Thursday, May 20, 2010

Blog Post #11

Some research strategies that I have found from this class were to how to use advanced searches on Google, how to look for news report sections only on Google, how to look for magazines and alternate magazines as well as newspaper reports and articles using the Marymount website and their library database, but one of the most useful was learning how to evaluate and judge an adequate website from an inadequate one. Other useful tips included how to look for certain select websites only, like educational, commercial, or government websites. I also learned the value of how Google actually works, the importance of keywords, the importance of links, how to do an important research paper and I learned how to categorize research sources into their appropriate categories, why these sources are defined that way and what use they are, such as how to research and categorize books, dictionaries, websites, magazines, newspapers, etc. I also learned the value of the form of media and the news in general, how a topic is brought about and what sources report on it, when and for how long, also what sources come from an event and what sources change over a period of time and the change in the flow of information.

What I enjoyed learning the most about the class was how to tell a good resource website from a bad one, what the differences are, the tricks to spotting them and how to avoid inadequate websites. I also enjoyed learning how adequate other resources are, for example just how poor a blog can be for research because of bias opinions, etc. Some information I would like to have learned was how radio and social networking sites work in the process of acquiring information, we only covered a small portion and I would like to have learned the difference between the two and how social networking really worked, eg. if it really is a credible source or the general process.

My thinking has really changed on the sorting excercises. I first thought that you couldn't categorize scholarly journals at first, but I managed to this time, to make it into a category and then put in textbooks, books, and such under it, I wasn't able to dot his before. Also I managed to adequately categorize government websites into statistics, which I didn't know before and also didn't realize that newspapers could also be classified as this as well as under popular journals, which was a concept I was unfamiliar with in terms of magazines and such. THis time I was able to categorize some stuff I wasn't able to do more specifically before such as scholarly journals, statistics, research, etc. My thinking on these subjects has greatly changed, I was able to use periodicals and label everything more accurately than before, such as Editorials, Periodicals, Scholarly Journals, Popular Periodicals, Scholarly etc. Also Peer reviews, which I learned to be a valuable category, learning categories that I did not know before and applying them more specifically.

Kevin Bruehl

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Blog Post #10

The scholarly article I found for my research topic was:
Pisani, Joseph. "The Smartest Superheroes." Business Week Online, copyright 2006, page 8 URL: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.marymountpv.edu/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=112&sid=3edf1043-4ec2-4f0a-81df-9c2f69dfcad4%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=21505354

The journal reviews that one possible and large aspect of superheroes are high in demand and popularity is because of their intelligence. Superheroes are popular because they use their intelligence which is every bit as important as their powers to fight off evil. For many of the most popular characters in the superhero world, intellect is one of their key arsenals, that great power "unfettered by intelligence can often have terrible consequences, they learn how to harness their powers intelligently."

One of the newspaper articles that I can across in my research was "Invasion of the Superheroes," which was the name of the article. This magazine article is deals with the theory of popularity in superheroes in that, "I've seen them all this summer, looking for common themes and conflicts that might help us understand today's American psyche. Judging by the movies, we don't place our first priority on superheroes immigrating from a distant planet, a la KaI-El from Krypton (Clark Kent); we prefer heroes who come from ordinary circumstances but do extraordinary things - a little like ourselves. We prefer quasi-natural explanations for their superpowers - a spider bite, a chemical spill, a nuclear reaction, or a genetic predisposition - and we want them to be reluctant men or women who are not motivated by lust or greed and would just as soon not have the responsibility of possessing super powers." (Skousan).

This pertains to the scholarly article as well, delving into the issue of intelligence in superheroes, a quality that we all posess, hence "a little like ourselves" are the best kind of superheroes to us and the most popular. They are not motivated by lust, greed or power which goes with the scholarly article's bit that they use their intelligence to do the best good, a quality that we all posess and admire and long for to make those kind of decisions in our own life. Intelligence is popular, a quality that we all have, why we seek a superhero who comes from ordinary circumstances like us, but they do extraordinary things with their gifts, including their intellect that we want to do.

The journal reviews that one possible and large aspect of superheroes are high in demand and popularity is because of their intelligence. Superheroes are popular because they use their intelligence which is every bit as important as their powers to fight off evil. For many of the most popular characters in the superhero world, intellect is one of their key arsenals, that great power "unfettered by intelligence can often have terrible consequences, they learn how to harness their powers intelligently." We all want superheroes to have our own aspects like righteousness and intelligence which is why we find them so popular. These two articles carry one aspect to another, why we find them so popular because they are like us, and one aspect of ourselves is the use of our intellect.

The articles differ in the case that the magazine article "Invasion of the Superheroes" deals mostly with film reviews and the result of superhero popularity in film and media as a result. The scholarly article is meant as a regular article actually posted in a business section. The difference between the two is that the scholarly article actually takes a step further and explain carefully what one of the most popular aspect about superheroes is compared to the magazine that gives the overall general idea that superheroes are popular and why dealing with similiar linear aspects of popularity but never into detail about intellect as a quality. It mostly goes into who find it popular and what people may like about a movie rather than the comics and into their superhero specifics, what their qualities are that make them so popular to us.

Pisani, Joseph. "The Smartest Superheroes." Business Week Online, copyright 2006, page 8 URL:

Skousan, Jo Ann. "Invasion of the Superheroes," which was the name of the article. from ProQuest Research Library - Alt-Press Watch, magazine article. Liberty. Port Townsend, October 2008, Volume 22, Issue 9, page 42

Kevin Bruehl

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Redo Blog #5 Extra Credit

For my next blog, I will choose two internet sources for my chosen topic and compare the two, how one is better than the other and how you can reject them based on subtle differences.

We need to find who authorized the site, what their authority on it is, who published it, what's their authority on it, the purpose of the site, motives for publishing the site, who the intended audience is, and what the objective of the site is, is it treated fairly.

The first site is more of a "sell to students" type website that prays to those who need free essays, research papers, college essays, school essays. It is purely a commercial use website.

The first website treats the subject as more of a commercial site,and is more of a website with no authorized user, no name of a professional. There is no authorized user and thus no one published it. The purpose of this site is more a cheat sheet to students, offering them to pay for research papers made about Greek mythology. The intended audience is more those who haven't done any research on their own and need a quick paper to turn in without any research. Desperate people, especially students. The motive for publishing the site is to cheat college students out of learning on their own. As a result, it's not treated fairly. However, the website is mostly a huge advertisement campaign site, promoting such items as film schools like the New York Film Academy, advertising student documents for sale, reports on the topic of Greek mythology. The currency of the site is recent, copyrighted from 2000-2010. The documentation and quality of the site is very basic, but has just enough backstory and name of the God and a bit in-depth information on the subjects. The site is published by GreekMythology and we can read more about their authority in the a little bit.

However, the problem with this is that the facts technically aren't accurate, as they do not have a source and no author to attribute their research to. The level of opinion here is more basic facts for advertisement purposes, no specific evidence for the site or the information. There is no reviews for the site, no peer reviews to legitimize the site for a research paper, thus making this site rather ineffective for us. However, the site does have an online book source that we may look at for reviewal of information. WHile the site is logically ordered and organized in a simple manner, there is no scholarship or anaylytical thinking involved in this site, just basic facts. The conclusion is that the information is slightly well-documented, but not a good site to use for information because there are no references, author or sources for the site except for some online books about Greek mythology.

The second source is an educational site, created by Aaron J. Atsma, the designated author. We have certified that there is an author, there is a certified bibliography on site for educational purposes. The site is for educational purposes to the audience as attributed to the sources and biography of the author on the page, showing us that they have legitimate organization of the website. The intended audience is those who love classic mythology, hence the style of the page, and who love researching this stuff, especially those interested in Greek mythology. The site is treated very fairly as a result. The 2nd site is copyrighted to 2000-2008 by Aaron Atsma, which makes this a current site. The information is well-documented with a certified author and a list of their respective links to other sites and sources from Theoi classical texts. Both websites end :.com, but only one, the first website, has advertisements while the second one does not, just a reference section to buy from. We can also tell by something you may read about the author or something they may have written.

The conclusion is that I am more reluctant to use the 2nd site, Theoi, simple because we know little of the author, even googled names can yield excellent results of a named author, and quality is nuanced throughout the site, it is objective, more encyclopedic in nature, i.e. summaries, factuals, etc, rather than opinionated. The site also doesn't use exaggerated emotional language, the marks to use for a legitimate site, or claims that are not supported by evidence. There is no affiliation or formal partnership with Amazon, the author is just telling us that you can buy the books designated in their bibliography section.

To learn more about the author or publisher of a website, simply look for the texts or more info links, such as Greek-Mythology-Gods.com, even though sometimes there may be no "About Us" section on the website, which is usually not a god sign. All the info on the 1st site was free, making money off of their advertisements. The fact is that we have no authors and no info on their authority to write on the given topic. Plus we know nothing of the authority of the publisher, making this content highly uncredible. We also have no references to verify the validity of the site, thus we can conclude that the first site is no good, as they are more interested in making money off of advertisements rather than going for quality and objective information.

No author. , copyright 2000-2010, GreekMythology.com
Atsma, Aaron J. The Theoi Project : Greek Mythology, Auckland, New Zealand. Website copyright © 2000–2008,

Blog Post #9

The first magazine article I found was this:
"Invasion of the Superheroes," which was the name of the article. from ProQuest Research Library - Alt-Press Watch, magazine article, Skousan, Jo Ann. Liberty. Port Townsend, October 2008, Volume 22, Issue 9, page 42. The title of the magazine was called Liberty.

This magazine article is very good as it pertains to my theory on popularity.

The article quotes, "I've seen them all this summer, looking for common themes and conflicts that might help us understand today's American psyche. Judging by the movies, we don't place our first priority on superheroes immigrating from a distant planet, a la KaI-El from Krypton (Clark Kent); we prefer heroes who come from ordinary circumstances but do extraordinary things - a little like ourselves. We prefer quasi-natural explanations for their superpowers - a spider bite, a chemical spill, a nuclear reaction, or a genetic predisposition - and we want them to be reluctant men or women who are not motivated by lust or greed and would just as soon not have the responsibility of possessing super powers." (Skousan).

"What does this say about the state of angst in America? Today we are engaged in another drawn-out war and another frightening economic downturn; in the words of Bonnie Tyler from "Footloose," we appear to "need a hero . . . a white knight upon a fiery steed . . . a superman to sweep [us] off [our] feet." Enter the superheroes." (Skousan).

This article is very good in dealign with the issue of popularity and why it is such a huge gambit in today's movie audiences and also deals with the issue of why people find superhero movies so popular, why they are popular, to who, and what it entails for them, making a great case for my report on superheroes and their popularity today. The best part was the new information that the article gave me, which as a detailed review of the major blockbuster superhero movies, who went to go see them, the majority audience, why they liked it, and went into a review, as detailed above, of what kind of people like these movies, what they want in a movie and why they need a superhero movie, a new topic to include in my report.

Both articles deal with the theme of comic books, heroes and heroism as viewed by the world today, the general moviegoing public and the comic book community. WHat people don't realize is that a lot of people go to these kind of movies for a specific reason, mostly by popularity but in order to get a sense out of it that we can be more than what we are, we can do more with our lives.

The other article I had looked up regarding my topic was full of reviews for several superhero films released over the summer that the magazine premiered.
"The Cape Escape." Morgan, Tara. Boise Weekly. Boise, Idaho. December 17, 2008. Volume 17, Issue 25. from ProQuest Research Library - Alt-Press Watch
This was the alternative news article I had researched in Blog Post #8. The name of the magazine/news article was the Boise Weekly. The URL was . This article was found on ProQuest at Alt-Press Watch from the Marymount Library Research database.

The other article, "The Cape Escape," compared to my latest magazine article, deals more with superheroes through the use of photography. As stated in Blog #8, the alternative news article deals with the recent rise of superhero movies and the rise in popularity fore them, telling the interest in what's driving the need for superheroes and movies. Also stated was, "they decided to take a closer look at not only how superheroes and secret identities help express human fantasy, but also how they help combat fear of the unknown."

The article is not mainstream but makes a very good point parallel to my topic of popularity and the drive to superhero movies, characters and why they are so popular, why people go to see them and what they get from it, dealing with my topic exactly as to popularity that is not mainstream, which is good because it lets me research my topic from other people of my stature's standards, using photography, and art exhibits to support my exact topic through indirect sources such as photography and art, instead of a regular blog post or newspaper that carries a more direct approach then alternative newspapers, relying on up-to-date info, current events, who, what, when, where and why, opinion and editorial, in just one spot which is why alternative news sources make a good source, keeping all the info of a newspaper from indirect sources relevant to a topic.

Both articles deal with the issue of popularity and why it is such a huge gambit in today's movie audiences and also deals with the issue of why people find superhero movies so popular, why they are popular, to who, and what it entails for them, making a great case for my report on superheroes and their popularity today. Both use different visual mediums such as photography while the other deals with movies. As said before, best part was the new information that the article gave me, which as a detailed review of the major blockbuster superhero movies, who went to go see them, the majority audience, why they liked it, and went into a review, as detailed above, of what kind of people like these movies, what they want in a movie and why they need a superhero movie, a new topic to include in my report. Thats's the difference between the two sources.

Kevin Bruehl

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Blog Post #8

1. "Superhero Blog," copyright 2003. Blog website
"Top 10 Best Superheroes Ever,"
2. Superman's Identity Crisis, mainstream newspaper article, copyright . Jones, Gerard. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California: June 25, 2006 pg. M.3
3. "The Cape Escape." Morgan, Tara. Boise Weekly. Boise, Idaho. December 17-23, 2008. Volume 17, Issue 25, page 40, 1 page.

Comic Books and Heroism and Heroes

The first blog website I found, "Top 10 Best Superheroes Ever" had a detailed list of the most popular superheroes and why, what problems they face, what makes them human, their entire background story and why people find them to be so popular. Though it is a blog, a personal blog that someone made based off of popularity and movies of the particular superheroes, which movies were considered best as a result of quality, had a detailed outline of the superhero and why they are so called "supers," what people find so irresistible about them.

The mainstream newspaper article from the LA TImes contains an intimate history of Superman and why he symbolizes the ideal superhero and why he is so popular. It also contains a difference of why Superman is popular against superheroes like Batman or the X-Men. The article also states the ideals of heroism compared to today, perfect for my research on most popular superheroes and why, which is what this article does, mainly on Superman, the pinnacle of heroes and why compared to other heroes. It deals with popular culture, motion pictures, comic books and heroes and heroism. This is probably the best article for me to use for my research paper because it deals with my exact topic. This source compared to the first blog offers a detailed anaylsis of why SUperman is the best superhero compared to others, while the blog merely reiterates the most popular superhero movies and why, stating also along the way that these superheroes are popular, actually the blog mainly deals with the same thing as the mainstream article, just also includes the heavy affect of movies on popularity with superheroes into account.

The alternative news article I found, "The Cape Escape," deals with the recent rise of superhero movies and the rise in popularity fore them, telling the interest in what's driving the need for superheroes and movies. Also stated was, "they decided to take a closer look at not only how superheroes and secret identities help express human fantasy, but also how they help combat fear of the unknown." The article is not mainstream but makes a very good point parallel to my topic of popularity and the drive to superhero movies, characters and why they are so popular, why people go to see them and what they get from it, dealing with my topic exactly as to popularity that is not mainstream, which is good because it lets me research my topic from other people of my stature's standards, using photography, and art exhibits to support my exact topic through indirect sources such as photography and art, instead of a regular blog post or newspaper that carries a more direct approach then alternative newspapers, relying on up-to-date info, current events, who, what, when, where and why, opinion and editorial, in just one spot which is why alternative news sources make a good source, keeping all the info of a newspaper from indirect sources relevant to a topic while also carrying detailed info of blog-type information, plus editorials in one location instead of spread out, which is what newspapers usually align with their material.




Provide the titles and URLs for all 3 sources (full citations NOT necessary)
Briefly comment on the information found in each source, especially consider how each source differs

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Blog Post #7

Marymount Library Search
1. Fingeroth, Danny. "Superman On the Couch: what superheroes really tell us about ourselves and our society. New York Continuum, 2004
2. Detweiler, Craig. "A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in pop culture." Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic c. 2003
3. Kenneth, Davis C. "Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything We Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned." New York, NY.: Harper Collins Publishers copyright 2005
4. Kapur, Jyotnsa. "Coining for Capital: Movies, Marketing and the Transformation of Childhood." New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, copyright 2005
5. "Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers." Maasik, Sonia. Solomon, Jack. Boston: Bedford Books, St. Martin's Press, copyright 1994
6. "The Worlds Greatest Superheroes." Dini, Paul. New York, NY: DC Comics, copyright 2005
7. "Superman: The Man of Steel. Volume 2" Byrne, John. Woflman, Marv. New York, NY: DC Comics, copyright 2003
8. "George Bernard Shaw's Plays: Man and Superman." Shaw, Bernard. New York, W.W. Norton, copyright 2002
9. "Heroes, Highbrows and the Popular Mind." Gurko, Leo. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merril, copyright 1953
10. "First Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently." Buckingham, Marcus. New York, NY: Simon & Shuster, copyright 1999
11. "Your America: Democracy's Local Heroes." Siceloff, John. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, copyright 2008
12. "Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture." Savage, Jon. New York, NY: Viking, copyright 2007
13. "Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Beleive Violence." Jones, Gerard. New York, NY: Basic Books, copyright 2002


Useful Subject Headings:
1. Folklore and Superstitions -- Dictionaries
2. Superman
3. Movies
4. Superheroes
5. Contexts and Criticism
6. Single Magazine Form
7. Heroes


A good subject heading is good in finding a book you need for a subject because it may be in the title or may have an entire section on that particular subject, such as heroes. Keywords make all the difference in finding books

The book that appears to be most relevant to my new topic from my last post is book #13 on my list, "KIlling Monsters: why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes, and Make Believe Violence." The reason that this book is so relevant is because my topic consists of why are the most popular superhero movies the most popular deals with the teenage and children culture, especially one of popularity that pertains most to teenage culture, dealing with what they may go see at the movies and the logic behind why they would choose that movie, especially superhero movies as pertaining to the title of the most relevant book. Though it says children, it can pertain to teenagers as well, as teenagers also create such fantasies and act on the issue of popularity, making the book focus on the instinctive drive that we all have to go see whichever movie we choose to see.

The books that are least relevant to my search from the list above are:
"George Bernard Shaw's Plays: Man and Superman."
"A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in pop culture."
"Your America: Democracy's Local Heroes."
The reason these books are not relevant to my search is that the Man and Superman book deals mostly with the plays of Bernard Shaw rather than relating to the topic of superheroes in comics and pop culture, written mostly as an analysis of what one the plays means, the themes, and mostly a critique. The Matrix of Meanings book deals mostly with religious views in pop culture rather than the idea of a God we project in pop culture or movies, which is what I was trying to find. Religion, though a topic concerning mine as a figure we want in media, does not relate to the term of superheroes or their meaning in society today, not delving into popularity of heroes, but rather popularity of religion in media, a broad subject for a different topic. The last book, Your America, deals mainly with the heroes in politics rather than fictional heroes in pop culture and why they are popular. Politics though dealing with my subject as part of the way teenagers think, this book mainly looks at the views of Democracy in America today and how they relate to modern cultures, not delving into the topic of heroes, though put as a keyword, yielded this result and acts more as a bio on famous people in politics rather than pop culture icons that teenagers and children relate to.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Blog Post Research Question

My new updated question for the class would be:

Why are the most popular superheroe movies the most popular?

Kevin Bruehl