Victoria Sheridan Annotated Bibliography

Works Cited

Bennett, Oliver. "The manufacture of hope: religion, eschatology and the culture of optimism." International Journal of Cultural Policy, vol. 17, no. 2, 2011, pp. 115- 130, Academic Search Premier. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

This source was selected because of its angle regarding purposes for religious pursuits.  The studies reflect religious adherence for the purpose of having a life filled with optimism and hope.  This parallels to Hal, who uses religion to find hope in his mediocre life.  Hal becomes susceptible to an unauthentic faith because as soon as the hope dissipates and life doesn’t go as planned, the religious adherence and devout practices cease. 

Dolive, Evan. "Dolive: 'Millenials' not cause of church attendance decline." Longview News-Journal [Texas], 2 Sept. 2016, Academic Search Premier. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

This source was selected because it offers a postulation regarding why church attendance and overall spiritual pursuits are declining.  The strict stigma and judgmental stereotype regarding those within the Church dissuades the younger generation from entering a faithful community.  This contributes to the loss of authenticity in religion in today’s society, which provides evidence for my overall purpose of the essay. 

Garcia-Rivera, Alex. "Mass should be a come-as-you-are party." U.S. Catholic, Aug. 1995, Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

This source was selected because it emphasizes how the institutionalizing of religion has prompted a decline in the spiritual connection long treasured in religious pursuits.  The repetitious ceremonies and rituals make finding a genuine connection difficult.  The patterns of religion have become habitual exercises that are performed without meaning and hinder one from finding true spiritual connection, which contributes to the overall purpose of proving the loss in authenticity in religious faith.  

Victoria Sheridan: Essay 3 Topic Questions and Thesis Statement

After much brainstorming and formulating questions that offer depth and critical analysis for a research paper, I have concluded to focus my essay on the topic of religion.  The following ten questions were the result of brainstorming processes:

1) Is religion in the world losing authenticity?
2) Is the popularity of religious practices waning?
3) Do the majority of religious participants practice religion to conform with their respective peers and community?
4) Does religion simply exist as a source of hope for people when times are bad?
5) Are faith and passion still common elements in practicing dogmatic pursuits within religious institutions?
6) Is Hal truly connected spiritually with God or is religion simply an outlet to blame his problems on?
7) Is there ever a truly genuine connection with God that is prevalent throughout Friendswood?
8) Has religion evolved into an obsolete practice that clings too heavily on ancient concepts?
9) Has religion in today's society become superficial?
10) Does genuine faith still exist in the multitude that used to prevail in the past?

After reviewing the questions, I created a more refined question that encapsulates the topics of the questions above in which I plan to focus my essay on.  The following is the refined question that will guide the direction of my essay:

Is religion losing authenticity and becoming a dogmatic restraint that people follow simply to conform to familial and communal expectations?

After arriving at a question suitable for my essay, the following thesis statement was created:

Because religious pursuits are evolving to become dogmatic restraints that people follow to conform to familial and communal expectations, a loss in the spiritual authenticity is waning.  Therefore, the superficiality that now develops within religious communities impedes on true pursuance of spiritual connections with God.


The following video captures some of the issues I may touch upon in my essay.