Annotated Bibliography
"Abraham Lincoln's Brief and Modest Autobiography; Written in His Own Handwriting in the Year 1860." Chicago Tribune,1909. Brief newspaper article relaying the history of Lincoln's handwritten document. Samples of the letter are provided as inset.
Brinkley, Alan, and Davis Dyer. The American Presidency. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. A comprehensive volume of presidential biography. Each president is given a 5–10 page treatment in which his early life, campaign, office and post–presidential activity is briefly discussed.
Berninger, Mark, Jochen Ecke, and Gideon Haberkorn. Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines and International Perspectives. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2010. This book offers a variety of essays considering global viewpoints on the phenomenon of comic books and graphic narrative. Of particular interest is the discussion of East meets West and the difference in perspectives.
Coe, Allen Fletcher. "The President's Pen: A Literary History of American Presidential Autobiographies." PhD, University of Maryland, 2010. Exceedingly useful in its scholarship, this dissertation unpacks the genre of Presidential autobiography and provides a keen analysis of multiple works, spanning all ages of the United States Presidency.
Clinton, Bill. My Life. New York: Vintage Books, 2005. The autobiography of former president Bill Clinton is a massive tome, even by biographical standards. To the dismay of many there are no apologetics or tell–all confessions here. There are, however, many genuine anecdotes and memories of our former leader. As you are reading you can hear the diction and prosody of Clinton's voice resonating throughout the work. The second half may be only worth scanning, as it does become as tedious journal of political meetings, but don't miss out the first one hundred or so pages where the meat of the moral education of the man Bill Clinton is explored.
Egerton, George. "Politics and Autobiography: Political Memoir as Polygenre." Biography 15, no. 3 (1992): 221–242. This article specifically discusses the political memoir as a blend of styles of writing, including historical, persuasive and biographical. A great counterbalance to Coe's dissertation. Provides an alternative perspective on the legitimacy of presidential narrative.
Gravett, Paul. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. New York: Collins Design, 2004. Perhaps the most comprehensive study on Japanese Manga to date. Filled with colorful illustrates Gravett explores the history, present and future movements of manga in his thoughtful and well researched book. His substantial research is visually augmented in a way that the reader sees the progression of the genre throughout Japanese history. An easy and informative read, even for the less enthusiastic novel reader, or perhaps, just the type of reader who would enjoy a comic book!.
Howarth, William L. "Some Principles of Autobiography." New Literary History 5, no. 2 (1974): 363–381. In this article Howarth seeks to find a unified analysis and understanding of the genre of autobiography. He breaks out his analysis into three elements of the autobiographical mode: Character, Theme and Style. He then goes on to discuss different metaphors and comparisons for autobiography, such as "Autobiography as Oratory" and "Autobiography as Poetry". This article is a useful read for understanding the construct of the autobiography and its history.
Huang, Betsy. "Eagle: The Making of an Asian–American President Review." MELUS 32, no. 3 (2007): 283–284. Huang reviews and discusses Kaiji Kawaguchi's political storytelling.
"In their Own Words; Political Memoirs." The Economist (2009): 392.
Bill Clinton's book deal and other political writings are remarked upon.
Kawaguchi, Kaiji. Eagle: The Making of an Asian–American President. Vol. 1. San Francisco: Viz Communications, Inc., 2000. A serialized manga that presupposes the ascendency of a minority to the office of President of the United States; Kenneth Yamaoka and his secret son, Takashi Jo trudge down the campaign trail together as Kenneth tries to clench the election. Filled with drama and some romance, Eagle is also a story of a man with a dream. Because this manga novel was originally written for a Japanese audience, the intricacies of the election of the president are broken down and explained, creating an excellent illustrative text to explain the inner workings of our government to students.
Lincoln, Abraham. The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Francis D. Tandy Company, 1905. In this monumental document, Abraham Lincoln explains his humble orgins and his route through self–education and into law. This brief epistle, written by request while Lincoln was running for public office, has an economy of language which Lincoln is known. His self–perseverance and motivation are inspiring and call one to emulate. A copy of the original document can be easily found through an online search if of use in ones' classroom.
Mariotte, Jeff, Tom Morgan, Andy Helfer, and Stephen Thompson. Presidential Material. San Diego, CA: IDW Pub., 2008. A comic book version of the background of Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. Pairs well with Dreams from My Father as the first few anecdotes mirror those discussed in the first chapters of Barack Obama's book.
Milkis, Sidney M. and Michael Nelson. The American Presidency: Origins and Development 1776–2007. 5th ed. CQ Press, 2007. This book explains how the presidency evolved as an office throughout the history of the United States. It is very comprehensive in nature, but goes much too in detail on many matters that are unnecessary for the purposes of this unit. The introduction is useful and provides a more practical summary.
Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004. Barack Obama discusses his upbringing and career in the context of racial experience in America. He effectively explains who he is, where he came from and what he stands for in this eloquently written volume.
Rossiter, Clinton. "The Powers of the Presidency." In The American Presidency, 15. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Company, 1987. Well–regarded and oft–quoted Rossiter's analysis of the office, duties and powers of the Chief Executive is a hallmark in the world of political science texts. For a quick flavor, simply read the first chapter; for a more in–depth discussion of the ideas he outlines read chapters to follow acorrodingly.
Schodt, Frederick L. Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. Tokyo International: New York. The original manga encyclopedia, Schodt has dedicated a lifetime to learning and educating on Japanese culture. This book has become outdated overtime, as manga has now substantially expanded in terms of global recognition, the book still has relevance and provides an impassioned perspective on what was, at one time, a relatively obscure form of entertainment in the West.
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