ICSM Communicating like The Simpsons: Understanding Springfield, Ithaca and the World
Selected Sources
If a librarian visits your class, they will pull together specific resources in a guide like this one that will help you with your research. The sources may be a mixture of library databases (use Netpass to access), books, and free web sources.
- Simpsons Wiki
- Simpsons Transcripts (forever dreaming)
- Simpsons IMDB
- Simpsons (streaming on FOX)
- Simpsons DVDs in IC library
Books
- Simpsons (Television program) Click on this to see all media held in the IC Library that is about The Simpsons.
- Rhetoric AND Television .
- Satire AND Television
Simpsons World by
Comprehensive episode synopses for 20 seasons of Simpsons, including 128 new gut-busting episodes never before covered Stuff you may have missed More screen shots than ever before Over four hundred character profiles Every chalkboard phrase Bart has ever written
Call Number: General Stacks PN1992.77.S58 G76 2010ISBN: 0061711284Publication Date: 2010
The Simpsons, Satire, and American Culture by
How is The Simpsons a satirical artwork engaged with important social, political, and cultural issues? In time for the twenty-fifth anniversary, Henry offers the first comprehensive understanding of the show as a satire and explores the ways in which The Simpsons participates in the so-called "culture war" debates taking place in American society.
Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781137027795Publication Date: 2012
Drawn to the Gods by
A new world of religious satire illuminated through the layers of religion and humor that make up the The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy. Drawing on the worldviews put forth by three wildly popular animated shows - The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy- David Feltmate demonstrates how ideas about religion's proper place in American society are communicated through comedy. The book includes discussion of a wide range of American religions, including Protestant and Catholic Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Native American Religions, New Religious Movements, "Spirituality," Hinduism, and Atheism. Along the way, readers are shown that jokes about religion are influential tools for teaching viewers how to interpret and judge religious people and institutions. Feltmate, develops a picture of how each show understands and communicates what constitutes good religious practice as well as which traditions they seek to exclude on the basis of race and ethnicity, stupidity, or danger. From Homer Simpson's spiritual journey during a chili-pepper induced hallucination to South Park's boxing match between Jesus and Satan to Peter Griffin's worship of the Fonz, each show uses humor to convey a broader commentary about the role of religion in public life. Through this examination, an understanding of what it means to each program to be a good religious American becomes clear. Drawn to the Gods is a book that both fans and scholars will enjoy as they expose the significance of religious satire in these iconic television programs.
Call Number: General Stacks PN1992.8.R45 F45 2017ISBN: 9781479822188Publication Date: 2017
Watching with the Simpsons by
Using our favourite Springfield family as a case study, Watching with The Simpsonsexamines the textual and social role of parody in offering critical commentary on other television programs and genres. Jonathan Gray brings together textual theory, discussions of television and the public sphere, and ideas of parody and comedy. Including primary audience research, it focuses on how The Simpsonshas been able to talk back to three of television's key genres - the sitcom, adverts and the news - and on how it holds the potential to short-circuit these genre's meanings, power, and effects by provoking reinterpretations and offering more media literate recontextualizations. Examining television and media studies theory, the text of The Simpsons, and the show's audience, Gray attempts to fully situate the show's parody and humour within the lived realities of its audiences. In doing so, he further explores the possibilities for popular entertainment television to discuss issues of political and social importance. A must read for any student of media studies.
Call Number: General Stacks PN1992.77.S58 G73 2006ISBN: 0415362024Publication Date: 2005
The Simpsons by
The Simpsons is one of the most successful shows to ever run on television. From its first moment on air, the series's rich characters, subversive themes, and layered humor resounded deeply with audiences both young and old who wanted more from their entertainment than what was being meted out at the time by the likes of Full House, Growing Pains, and Family Matters. Spawned as an animated short on The Tracy Ullman Show - mere filler on the way to commercial breaks - the series grew from a controversial cult favorite to a mainstream powerhouse, and after nineteen years the residents of Springfield no longer simply hold up a mirror to our way of life: they have ingrained themselves into it. John Ortved's oral history will be the first-ever look behind the scenes at the creation and day-to-day running of The Simpsons, as told by many of the people who made it: among them writers, animators, producers, and network executives. It's an intriguing yet hilarious tale, full of betrayal, ambition, and love. Like the family it depicts, the show's creative forces have been riven by dysfunction from the get-go - outsize egos clashing with studio executives and one another over credit for and control of a pop-culture institution. Contrary to popular belief, The Simpsons did not spring out of one man's brain, fully formed, like a hilarious Athena. Its inception was a process, with many parents, and this book tells the story.
Call Number: General Stacks PN1992.77.S58 O78 2009ISBN: 0865479887Publication Date: 2009
Prime Time Animation by
In September 1960 a television show emerged from the mists of prehistoric time to take its place as the mother of all animated sitcoms. The Flintstonesspawned dozens of imitations, just as, two decades later, The Simpsonssparked a renaissance of primetime animation. This fascinating book explores the landscape of television animation, from Bedrock to Springfield, and beyond. The contributors critically examine the key issues and questions, including: How do we explain the animation explosion of the 1960s? Why did it take nearly twenty years following the cancellation of The Flintstonesfor animation to find its feet again as primetime fare? In addressing these questions, as well as many others, essays examine the relation between earlier, made-for-cinema animated production (such as the Warner Looney Toonsshorts) and television-based animation; the role of animation in the economies of broadcast and cable television; and the links between animation production and brand image. Contributors also examine specific programmes like The Powerpuff Girls, Daria, Ren and Stimpyand South Parkfrom the perspective of fans, exploring fan cybercommunities, investigating how ideas of 'class' and 'taste' apply to recent TV animation, and addressing themes such as irony, alienation, and representations of the family.
Call Number: ebookISBN: 0415283264Publication Date: 2003
Narrative Strategies in Television Series by
In the context of a systematic overview of the possibilities of applying narratological concepts to a study of TV series, ten case studies are explored in depth, demonstrating how series such as 24, Buffy, Twin Peaks, Star Trek, Blackadder, and Sex and the City make use of innovative audiovisual means of storytelling. Transgressing the traditional confines of narrative theory, the chapter authors address the question of how form, content, and function intersect in these series.
Call Number: PN1992.8.S4 N38 2005ISBN: 1403996059Publication Date: 2005
Databases
Best Bets
- EBSCO Research LibrarySearch across all of our EBSCO subscriptions for full-text articles and abstracts in almost every discipline.
- Library Search: Advanced SearchChange the "Any Field" drop-down to Title to search by title. Under "Tweak my results" in the right menu, limit to "Library Catalog" to find books and videos available in the library.
- Ebook Central (ProQuest)Contains over 180,000 ebooks in nearly all disciplines including business, education, sciences, technology, law, and medicine.
Contents: Ebooks.
Need search tips? See our Guide for more information.
Subject Specific Databases
Note: You are searching across all of the following indexes at once when searching EBSCO Research Library. Searching one at a time allows you to focus your search in one particular discipline.
- Communication Source (EBSCO)Contains content from communications journals, magazines and other publications, covering related disciplines including linguistics, rhetoric and discourse, speech-language pathology, and media studies.
Contents: Indexing, abstracts, and full-text articles. 1900-present. - ERIC (EBSCO interface)Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, covers all aspects of education.
Contents: Abstracts, citations, and some full-text of journal articles, research and technical reports, and an education-specific thesaurus. 1966-present. - GenderWatch (ProQuest)Supports gender and women's studies, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender research.
Contents: Citations and full-text articles from academic, radical, community, and independent presses. 1970-present. - Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest)Collects full-text articles from the ethnic, minority, and native press, including top scholarly journals on ethnicities and ethnic studies. Contents include African American, Arab, Middle Eastern, Asian American, European, Jewish, and Native American publications.
Contents: Full-text articles from newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journal. 1990-present; plus historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989. - PsycINFO (APA) (ProQuest)Subjects covered include psychology, behavioral and social science, neuroscience, business, nursing, law, and education.
Contents: Abstracts and full-text journal articles and dissertations. - SocINDEX with Full Text (EBSCO)Covers a broad range of studies, including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, religion, racial studies, and social work.
Contents: Abstracts and full-text of scholarly journals, books, and conference papers.
Fulltext Journal Collections (these databases do not include the latest issues; they are smaller in scope)
- JSTORIncludes archival journal collections in the Arts & Sciences and Life Sciences covering language and literature, history, economics, political science, and health sciences.
Contents: Full-text articles and books. - Project MuseSubjects covered include literature and criticism, history, education, philosophy, political science, and gender studies.
Contents: Full-text peer-reviewed articles.
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