TOPIC SELECTION.

Picking an individual for the National History Day topic wasn't that hard at all. The theme was about an individual in history.
So, I picked...
Elvis Presley: Rock & Roll !

I know it's kind of a big topic so I'm going to narrow it down to one specific subject. I'm satisfied with my idea though; it's fresh & probably original. =)

I chose this person for my NHD project because when I first saw his name; I was suddenly interested & wanted to research more about his life. I thought I knew him good but nope - I already found many information & that's just what I need to make my project successful.

I think this person is pretty important in history because he changed the society's views on music and things. One of his big impacts on the history were meeting Nixon, the president at the time. Also, his music - of course, Rock & Roll - contributed to more music and media.

For this week, I'm going to look into more websites and read the Elvis Presley book more.

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THESIS STATEMENT.

While in 1940's and 1950's, people never saw any sexual dances and rock music. So once Elvis' style & music popped out, it turned a lot of things around; leading to a new generation of modern music. Back then, people were conservative with soft dancing and music - so when they saw the new rocking music and dancing; it put an impact on them & changed a lot of things, like the culture, the fashion and the music.
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INTRODUCTION.

Elvis Presley, famous for his rock and roll music, was one of the most important figures at the time. While in 1940's and 1950's, people never saw any sexual dances and rock music. So once Elvis' style & music popped out, it turned a lot of things around; leading to a new generation of modern music. Back then, people were conservative with soft dancing and music - so when they saw the new rocking music and dancing; it put an impact on them & changed a lot of things; like the culture, the fashion and the music.
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MY ANNOTATIONS.

Primary Sources

1. Elvis Presley - Official website for Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. Legal / Web Design & Internet Marketing by Aristotle. 2008 October 24.

An amazingly organized website about Elvis Presley; with many links to photographs or important documents involving Presley. This enables me to gather much more information and find interesting facts about Presley's life. Simply, an offical website for Elvis Presley. From this website, I've found out that Elvis arranged an meeting with President Nixon & this encouraged me to research much more about Elvis. I think this will help me a lot with my research & make my project more successful.

2. Hamby, Betty. “Elvis Gallery.” Elvis Presley. Picture. 11 May 2000.

On this webpage, a few pictures of Elvis Presley singing at a concert. This can help with visual aids for my exhibit, and it also demonstrates the start of his fall (where he becomes overweight, gets hospitalized often and gets in trouble more often).

3. Kennedy, David M., Elizabeth Cohen & Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th ed. Boston and New York: 2006.

This page was about how the King Rock Star Elvis Presley revolutionized popular music in the 1950's, and it was during the Eisenhower Era. I can use this to help with quotes and primary sources.

4. Kennedy, David M., Elizabeth Cohen & Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th ed. Boston and New York: 2006.

There were traditionalists that were upset with this new generation of music, directly from Elvis Presley. There were also other famous figures at the time -- Marilyn Monroe. The magazine, Playboy, was also introduced at the time. I can use this to help with the timeline in my project.

5. Kennedy, David M., Elizabeth Cohen & Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 13th ed. Boston and New York: 2006.

At the time, there were millions of baby boomers. Because of rates of people getting married flourished after the World War II. They were the ones that usually listened to this kind of music, after they came of age. They even danced to the music, which offended many adults.

6. Mandziuk, Mike. "Elvis in the 50s." Elvis Country. Picture. 11 Dec 2008.

On this webpage, there are three collections of photographs. Each one of them dating back in 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Although there aren’t many pictures – they can help with visual aids for the exhibit.

7. Mason, Ann Bobbie. Elvis Presley. New York: Penguin Group Penguin Putman, 2003.

A remarkable, well-written book about Elvis Presley's life. It was about how Elvis Presley was responsible for creating the music & puncturing the serenity and conformity of 1950's. But after joining the army; this disguised his rock and roll image - after many bad films, he gave up & went back into making music

8. Nixon Presidential Materials Project, White House Central Files: Subject Categories: Health (HE).

This is the best source so far. It provides a collection of documents written by President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley. It was about them meeting. There were documents of Elvis Presley's note to President Nixon, the agenda, the approval of Nixon meeting Elvis and the Nixon thank you letter to Elvis. I can use these to help with my project images and quotations.

9. Quotes by Elvis: All About Elvis. Elvis Presley - Official website for Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. Legal / Web Design & Internet Marketing by Aristotle. 2008 October 24.

In this website, shows many quotes from Elvis Presley himself or some quotes about him. I thought the quotes were really inspiring and gave hope to people. Like for example, "Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son. You never walked in that man’s shoes." - Elvis used this often to adapt the original saying. And another quotation, “When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times...I learned very early in life that: ‘Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend - without a song.' So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you.” - This was from Elvis' acceptance speech at the 1970 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation Award. So, this would look great for my research.

10. There are 28 Elvis-Nixon photos, shot by Nixon's chief photographer, Ollie Atkins, on December 21, 1970. They are identified as Roll 5364, frames 02 through 23, and Roll 5369, frames 12a through 17a.

This is another great source for me, because it provides many photographs (primary) of President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley meeting. This shows proof that they met and goes along with the documents great. This can help me with my project more successfully.


11. "The Photos." The Nixon-Presley Meeting: The Documentation. 7 November 1999.

A good webpage with a collection of letters, photographs and documents. This was when Elvis Presley and President Nixon were meeting.

Secondary Sources

1. Elvis Presley. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2008 October 28.

This page reveals a biography about Elvis Presley; summarized and clearly understandable. This can help with facts and information for my research. This page even includes a list of available books, notes and some photographs that can be used for my annotations.

2. MacDougall, Susan. September 2006. "Book Review: "FORTUNATE SON"." 11 Dec 2008 .

This is a book review of “Fortunate Son: the life of Elvis Presley: the ironic history of the King of Rock and Roll”. Charles Ponce wrote this book, and it has information about the life of Elvis Presley (obviously, as it was written in the title of the book).
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