This week most of our group met to discuss our progress in the project and where we thought we should head next. This was important because we are soon going to have to finalize our choices for readings to give. What I tried to emphasize is that we should make sure that whatever we give out is directly related to the core of the class—the questions like “why do we need legendary Americans” and “what makes a legendary American”—and try to consciously avoid the factual stuff, even when it is interesting or relevant to Kennedy’s general history. I specifically wanted to mention this point because I read the children’s book that Peter found a few weeks ago as per his request. Maybe I’m just missing it, but I couldn’t see that much that directly connected to the “legendary” aspects of Kennedy. Which parts of the book were you planning to use? I will bring the children’s book on Kennedy that I found to class this week, so y’all can read it and see it there is valuable stuff within it. I personally think there is more we can say about that book than about this one.
Also regarding the project, it seems like some major talking points are starting to appear (aside from the few basic “legendary” questions that we have to answer). The fascination with Kennedy’s death shows that he is a legend and demonstrates our fixation with the morbid and martyr (is this why Peter’s book would be good to cite?). Jessica, I know you researched this most; what do you think the best excerpts were? His Catholicism highlights important aspects about the US and religion, which would be good to touch on because it is still relevant today. I also think it would be particularly helpful to focus on the polls data I found. They directly reveal how Americans thought about a “legend” through time, and isn’t this exactly what we are studying? We also haven’t really discussed the value and limitations of polls as a source in class, which we could do now. Therefore, the only sources I think we should definitely use from my independent research are the three I cited at the end of one of my previous posts, which I will re-post here. What do you guys think about them? There are also several books that I used elsewhere, but I haven’t finalized which parts would be most useful yet. I will work more on this in the coming week.
Sources:
Conway, Debra. “A Look At JFK’s Popularity Polls.” JFK News and Updates – JFK Lancer Blog. 3 Feb. 2009. Web. 05 Oct. 2011. <http://jfklancernews.blogspot.com/2009/02/look-at-jfks-popularity-polls-by-debra.html>.
Hines, Nico. “The Greatest US Presidents – The Times US Presidential Rankings – Times Online.” The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion. 31 Oct. 2008. Web. 05 Oct. 2011. <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5055404.ece>.
Houston Chronicle, “Chronicle Poll Sees Goldwater Over Kennedy” Nov. 22, 1963. “Gallup Poll had indicated that 63 per cent of Americans disapproved of the March [on Washington], and that 38 per cent thought he was pushing too fast on integration.” William F. Buckley Jr., National Review, December 31, 1994.