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Ethan, Jace, Ashleigh, Haylee, Samantha

Professor Gonzalez

ENC1102

2/22/2024

BigfootAnnotated Bibliography

1. Milligan, Linda. “The ‘Truth’ about the Bigfoot Legend.” Western Folklore, vol. 49, no.

1, 1990, pp. 83–98. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1499483. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

Summary - This article is able to help provide information towards the research

effectively because the author takes an approach with explaining the information that is

non biased. The author makes it known at the beginning of the article that the legend of

bigfoot is almost entirely left to the reader's discretion and stating that the reality of

bigfoot is dependent on whether or not the viewer believes in bigfoot or if bigfoot is a

reality in that person's culture.

Annotation - This source is a credible academic article that I was able to find on JSTOR,

which is an online database that is partnered with the UCF library and provides free

Academic Journals. Due to the fact that this source is an excerpt from an academic

journal it is safe to say that this article is a secondary source, but a very helpful one. This

journal is also backed and published by Western States Folklore Society, which goes to

help reinstate that this article is after all credible.

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2. Bynum, Joyce. “BIGFOOT—A Contemporary Belief Legend.” ETC: A Review of

General Semantics, vol. 49, no. 3, 1992, pp. 352–57. JSTOR,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/42579641. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

Summary - This article discusses how Big Foot became a theory and why so many people

believed it, because in early life people were hairy and smelly, which are characteristics of Big

Foot. The theory was also said to be developed because of the sub-species the Yeti, who was

apparently seen years ago trying to climb Mount Everest. The article talks about how Big Foot

only comes out in the middle of the night and is faster than any human or other horse, which is

why no one has actually seen him and have only found possible footprints. Researchers say that

some hairs found in woods do not belong to any known animals. To go against the theory that he

is real, some people say that the footprints found are just from humans or animals that have

expanded to be bigger because of rain. Ultimately the theory of Big Foot came about because of

the way people used to look before life and its subspecies, the Yeti.

Annotation - This source is credible because it is a journal article that I found on JSTOR. It is a

secondary source because it talks about what other people have seen, not what the author has.

The article mostly focuses on the idea that Big Foot is in fact real from seeing different things

like footprints or other signs, but there is some disagreement that it just may all be fake. The

article claims that there are so many sights of Big Foot, yet no one has ever actually seen him

and has no valid evidence about it. These “signs” that people have seen however could have been

made by a different creature or even just a human, so it is hard to believe what people say about

this well known conspiracy theory.

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3. Miller, Laura. “Bigfoot sightings: Why so many Americans believe in

Sasquatch.” Slate Magazine, 18 February 2024, https://slate.com/culture/2024/02/bigfoot-

sightings-video-book-yeti-sasquatch-secret-history.html. Accessed 22 February 2024.

Summary - This article brings attention to how many people still believe in bigfoot and

what helps support that belief. The reason that Big Foot is still believed today is because

of the alleged sightings, a fleeting blur of a large brown fur, with two legs, and this isn’t

just in the northeast but everywhere across America. There is even a big foot research

organization that is established that collects hair specimens and DNA that leads to

nothing. People just want to believe that Bigfoot is the desire for it to be, with no

scientific evidence or anything, just the desire of Bigfoot being real.

Annotation - The source is credible because it gets evidence and opinions of believers

and nonbelievers, “proof” from all over the country. This article is a secondary source

added to the initial argument, about the belief in Big Foot and the phenomenon

surrounding him. It prevents both sides of the argument and helps nonbelievers see the

other side of believing and vice versa for believers. There are limitations because it does

come from a magazine that doesn’t just focus on supernatural or scientific stuff, but it

does have reliable information.

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4. Geographic, National. “Forensic Expert Says Bigfoot Is Real.” Culture, 23 Oct. 2003,

www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/forensic-expert-says-bigfoot-is-real.

Summary - This article provides plenty of information about how experts are reporting

that Bigfoot is real. The article then provides a “sighting” that has happened. A professor

of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University is convinced that there is a

creature out there somewhere. After the article says this, they go on to list many sightings

of Bigfoot that have reportedly occurred in the past. It has many quotes and sayings from

many people that have attempted to capture a picture of Bigfoot but there remains to be

zero pictures of the creature.

Annotation - This source is credible that it is coming from National Geographic. This

article has many primary quotes and resources filled throughout it with sayings from the

actual people that are attempting to find Bigfoot. This makes it far more credible

although we are dealing with a very subjective topic which could make the source not as

credible as it seems. The people that are providing the primary resources could be lying

about what they saw or they could’ve been seeing things that they thought was Bigfoot

but really wasn’t.