Lynsey Ward
English 106 – MWF 12:20 – 1:10pm
Research Proposal & Annotated Bibliography
Monday, April 16th, 2012
Essay #3 Research
Proposal
The
space in Miami that I have chosen to address in this third essay is South
Beach. This popular part of Miami says a
lot about the city itself, the image of the city, and of course, the people of
the city – or at least the mobiles that have contributed greatly to the image
Miami holds today. In my research paper,
the central question I will address is, “How has the historic development of
South Beach contributed to the city of Miami today, including its image,
locals, mobiles and exiles?” I will then
research things such as how South Beach first developed, in terms of the
geographical South Beach, along with its evolvement from then to now, as it
pertains to image. Some key points that
I will address in detail are the diversity South Beach has brought or even
taken away from Miami, the racism – if any – associated with South Beach as it
pertains to Miami, and any globalization that was brought to Miami as a result
of the development of both the geographical and social South Beach.
This
research question is important as it says a lot about the theme reality vs.
spectacle, which we have been looking at closely in this class. By learning how the development of South
Beach from prior day to today has contributed to the development of Miami as a
city, along with the image associated with Miami today, it will then be
possible to make a personal connection to what the city of Miami is really all
about; especially with concerns to race, diversity and globalization. The personal connection that I can make with
this topic is simply how South Beach and its history has affected me as a
long-term mobile in Miami. I can then expand
on things such as how I personally see the image of Miami, what I think about
it, and how it has revealed itself to me in my everyday life here, including
any struggles I have faced because of it, or opportunities I have gained as a
result of it. I have chosen not to focus
on one particular aspect of South Beach because I want to encompass different
things about this space in order to be able to say more about its contribution
to the development of Miami; this includes the type of people that go there,
which are mostly mobiles, the social expectations and aura that is presented
there, the shopping and dining, and even the art.
In
order to complete this research paper I will need mostly qualitative
material. The qualitative information
that I will need includes things such as who, where and why the area of South
Beach was first built, what image was associated with that area back then and
why, what brought on the changes and renovations of the area, and the image now
associated with the area. Along with
that, I will need to dig deeper and find out things such as what the diversity,
globalization brought on or taken away by South Beach has done to the
development of Miami as a city, so that I can find the answer to my question
and be able to make a personal connection with it. The only statistical information I will need
is perhaps dates and financial figures of people that occupied South Beach in
the past in comparison to the people that occupy South Beach today.
Annotated
Bibliography
This website will
provide me with information on this history of South Beach, from its very
beginning as a Sandbar, to the plantations on South Beach, to the segregation,
the revival and even the fairy land image that was and is now associated with
this luxurious area. This website will
also provide me with photographs from the past of South Beach to present day so
that I can make analysis on the changes that are visible through photography. This website also holds information about
hotels on South Beach along with good dining options, which will in turn say a
lot about the area.
This website will
encompass another side of South Beach.
Instead of capturing the history of South Beach along with activities
and places to do and stay while on South Beach, it talks about the art and
culture this area has. There is a place
that operates like a school called The New World Symphony that develops
graduate students with music degrees and instills values of art and culture in
them in order to make them better at what they do. This part of South Beach is not included in
their image right off the back to the average tourists, which can make for a
good counter argument for the image of the rich and famous filled with tanning,
swimming and showing off, that is now associated with South Beach.
This website
focuses more on the advertisement of South Beach. I thought this would be interesting to
include in my argument, as we learned from an article we read previously that
the image of Miami today was built solely off of advertisement from the rich
and famous; particularly Mr. Fisher and Mr. Merrick. Bringing in this aspect to my argument will
emphasize exactly where the image of South Beach derived from, and what effects
it has had on the image of Miami as a city.
The sense of falsity that advertisements can sometimes hold also relates
to the theme reality vs. spectacle, which will be the theme of my whole
paper.
*I also intend on using books from the Otto G. Richter Library as well
as historic pieces from the special collections section of the library in my
research; but these websites will be where the brunch of my information comes
from.
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