist As Culture Critic: Wolfe, Thompson, Talese. , 1989. Print.

Thompson, Hunter S, Alison Ellwood, Alex Gibney, and Johnny Depp. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Los Angeles, Calif: Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2008.