Lay of the Land

Lay of the Land: Seven Basic Questions to Ask Any Secondary Source

The following questions will help you get to know your secondary sources. It assumes that you’ve already carefully read your secondary source. If you are using an article, you should have read it entirely. If you are using a book, you should have read its introduction, the relevant chapter, and skimmed the conclusion.

Supply evidence from the source for your answers: a quotation, summary, or paraphrase and include page numbers.

1) Is this a direct conversation or application source? (If you are unclear about the difference between the two, review the “Types of Sources” handout in the Student Handbook.)
This source is a direct conversation source. It directly confronts the movies it addresses while incorporating the greater cultural messages of the various films within their contexts.





2) What are the author’s credentials in his or her field? (If you are unable to answer this question now with the book in hand, research the author after class—find their profile on a university’s faculty page, search for a self-authored website or a recently published interview, for example).
I am focusing on one article within the book Film Theory Goes to the Movies. The author of my article is Sharon Willis. She is an associate professor of French at the University of Rochester but also teaches film, comparative literature, and women’s studies.




3) Does date of production affect its relevance to your primary source? If so, how?
Yes, that date of production affects the articles relevance to my primary source. The book was published in 1993, only two years following the release of the film. Therefore, the article provides a more immediate response to the film, rather than analyzing the implications of the film farther after its release.





4) Who is the author’s audience? Don’t go for the bland “general” or “academic.” The audience for most scholarly sources is academic, just as the audience for non-scholarly sources is often general. Instead, search the introduction and/or first chapter for clues about the intended audience.
The author’s audience would be academics within the film field. All the authors in the book are in scholarly institutions and focus on film and cinema studies, particularly the cultural implications and responses to film.






5) If it is a direct secondary source, does the source extensively or marginally cover your cultural object? If it is a applied secondary source, how will you relate it to your cultural object?
This is a direct secondary sources and it very extensively covers the film. It discusses various aspects of the film ranging from the imagery regarding the physical trip the women take, as well as other symbols pertinent to the film. Furthermore, it discusses broader cultural implications of the film, and the fantastical aspects which attract viewers to the film, yet weaken the feminist argument within it. It further relates the film to other works including “Fatal Attraction” and “Blade Runner,” and compares the films’ aspects.






6) What discipline (ie. psychology, media studies, women’s studies) is the secondary source part of and how does this inform the kinds of analysis/questions it asks of its primary source?
My secondary source is part of film and media studies and women and gender studies. This means the source is particularly tailored and well informed in the feminist movement and how it is or is not effectively carried out within this film.







7) Which claims do you find most/least persuasive and why?
The claims I find most persuasive regard question Thelma and Louise as role models, integrating the landscape into the meaning of the film (specifically in relation to personal history), the transition within Thelma and Louise form female characteristics (posture, etc.) to male characteristics, cross-gender identification, and how the film is truly about the journey. Furthermore, the article elaborates on body language and how it is used within the film. One of the least persuasive arguments regards the film as a fantasy-like journey for these women. It questions the validity of feminist images as fantasy.








In your research groups, discuss the answers you’ve gotten so far in class. Which questions were you unable to answer now? How will you answer them later? On your RAE blog, type up and post your extended answers.