Alyssa Steg

Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
19 September 2014
Statement of Scope for the Annotated Bibliography
At some point in life, everyone experiences the interesting illusion of a dream or a
horrific event from a nightmare. Ever since the start of time to now, there has been an argument
on whether or not dreaming holds a significant meaning. Scientists have come up with a theory
that what may translate into a personal feeling for one may mean nothing but nonsense to
another. So is it possible for something that generates in your mind while you sleep have the
power to reveal what your mind is really going through? Some people may suggest that dreams
are just a random cluster of events, but dreams and night terrors reveal much more than some
may admit about their daily actions, thoughts, and struggles.
In this essay I will explore the ways individuals interpret their dreams. When dreams and
night terrors are experienced, they reveal what is ultimately weighing on the mind. It can be
anything from an action that has taken place, a stress, or a simple thought that can be
transformed into the underlying feeling of the individual. In addition, I will discuss the other half
of the population who believe that their dreams are present for no specific reason or have no
hidden message to be thought upon. Included in this I will provide examples and situations of
certain dreams and their meaning based on what the person is experiencing. Beyond this, I will
also include the scientific outlook on the brain activity when dreams and nightmares occur.
This selected bibliography includes sources that address the reason for dreams and
nightmares to occur, why some people experience the random outbursts of nonsense in dreams,
the scientific view of dreaming on the mind, and the beginning idea of what they were intended
for. The Andre-Clark article discusses that dreams from the very beginning dreams were spiritual
messages and warnings from god. The Cervenka and Ernest articles address that dreams are very
personal while providing essential information to decode true feelings. The Phillips article works
with how the brain needs dreaming to function properly when decoding sensory details, reality,
skepticism, memory, desire, identity, and irrationality. Then, in the last article Roberts-Grey
discusses that dreams do not predict what will happen in the future with nothing cosmic
associated with the actions taking place. Together, all of these sources provide information on
the aspects of the messages dreams and nightmares can reveal.

Works Cited
Andre-Clark, Alice. "Why Do We Dream?." Ask. 01 Feb. 2012: 6. eLibrary. Web. 18 Sep. 2014.
In this article, Alice Andre-Clark dicusses how from the very beginning dreams were
thought to be messages from the gods to give warnings and reveal secrets. She then
elaborates about when around the 1900's an Austrian doctor named Sigmund Freud
thought dreams were messages from ourselves, revealing our secret wishes. Towards the
end of the aricle Andre-Clark argues that dreams are just a way for your body to learn by
organzing memories and ideas.
Cervenka, Susanne.. "What do your dreams mean?." Asbury Park Press; Asbury Park, N.J.. 08
Jul. 2014: 3. eLibrary. Web. 19 Sep. 2014. In this article Cervenka also argues that
dreams and nightmares are actually very personal and depend on our own experiences
and emotions connected to them. She also gives the point that some dreams turn out to be
true while others have a specific meaning based on your life. Finally, she states that
characteristics of dreams can have an universal meaning.
Hartmann, Ernest., M.D.. "The Nature and Uses of DREAMING." USA Today Magazine. 01
Mar. 1999 eLibrary. Web. 19 Sep. 2014. This article explores the idea that no dream is
nonsense and they are only showing the emotional state of our minds. Hartmann
concludes on his own thoughts that there is a whole continuum in our mental functioning,
running from focused waking thought at one end, through looser thought, and dreaming
at the other end. Overall, he makes the connection to what dreams appear to do after a
traumatic or disturbing event is similar to what a good therapist does.
Phillips, Adam. "The Dream Horizon." Raritan 1(2006):92. eLibrary. Web. 19 Sep. 2014. In
this article Phillips makes the argument that dreaming only exists to compensate with our

minds to be able to describe prophecy, reality, skepticism, memory, desire, identity, and
irrationality. Throughout, points are being made that the imaginative energy tends to go
into telling us just how different sleeping is from waking, dreaming from consciousness,
and consciousness is from unconsciousness. The rest of the article expalins that dreams
and nightmares are there to provide entertainmean because by the time a person fully
awakes the image of dream or nightmare are almost fully gone.
Roberts-Grey, Gina. "Demystifying Dreams." Current Health 2. 01 Dec. 2009: 8. eLibrary.
Web. 19 Sep. 2014. Roberts-Grey starts her argument off that too many people read into
their dreams. She explains that dreams do not predict what will happen in the future so
people should not take them literal. The last part of the article explains there's nothing
cosmic about dreams and instead, they're the result of a series of events happening in
your brain that occurs only during rapid eye movement sleep.