Instructions for Writing Social Commentary Term Paper – Comparison & Opinion: 1650 words
Assignment
In this paper, you will choose two songs, each from a different artist (or band), preferably from a different genre, and compare how they address a single topic of broad social interest (social issue).
Nature of Assignment
This is a formal writing assignment, requiring a lot of critical thinking, third-person declarative prose AND some research (sources).
Critical thinking: about what the songs have to say on the issue.
Third-person declarative prose: Writing as a declaration of a truth or truths, without reference to self nor reader (no “I,” “me,” “my,” “mine,” “you,” or “your”).
Sources: 2 minimum (described below) for the social issue discussion, that you are required to include in a bibliography, and cite at the points they are used in the discussion of the issue. DO NOT use an artist’s song/performance video as a source for discussion.
Social Issues
Issues of broad concern such as, the environment, natural or manmade disasters, child welfare/abuse/neglect/molestation, domestic violence, rape, abortion, gang violence, class warfare, war, terrorism, propaganda, politics, national image, military service, religion*, racism, racially-motivated violence, slavery, human trafficking, materialism, among others, are acceptable. In some cases, songs of a more personal nature are acceptable if they speak to a broad audience. Topics such as mental illness, loneliness, drug or alcohol abuse (substance abuse) would fall into this category. Generally speaking, songs about love, sex, cars, the joys of rock and roll, or sports are not acceptable. Topics so general as to include everyone, like death, should be covered from the standpoint of the issues surrounding it; survivors dealing with a loved ones death, or views on the after-life are acceptable. When in doubt, consult your instructor. *There are songs in any given faith whose purpose is to connect to the faithful (ex. hymns, worship or praise songs, liturgical singing). These would be inappropriate. Songs that address various issues surrounding faith would be appropriate.
NOT ACCEPTABLE as an issue – Music, music business, music history, artists, groups, genres or any historical perspective on music used to protest or bring attention to things. This is where a few students misinterpret the title of this assignment (without reading these instructions) and assume that this paper is on the subject of social-commentary music. It is not. It is about two specific songs that are centered on one specific issue.
INSTRUCTIONS
Selecting your songs – Choose two songs that have the same social condition or issue at their core. Though the two songs have the same social condition or issue at their core, they do not have to take the same position, or even have a position. It should be fairly evident that the same issue inspired both. Further, the two songs should be written or performed by different artists, each from a different genre of popular music. Other than introducing an artist as “hard rock” or “hip-hop,” no further discussion of genre need ensue. If you are unsure, you should ask your instructor. (see list below of songs to never use)
Songs NOT to use – Don’t use songs whose scope is so broad as to touch on many issues and not really center on a single issue. Any song that attempts to point out all the world’s problems and/or solutions to them is unsuitable for this paper. The following are examples, though not a comprehensive list. Some songs have just been overused.
DON’T USE ANY OF THE SONGS BELOW
AUTOMATIC 20% REDUCTION OF THE TERM PAPER GRADE.
“Alyssa Lies” – Jason Michael Carroll
“Brenda’s Got a Baby” – Tupac Shakur
“Changes” – Tupac Shakur
“Courtesy Of the Red, White and Blue” – Toby Keith
“Face Down” – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
“Girls & Boys” – Good Charlotte
“Heal The World” – Michael Jackson
“Help” – The Beatles
“If I Ruled The World” – Nas
“Imagine” – John Lennon
“Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem/Rihanna
“Money” – Pink Floyd
“Preach” – John Legend
“Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix
“Real People” – Common
“Us and Them” – Pink Floyd
“War” – Edwin Starr
“We Are The World” – USA For Africa (Jackson, Richie, et al)
“What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye
“Where Is The Love” – The Black Eyed Peas
“Words I Never Said” – Lupe Fiasco
Structure – Your paper will be divided into five sections each with a heading in bold-face. (Use bolded headings below, an explanation of each follows) All sections of this paper will be submitted on Canvas for peer review using the procedure and sequence described above. (See course schedule for due dates.)
Sect. 1- Introduction
Sect. 2- Issue
Sect. 3- Comparison of Lyrics
Sect. 4- Music/Lyric Connection
Sect. 5- Conclusion
Sections 3 & 4 will each be more than one paragraph long, while section 2 may be one or two. Avoid long and unstructured paragraphs. Sections 1 & 5 should be a single paragraph. Follow content guidelines below for each section:
Introduction
This is the opening paragraph. It should be concise and to the point, while giving the reader a good sense of what they are about to read. Avoid giving the reader too much detail here. Include the following:
introduce topic issue, being as clear as possible to identify or define the issue. If you cannot name the issue in four words or less, you may need to refine it. Do NOT get into specifics here. If you feel compelled, one statistic reference, max, if any.
introduce the songs and the artists, including album references and release years. Use the album of the song’s first release. Sometimes it is confusing, in that any song that becomes a hit is/was often released as a single first and is also included on an album that may be released concurrently or immediately afterward. Don’t label a song a “single” until you have determined that it wasn’t also on a closely-dated album. If it only appears on a compilation album a year or more later, it’s safe to call it a single.
include a statement for each song describing its connection to the issue, without going into detail. Briefly describe the story or narrative of each. Don’t lump them together. Simply claiming that the songs deal with an issue is inadequate.
a reference to a relationship between music & lyrics (ref. to Sect. 4, Music/Lyric Connection) Since there will be a section of the paper on this critical thinking element, there should likewise be a reference to it. Be specific about the music for each song without going into detail.
Remember, the introduction introduces the WHOLE essay, including the Music/Lyric Connection. (This is the #1 reason students earn less than 100%)
A strong thesis – central point to be borne out in paper. The thesis is a clearly defined statement of intent, which includes the salient points that will have been addressed in the paper. Your thesis should be a summary idea, not a question or a list of what you are going to write about in the paper. Imagine having already written the paper and creating a single sentence statement defining what the reader should expect to learn. If it seems like a challenge, you are doing it right.
Issue
A researched discussion of the social issue – more than just your opinion or general knowledge. This is where your 2 (or more) sources come in. Here you can describe the issue in more detail, separate from the songs’ discussion of it (a transitional phrase mentioning songs or artists at the start and/or end is OK, but not required). If discussion of artists and or songs is integral to this section, you have missed the point. You are expected to demonstrate critical thinking here. Simply pasting in some text from a website does not constitute original thought. You will be evaluated on how well you synthesize what you have gleaned from your research. Regardless of how other disciplines cite sources, we expect a citation referencing the bibliography, every time you quote or otherwise use information from that source. (FYI-This is NOT the case for lyrics, see discography below) This section should NOT be longer than sections 3 or 4. If it is the longest section, then you have missed the point of the assignment.
Comparison of Lyrics
An integrated comparison of the songs’ lyrics and their respective takes on the issue. This should be the longest section of the paper. Therefore it should be broken into multiple paragraphs. SONGS are ultimately the subject of the paper.
NOT ACCEPTABLE: Any discussion of the artists’ motivation/inspiration for writing or recording the song, history of anything relating to the artists. We are ONLY interested in what the lyrics have to say (to you) on the issue.
Effective use of lyric quotations is key to helping the reader make the connection to the subject (see Discography below for information on citing lyrics). Long blocks of lyrics, however, or entire verses are seldom necessary and are often cumbersome. If you feel the entire chorus is germane to your argument, then at least break it up into digestible parts, with some discussion inserted. Quotes are like a window into the song. Use sufficient lyric quotes to bring the reader into the song.
“Comparison” in this assignment means specific, direct, side-by-side comparison of the ideas at hand. Integrate the discussions of how each song addresses the issue throughout this section. DO NOT discuss songs separately. You will lose a minimum of a full letter grade if this discussion is not integrated. If you are unsure about the degree of integration expected, a good range might be, both songs referenced in the same sentence to two sentences on any given song.
Music/Lyric Connection
2–4 paragraphs addressing each song separately (don’t confuse with previous section).
A minimum two observations-per-song explaining how the music supports/enhances the meaning/emotional context of specific lyrical elements for each song (four total examples). Please see the section below, Examining the Music/Lyric Connection. We have two additional resources, both in Canvas>Writing Assignments module:
“Understanding the Music/Lyric Connection” has written examples and accompanying streaming music examples.
Video Guide -Social Commentary (part 2) gives a deeper explanation of this section’s goals, and a guided tour through the above.
Conclusion – wrap up the main thoughts of your discourse; show the reader that the thesis was proved out. A strong conclusion is critical to a successful paper. There should be no new information presented in a conclusion.
Ancillary Parts
Discography
This is a reference for audio, much as a bibliography is a reference to text sources. A discography is a reference to albums, not specific songs, used for your paper, and is required. It should include the name of the artist/group, title of album, record company, year, and catalog number.
The discography may appear before or after the bibliography on the same page, but DO NOT mix discography and bibliography sources under a “Works Cited” banner, keep them separate and label as such.
**The source for the lyrics is the song itself, NOT a website that publishes them. Therefore the reference is in the discography. Cite only the albums from which your songs come (see explanation below). The discography acts as a blanket reference for all lyrics quoted, with no citation marks required in the body of the paper. Put another way; It is not plagiarism to copy lyrics off of a website and not cite it BECAUSE it is not the original source, the audio is. It is ASSUMED you got the lyrics from listening to the music. As long as you have a discography, quote away!
Discography – finding the info:
BUT WAIT – “My songs are downloaded/streamed online.”- or – “I don’t have the physical disk the songs are from.”
If you do not have the original CD cover (most don’t these days), you will have to research to find the information required. If you know the record company that released the song/album, you can find the catalog number on the company’s website (you do not need to cite the website, however). If you do not know the record company and/or the album title, two good sources are discogs.com and www.allmusic.com, Or search the library database, you’d be surprised how many recordings they have.
Format:
Artist/band
Album title
Record Label
(year released)
catalog no.
Example: Miles Davis, Bitches Brew, Columbia Records (1969), G2K 40577
(no song title – a song is to an album what a chapter is to a book, neither are listed in an end reference)
Bibliography: You must list all sources in a bibliography and cite them in the body of the text when they are being referenced. Web sources must include the complete URL address. Wikis of any kind and dictionaries are not acceptable sources.
2 possible methods – choose one:
Hybrid: Number the sources in bibliography 1 thru X. All citations will use those numbers, corresponding to the source as listed in the bibliography. Like an endnote, but citations won’t necessarily be in numerical order, plus the same source (and corresponding reference number) may be used multiple times.
Any accepted standard reference citation method – endnote, parenthetical, bibliography, using MLA, APA, Chicago Style Manual, Turabian, etc.
When you cite an internet source, you must include: author (if known), title of article or page, date (if known), and full URL (not the home page) of the source.
DO NOT copy/paste bibliographic text from websites without changing font to match the rest of your paper.
Bibliography, notes, or song lyrics are considered extra with respect to the required paper length.
