4663 Creative Nonfiction Autobiography

Finding Sources  Books – What is available for my use in the library? Reference Collection Literary Criticism  Keywords for searching Author’s name Criticism

Finding Sources  Timelines – How does what has happened in literature or in other people’s lives relate to my experiences? Books  Examples from Reference Collection Databases  Literary Reference Center (EBSCOhost) Literary Reference Center (EBSCOhost)

Search for Scholarly Articles  Initial Step Create an EBSCO folder for LRC sources LION, JSTOR, and Project Muse sources can be archived  Database Resources Literary Reference Center (EBSCOhost) LION: Literature Online Complete JSTOR Journal Archive Project Muse

Oral Tradition  Other ways to record autobiographical information StoryCorps – the opportunity to record family stories   Since 2003, over 35,000 people have shared life stories with family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share. The conversation is preserved at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind.

WPA Collections  During the Great Depression (October 1929 to around 1939 and the beginning of World War II), President Franklin D. Roosevelt developed the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to employ as many people as possible on projects that would provide long-term benefit to local communities. One of these projects was the Federal Writers’ Project. Through this project, many American stories were recorded and are available to us today.

More WPA Information American Memory from the Library of Congress: American Life Histories of the Common People  American Folklife Center Collections are available to us online. Here is Zora Neale Hurston:  1(Hurston,+Zora+Neale)) 1(Hurston,+Zora+Neale))

More from the Library of Congress  Link to Webcasts  See and hear Joyce Carol Oates preview-clip/3SqE2jz-qrKtJUlQg5kW-A preview-clip/3SqE2jz-qrKtJUlQg5kW-A

Oklahoma Connections  Oklahoma Historical Society: Oklahoma Journeys via podcast   This source includes many stories related to the people of Oklahoma and their relationships to the history of the state.

A Western Oklahoma Voice  Born in Lawton, Kiowa Pulitzer Prize- winning author and English professor N. Scott Momaday discusses the importance of telling our stories

Momaday says, “‘My father was a great storyteller and he knew many stories from the Kiowa oral tradition. He told me many of these stories over and over because I loved them. But it was only after I became an adult that I understood how fragile they are, because they exist only by word of mouth, always just one generation away from extinction. That’s when I began to write down the tales my father and others had told me.’” php?rec= php?rec=4203

 Here is a link to listen to Dr. Momaday at the 2007 National Book Festival day.html day.html  It is important to keep our stories alive, so autobiography—in both oral and written forms–is a significant way for this to be accomplished.

Questions??  Please contact me:  Jane Long Have fun with your research and your autobiographical writing