Engaging Troubled

Memories at OU
Will Kurlinkus
 1. Missing out on requirements: signposting, clear thesis, headings, lit review
section, not an argument but a description, etc.
2. Literature review: 1-3 paragraphs reviewing what other people have said about
your topic. Comes right after your intro. Ends with you staking your own claim
“I’m building upon x,y,z research in this paper to argue that…”
3. Defining a clear thesis and research questions in the intro then not answering
them in the course of the paper. Everything you write should relate back to
that thesis and research question.
4. Missing some piece of PEA (point, evidence, analysis).
– Point: Topic sentence of a section or a paragraph. In this section I argue that video
game players are rejecting the big game developer’s nostalgic advertising.

Common – Evidence: For example, reddit commenter pokemon481 writes ”With the last two
releases I’ve been waiting for new gameplay. Sure I have nostalgia for the original
Gameboy releases and the show but the plotlines are just so recycled I probably won’t
buy the next release.”
Errors of – Analysis: Every quote you include in a paper should be followed by your
interpretation of the quote. Explaining how and why it proves your argument.
Midterms Pokemon481 like other reddit users I observed demonstrates what I call “nostalgia
exhaustion,” where someone leaves the brand community because it caters too much to
an imagined ideal of old players without building room for new players or creating
innovative content.
– Inside either point or evidence you should be engaging secondary literature. Don’t
just isolate it to your lit review—bring it into your body paragraphs and use it to
make your argument. Nostalgia exhaustion builds upon scholar Will Kurlinkus’s
understanding that “though nostalgia builds a home-–if an outsider interprets that
home wrong it can be distasteful and smothering.” In this case, Game Freak’s pokemon
release has missed the mark on true fan nostalgia and smothered out potential players.

5. Missing the so what? In both your intro and your conclusion you need a so
what statement on why this paper matters. Generally the intro so what is
exigence (what’s in the news or in culture right now that necessitates your
paper for understanding). The concluding so what is usually application—based
on your reading of culture what should we do? What action can be taken?
 – The name of a former OU professor and KKK leader was struck from the chemistry building almost 30 years ago in
1988. Just across the street, his name remains. Edwin DeBarr, a prominent national Ku Klux Klan leader of his time
and one of OU’s first four professors. he was the grand dragon of Oklahoma in the KKK until 1923. anti-Catholic
commencement speech at a high school.
– property owners have raised concerns about not getting their mail or business owners having to change brochures
and websites. Others around the community have pondered if the name change would be “erasing history”
– For Henderson, arguments of “erasing history” simply can’t be reasoned — especially when many students don’t
even know DeBarr’s history, he said.
– When OU’s “Soonerthon” changed its name to OU Dance Marathon, it was met with backlash from members of the
OU community.
– one community member expressed her opinion on the matter saying that anyone offended by the phrase “boomer
sooner” should transfer schools
– “(The) removal of Native people is where the terms ‘boomer’ and ‘sooner’ come from,” South said. “When those
Troubled terms are referenced without acknowledging the proper historical context, that brings up the historical trauma that's
present for a lot of Indigenous people.”

Memories at – after the U.S. government forcibly moved Native tribes off of their land and to Oklahoma, some white Americans
began to advocate for settling the land. The people who campaigned for opening Oklahoma land to white settlers —
before the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 was passed — were known as “boomers.” Those who illegally entered

OU the land early to claim plots during the Land Run were known as “sooners.”
– Gibbs said he received an influx of “hate mail” from fans of the phrase “boomer sooner” when he pushed to change
the Crimson Leadership Association's name, but he believes the change is necessary. In 2015, after members of
Indigenize OU called for the removal of the words “boomer” and “sooner” from the university’s identity, Boren said
he would only consider doing so if almost 245,000 alumni agreed to it.
– “I think the words in their modern context are no longer tied to the history of the Oklahoma land settlement. They
have taken on a meaning of their own, which stands mainly for strong support for our state and university,” Boren
said in the statement.
– A member of the Norman 89er Day Parade committee said the parade was called off this year in order to reorganize,
and the committee intends to put on the parade next year. The parade last year received criticism for its connection
to the 1889 Land Run. “If we forget history, we’re bound to repeat it. We don’t ever want a group treated like that
again. We want to be sensitive to everyone’s feelings. If Native Americans wanted to promote their heritage, we’d
love to have them in the parade, because they have so much to offer.”
– “Actually I am sick to death of people bowing down to these cry babies that have nothing better to do with their time
than try and rewrite history,”
What should we do with the
sooner? Write a one paragraph
statement to the University
that guides action in someway.
Either pro, con, of in between.
Use our readings this semester
and your knowledge of
memory studies as a guide.