Choose a focused, specific topic. This paper should involve a thesis and an argument; it should not be a dictionary or web-type summary of general information. Spelling, grammar, clarity, and style will count. Please use at least two sources beyond our textbooks, and remember to cite your sources. Citations and works cited pages should be in MLA style (for online information about citations, see http://libraries.iub.edu/help-citing-sources). Wikipedia should not be quoted or cited as a source, but feel free to consult it at your own risk. Articles or other sources documented at the bottom Wikipedia entries may be cited, but you should review them.
Therefore, be sure to write in your own words. When in doubt it is always better to make a citation.
PLEASE HAND IN A HARD COPY OF YOUR PAPER AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS AFTER UPLOADING IT TO CANVAS IN THE ASSIGNMENTS SECTION.
Sample topics:
1. Write a close reading or close listening account of a popular song. The Beckerman article on “White Christmas” (find it at the beginning of the songbook) is a good example of this. So are the parts of the essays in Friedwald that discuss the structure and meaning of the songs, if a bit long for our purposes.
2. Survey a variety of interpretations of a popular song of your choice. See Friedwald for a sample survey of important interpretations of the songs. What changes in the different interpretations? Differences in tempo, style, instrumentation (arrangement), added music (or not). All can be interesting to discuss. Show that you know something about the song and the lyrics.
3. Discuss changing technological (i.e. media) and social aspects of songwriting. Furia shows how the interaction between the music industry and composers/lyricists in Tin Pan Alley has been influential on musical creation. Bear in mind the evolution of technology in music distribution and performance. Here you must be specific and go beyond internet information.
4. Analyze a variety of songs by a singer of your choice. You might want to think of a common thread connecting them.
5. Pick out any two “breakthrough” songs and discuss them. What is the relationship between the songs? How are they similar or different? How do they respond to different external factors? What was going on in the lives of the songwriter or songwriters when they were written?
6. Pick out a song that has an important historical backstory (World War I, World War II, the Depression, Prohibition). How does knowing this background help our understanding of the song?
7. Discuss why you think a few particular songs were hits and continued to be popular. Is it because of their lyrics or music? Do they have a certain resonance with the culture of the time? Are they associated with any particular famous performers?
8. Discuss one of the essential materials of song (rhythm, melody, harmony, symbol, metaphor) in a few different songs of your choice and describe what is going on.
9. Think of your own topic but clear it with me.