TOPIC- THE ROLES OF SEXUALITY IN SAN FRANCISCO
a) What is the topic you are interested in pursuing and why?
The topic my group is interested to pursue for our paper is the role sexuality plays in San francisco. The reason behind choosing this topic is because there are many references in Braughtigan and Howl on how the people of San Francisco express their sexuality and the way gender roles impact SF's society.
b) How does this topic relate to San Francisco materials or frameworks read for the course? Which of the readings are particularly relevant to this topic?
The role of sexuality is one of the most significant impacts on San Francisco's culture. In Richard Braughtigan's "The Pill Versus the Springfield Mine Disaster" many of his poems express deep love for women and sex. A example would be the "Beutiful Poem" because it shows Braughtigan's deep desire for women and the roles in which they play.
c) What are some of the other materials you will need or want to read and/or inter-connect to cover this topic?
We will incorporate Howl into our paper along with Brautigan. To help make our paper stronger we will need to seek out other sources on sex roles to fully grasp this topic.
d) What is your provisional “thesis” (hypothesis) at this point concerning this topic and these materials?
Our thesis thus far are that sex roles in San Francisco are different then elsewhere. Are research, we are hoping, will help us discover how and why the city of San Francisco depends on sex roles.
e) What problems or limitations do you anticipate in pursuing, framing, researching, and writing on this topic?
The problems I feel we will face durring our paper is knowing when to differentiate the way people in San Francisco express themselves artistically rather than sexually. The people of SF are definatley unique, so we must consider their personality first then consider their gender.
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1 comment:
Danielle,
This is a really interesting and important topic, well worth pursuing. Sexuality figures into this material in many ways, most often as a topic in the literary works; and as a reason for social movement in SF. As you move deeper into the topic, here are a few suggestions:
+ You'll want to have a very solid sense of what ASPECT of sexuality you'll talk about in your paper. For instance, will you talk about gender-sexuality (the way Ginsberg talks about queerness in "Howl," for example)...
...or will you talk about the role of sex in the works (as in some of Brautigan's works; you mention it here)? This is a little different from looking at sexuality in a directly political sense, but it does tie into the idea of breaking tradition and becoming more liberal in literature.
There are many different aspects of sexuality in the works, so be really clear about which parts you're addressing in your paper. Use close readings of the literary works to thoroughly describe what they mean by "sexuality."
+ Depending on which elements of sexuality you choose to write on, you could open up the discussion to consider other social movements - for instance, the Castro comes to mind as a place where lots of dialog about sexuality arises.
Good start - keep working on firming up the specific direction of your project, and let me know if you need suggestions on giving it focus.
Also, I'm wondering, how will you divide the topics among your group members? Come and talk to me if you have a special set up in mind, but otherwise, I'll just assume everybody will turn in their own paper as part of a joint project.
sc
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