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Martha Murphy

Professor McLaughlin

Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric

23 March 2015

Annotated Bibliography

I am studying Chicago festivals and events, such as the Chicago Marathon and

Lollapalooza, and how the rhetoric from related advertisements and media establish a claim

about the culture of the city and their ensured success. I am interested in the topic because I have

been to both events multiple times, and have witnessed how the Marathon and Lollapalooza

change from year to year in both scope and audience. The way each event is advertised is not

only unique, but also is specific to the desired audience and message. I am an avid runner and I

have a significant interest in music, so I thought this would be a good topic for me to research.

My major research questions would include how these events effect the tourism, economy, and

culture of the city of Chicago. Additionally, the success of the advertisements and execution of

these events could be debated.

"Bank of America Chicago Marathon." Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Bank of America

Coorporation, 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.

This source contains general information about the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

It is the official website and sponsor of the event. It also includes information about how

significant and important completing the marathon can be for elite and everyday runners

alike. Additionally, there is a course map, schedule of events, history of the race, and

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many statistics from past years. The intended audience is anyone participating in the

event or any spectators or tourists. This source will be useful for background information

and facts about the Chicago marathon, as well as a source for the media promoting the

marathon (commercials, posters, apparel, etc.). This source is credible because it is run by

the official sponsor of the event.

"Complaints Cause Organizers to Reduce Music Festival Volume in Chicago."UPI. UPI, 26 May

2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.

UPI, the author of this article, stands for United Press International. This news service is

an international news agency located in Washington, D.C. The intended audience

included anyone interested in the controversy that Chicago’s large-scale music festivals

create amongst the city’s residents. Nearby residents have been complaining about the

noise levels of the Chicago festivals, and the organizers of the festivals said that they

would turn down the volume after being informed of these complaints. This source has

useful information regarding the negatives of Chicago’s festivals. Residents as far as

seven miles away can hear fireworks and loud music every Friday night. This source will

help my argument by providing an opposing viewpoint towards the festivals that bring so

much revenue into the city. This will add another dimension to my argument, because

there is not too much information on any dispute people have about the yearly festival

being put on in Chicago.

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Cohen, Ronald D. A History of Folk Music Festivals in the United States: Feasts of Musical

Celebration. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2008. Print.

Ronald Cohen is a U.S. History professor at Indiana University Northwest, and has

multiple books about this topic. This book includes a collection of music festivals in the

United States both big and small from the nineteenth century until now. This source will

provide insight into other music festivals besides Lollapalooza, and help illustrate just

how much impact Lollapalooza has on the city of Chicago compared to other festivals.

This source is credible because the author cites a large range of both primary and

secondary sources that cover a variety of festivals from all across the country. I will be

able to have information about music festivals from across the country, and this way, I

will be able to use comparison between them in order to add to my argument. In addition,

this book talks about how certain festivals were formed and their backgrounds, providing

insight into the reasoning behind why and when these festivals emerged and how they

survived.

Rabin, Carol Price., and Carol Price. Rabin. Music Festivals in America. Stockbridge, MA:

Berkshire Traveller, 1983. Print.

This book features 170 musical events from all different music genres. Each festival is

described in pretty thorough detail, and she also includes a glimpse of the artists and

important background information. The book lists each festival by state, and I will be

able to take note of the difference in impact that each festival has from state to state. The

intended audience is anyone that appreciates music, and it is valuable because I will be

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able to analyze different music festivals around the country in order to see how

Lollapalooza compares to other festivals. I can note how these festivals effect the

economy and tourism in these other areas, and learn if the location of Lollapalooza is also

important. Because there are so many other festivals in this book that cover a wide

variety of genres, I can also analyze the rhetoric from other festivals (from posters,

advertisements, etc,) to compare and contrast those festivals’ impact alongside Chicago

music festivals’ impact.

Reed, Monica C. "Music Festivals and the Formation of Chicago Culture." Journal of the Illinois

State Historical Society (1998-) 103.1 (2010): 67-89. JSTOR. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.

In this source, Monica Reed talks about how different festivals in Chicago, dating back to

1930, have shaped the culture of Chicago over time. Because this source covers so much

time, I will be able to compare the effect of music festivals in the past to large-scale

festivals that are still in operation. I will also be able to note how the numbers of

spectators have changed. In the 1930s, spectators were counted by the thousands; now

that number has grown exponentially over the years, and this effects tourism and revenue

generated by the festivals of today. I can also talk about how the ages of spectators have

changed, and how this also has an effect on the impact of festivals. Lastly, the popular

music genres that have been featured in these events certainly have changed, and I can

comment on that as well, demonstrating how this effects the overall impact of the

festival.

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Rumore, Aubrey. "Snapchat Progresses as Social, Cultural Platform."University Wire [Carlsbad]

30 Oct. 2014: n. pag. Print.

This source demonstrates the importance of social media during festivals today. Snapchat

is a way for the festivals to be captured through the eyes of regular, unbiased festival-

goers. Because non-news source people can now create evidence of their experiences,

this creates valuable information about the festival that might not be available on a

website or a newspaper article. Snapchat changes culture and social activity because

people can share their experience. The “our story” option allows anyone to upload a

picture and video from the given location. At a festival such as Lollapalooza, the “our

story” is now a resource that we can analyze.