AnnotAted BibliogrAphy

Genre Research

 

Gay, Ross. The Book of Delights. Algonquin Books, 12 February, 2019.

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I was really inspired by Ross Gay’s micro essays in The Book of Delights when we read them in class. I love the way he uses details and casual language to draw the reader in, and as I read the essays, I was impressed again and again with the way he manages to come to such profound conclusions in so few words. I tried to emulate that style of starting with a relatable scenario and leading the reader to a deep conclusion for each of my essays. I did go back to Gay’s essays at several points during my own writing to look for parallels and ideas for intro and conclusion sentences. I can definitely say that I’ve gained a lot more respect for writers like Gay that can craft such a powerful essay in so few words!    

 

Hardwick, M. Narrative Flash Defined and Tips for Writing. Retrieved 19 October, 2022, from https://mindyhardwick.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/defining-narrative-flash.pdf.

 

I stumbled upon this resource from author Mindy Hardwick as I was searching for more examples of flash essays. She wrote it to use for teaching an online writing class to teens, and while a lot of the material was familiar or intuitive to me, it was helpful to have a few tips for flash essays laid out in an accessible way. The most helpful part of this document was at the end, where Harwick provides descriptions of and links to markets for flash essays. These include blogs, a Facebook group, and a magazine dedicated to short pieces. These examples were really helpful for thinking about my audience, which was not very clearly defined when I started writing my FRP..
 

Content Research

 

Bagley, D., Crick, J., Fischer, K., Peterson, G., Quist, L., and Stine, M. (2022). Identifying Trees Of Michigan (E2332), (Koelling, M., Ed.). Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.canr.msu.edu/natural_resources/uploads/files/E2332_IdentifyingTreesinMichigan_5.16_FinalAA.pdf.

 

I did not originally know the species of tree at Cathedral Pines (“Our Church”) and I used this source to figure out that they are Red Pines. I also referenced this source in order to make sure that the other tree species I mentioned in the essay were indeed native to Michigan. I love learning about ecology and wanted to be correct in all of my species identifications, so this source helped me do that.

 

Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction. Issue 71. Brevity, September 2022. Retrieved 19 October, 2022, from https://brevitymag.com/category/current-issue/. 

 

When I first delved into flash-essays in my second experiment, I read through many of the pieces in the most current issue of Brevity magazine in order to expand my view of what a flash- or micro-essay might look like or be about. Most of these essays were longer than Ross Gay’s, and the authors played with formatting and paragraphs much more than I would’ve expected for such short essays. I originally did not want to break up the blocks of text of my flash essays, fearing that doing so would mean they no longer belong in the flash genre. Reading the Brevity essays made me more willing to play around with the structure of my essays. The Brevity essays also exposed me to a more diverse set of topics than Gay’s Book of Delights, which I found helpful in deciding which journeys would be most conducive to being retold as flash essays.

 

Expressions Of Classical Horsemanship Part 3: Airs Above The Ground. (2022). Tempus Renatus. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://tempusrenatus.org/2021/08/18/expressions-of-classical-horsemanship-part-3-airs-above-the-ground/.

 

The “airs above ground” were referenced in nearly every equestrian book I read as a child, but when I started writing this piece, I realized that I didn’t remember the exact names and mechanics of each of the airs. This website was really informative, and I felt like the airs were described in a way that wasn’t too difficult for me (someone with an equestrian background but no classical training) to understand. I was able to carry this information over into my essay “Martial arts” by using it to write concrete and concise descriptions of airs above ground as battle maneuvers.

 

St. Henry, M., Vinton, K., Jordan, R. (2022, April 22). Michigan’s Civilian Conservation Corps. Impact on the Environment. 9&10 News. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.9and10news.com/2022/04/22/michigans-civilian-conservation-corps-impact-on-the-environment/.

 

In the essay “Our church” I mention that my mom had described what the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was to me when I was a child. While this is true, I could only remember the name “Civilian Conservation Corps” and did not remember the description, the timeframe in which the Corps was active, or the goals of the group. I wanted to describe the CCC with as much historical accuracy as possible, and I was happy to find this article about the CCC in Michigan as I was researching. The article even specifically mentions the “red pine trees in perfect rows” that make up Cathedral Pines! Reading this article not only gave me historical details to add into my essay, but also satisfied a few of my personal curiosities about the CCC in Michigan. 

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University of Michigan Running Club. Routes. U-M Running Club. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from http://mrun.clubrunning.org/routes.php. 

 

Although I ran roundly neighborhood in high school, the majority of my running in Ann Arbor has been with the Michigan club running team, MRun. The club does daily 3, 5 and 7 mile distance runs, and running with my friends at practice is one of the highlights of each day on campus. I wanted to include a reference to some of the routes I frequently run with the club in my essay “Pavement adventures,”  so I looked back through the routes on this web page to chose street names. “The King’s Run” is the main route that I reference in the essay, but reading through the routes helped me remember many little details that I included in the essay to make it more specific and personal.