MUS150 Stanford History & Culture Of Music As Protest In America

Music in American History and Culture

Dr.

Written Assignment: Music as Personal/Public Expression (100 points)

Choose Theme I OR Theme II and write a well-developed paper of at least 5 full pages,double-spaced. You must use a minimum of two sources for each section of the paper, one of which is a print source (not an Internet website).Wikipedia and similar sources are NOT eligible for this assignment.This paper must include in-text citations and a works cited page prepared according to MLA style.

Introduction

Throughout American history, people have used music to voice dissentor support for a cause. Because of the often controversial messages expressed in its lyrics, music has often been subject to censorship. In this assignment, you will choose between two themes: “Music as Protest” or “Music and Censorship.”

Theme I: “Music as Protest”

Your task is to identify an American artist, a style of music, and a particular musical work or group of works that the artist created or used to express a message of protest. I suggest that you use the following list as the outline for the paper (adding introductory and concluding sections, of course):

Section 1. Set the scene: describe the historical background for the protest. What were the pertinent issues? Who were the key players, both “pro” and “con”? When and where did this protest take place? This will probably require research that moves beyond your sources discussing the artist; for example, you may need sources discussing the war in Vietnam, or the controversy over labor unions in the 1930s and ‘40s, or objections to the war in Iraq.

Section 2. Introduce the artist. Describe the musical style used by the artist to express herself. Briefly outline his career and explain how the artist became involved with a protest movement.

Section 3. Introduce the reader a particular song, group of songs, or album created by this artist to further his or her beliefs. When was it written? What was its message? Consider the following: a) was the music successful commercially? b) was it successful as a vehicle of protest?

OR

Theme II: “Music and Censorship”

Your task is to identify an American artist, a style of music, and a particular musical work that has been subject to an attempt to censor its message (whether that attempt was successful or unsuccessful.) I suggest that you use the following list as the outline for the paper (adding introductory and concluding sections, of course):

Section 1. Introduce the artist. Describe the musical style used by the artist to express herself. Briefly outline his career and explain the artist’s motivation or justification for composing/performing music that is potentially offensive.

Section 2. Describe the controversy surrounding this artist. What elements of his message have offended some listeners? (Providequotations from the offensive lyrics.)

Section 3. Introduce the reader to a particular song, group of songs, or album created by this artist to which people objected so strongly that they initiated a drive to censor the music or limit its distribution. What was its message? What was objectionable or offensive? What did the objectors do? Did the objectors succeed in their efforts to censor the work? Why or why not?

Note: Papers in MUS150 are MANDATORY assignments. You must complete this assignment in order to pass the course.

What should my research paper look like?

• Double spacing

• One-inch margins

• Times New Roman font, 12 point

• No title page required

• Works cited page and in-text citations prepared according to MLA style

What should my works cited page look like?

• The entire page should be double-spaced.

• The first line of each entry should be even with the left margin. The second and any subsequent lines should be indented.

• The words Works Cited should appear at the top of the page, one inch from the top, centered. These words should NOT be all in capital letters, in bold face, or underlined. They should appear just as they do here: Works Cited

• The page should use the same margins and font as the rest of the paper.

WIKIPEDIA is NOT ALLOWED

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