Annotated Bibliography

  I have four points to follow when determining what is and isn't "hip" in my mind. I used these points as a guideline to choosing my peices of literature. The first point in anonymity, the individuals identity is blurred and not clear.  This helps them to blend into the crowd while remaining separate and elavated.  The second point is the "eternal present",  in this point an emphasis is put on time being uncertain and ever changing.  There is knowledge of past and future but they both have almost no meaning.  The third and most important point is the Tricksters.  Tricksters are the "Gods" of the hip world and use societies undercurrents as a sort of conduit.  Situational knowledge is extremely important to a Trickster, how to apply what, to where and at what time?  They use words and information to manipulate as well as the illusion of power or weakness.  My fourth point is the "Love of Thyself", it's exactly what it sounds like, Narcissim plain and simple.  The individual will value themselves over others and balance the "mask" of society and these tendencies.

Ernest Hemingway
"The Killers"

  My first source is Ernest Hemingway's, "The Killers".  This work is about two contract killers who have come to a small town in search of their target.  They seem very well informed and one of them is not very concerned with witnesses.  The peice moves forward with the contract killers giving the target increasing amounts of time to live then they just leave and the work sort of ends without a conclusion.  This source is extremely useful to my first and second points and slightly useful to my third.  It rates very high on the scale with my other sources.  This source contains heavy anonymity throughout as well as an "eternal present".  These two elements work together to loosely influence my third point but not by much.

Ralph Ellison
"Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke"

  My second source is Ralph Ellison's, "Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke".  This work is about the relationship between African-Americans and White Americans and the way "hip" interacts between them to make a Trickster figure.  This source is my highest rated on the importance scale of all my literature.  This source is almost eclusively about the Trickster and makes references throughout.

Walt Whitman
"Song of Myself"

  My third source is Walt Whitman's, "Song of Myself".  This peice of literature is mostly about valueing yourself as an individual with strong references to anonymity.  This is one of my lowest rated sources just above my fourth source.  I will use this source to show the interaction of narcissism and the Trickster.

Rush
"Limelight"

My fourth source is a song played by Rush called, "Limelight".  This song is only about anonymity and it will be used to clarify that point.  It is the least useful of my sources and I don't expect to use it very much.