The Other Shore Annotated Bibliography Analysis
My play is The other shore written by Xingjian Gao so the resources should be related to this play and research question. My research question is under the circumstance in China in his era, what does he want to express by the theme of this play?
Task Goal: Begin the task of paraphrasing your key sources, organizing your thoughts about the main ideas found in those sources, and articulating your tentative thesis in response to those sources.
The other set of skills involved is basic MLA formatting. You will be graded on correct MLA 8 formatting. This can be time-consuming, but the good news is once you’ve correctly created your bibliographic notation, you can simply cut and paste it into your final paper!
Your annotated bibliography should include at least six sources. Do not include the play itself. You may add or remove sources included in the “Works Cited” section of your final paper.
For the annotated bibliography you must include:
1. at least one a chapter or introduction from a book, and
2. at least one scholarly article from a database or journal.
Also note that Wikipedia is not a legitimate bibliographical source for the purposes of this research paper.
Every annotation should include a short paragraph of three to four sentences that:
1. Summarize the source, including the main argument or thesis and any notable methods.
2. Respond to the source in some way. Explain how this source relates to your argument or how you will use the source in your paper. Does this source support your reading of the play? Will you build on the source, applying its argument to a new topic? Will you refute it? Cite it as evidence? Etc.
Here is an example of an entry in an annotated bibliography. The correct format for MLA is as follows: (please refer to Comm-B project syllabus for correct indentation)
Thomas, Aaron C. “Watching A Raisin in the Sun and Seeing Red.” Modern Drama, vol. 58, no. 4, Winter 2015, pp. 461–481. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=lfh&AN=111794237&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Thomas argues that Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun illustrates the pervasive influence of Communist political critique on Black theatre in the United States in the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on the FBI’s own internal memos investigating the play before it came to Broadway, Thomas positions the play as an effective political critique of racism, sexism, and capitalism. Thomas’s analysis of the FBI internal memos supports my feminist reading of the play by demonstrating the political efficacy of her text, even outside of literary circles.
Remember that writing this initial annotated bibliography is only the start of your bibliographical research for your final paper. As you continue to work going forward, you can (and should) add to this list of sources to help you organize your thoughts for Draft 1 of your paper.
Lecturer
Unit
Due Date
The Other Shore Annotated Bibliography
Ren, Quah Sy. "Historical Reality, Fictional Narrative. China in the Frame of Gao Xingjian’s Theatre." China perspectives (2012): 13-23.
This article is beneficial in understanding Gao’s viewpoint while understanding writing and directing The Other Shore. It discusses the entire play, including a brief history of the work, its staging, and Gao’s logic for writing it. The author describes two scenes from the show, ‘‘The card game and Learning to Speak’’. The source also includes a photograph of the previous scene taken from Carnegie Mellon’s 2008 performance and a chat that helps place the audience in position. Ren (17) also outlines that the ‘‘The Other Shore is a metaphor for modern China. The author further takes a specific stand in explaining the play. However, his opinions are wide enough for the readers to take particular ideas out of them.
Zhao, Henry. Towards a modern zen theatre: Gao Xingjian and Chinese theatre experimentalism. School of Oriental and African Studies (2010): University of London.
This book has an interesting take on the views of experimental theater in China. The author posits that Gao is the only genuinely successful Chinese experimental theater artist of the nineties after the eighties' experimental movement failed. The author further identifies Gao’s unique aesthetic as Modern Zen Theater that is different from post-modern theater. The book also discusses The Other Shore in detail. It pinpoints that Gao is a director-like playwright whose plays are difficult to understand or appreciate fully without seeing them as a performance.
Song, Binghui. The experimental drama of Gao Xingjian was inspired by avant-garde theatre. Neohelicon. 46.1 (2019): 69-79.
This source summarizes Gao’s play, The Other Shore. According to the article, the Other Shore explores human struggles to reach a place of happiness and peace by crossing the river of life. The author reveals that this play's title represents a state of enlightenment that every person wants to reach. Under the circumstance in China in this era, this article analyzes that Gao intends to express the Chinese interest in achieving political, social, technological, and economic success. Today, China is the most populated country in the world but the world's fastest-growing economy. Having strong economic growth makes the Chinese reach a state of nirvana, as depicted by the ar...