PURPOSE: The purpose of this assignment is to use
content analysis to critically analyze how one social issue/problem is
discussed and represented in popular culture through music lyrics.
BACKGROUND: There are many agents of popular culture though which the messages,
themes and symbols of popular culture are produced and consumed. Media is a key
agent of popular culture, and within it music is one mode for the production
and consumption of popular culture. The music of the 1960s marked a key period of
transition in the United States as themes of social problems and dissidence
started to fill the radio waves. This assignment will allow you to explore one
social issue or problem in music today.
See attached document (NOTE THAT THERE ARE TWO
OPTIONS: OPTION 1 AND OPTION 2) for a detailed assignment description.
Option 1 Instructions:
1) Choose one social issue or social problem (i.e.
drugs, the environment, war, teenage pregnancy, hate crimes, etc).
2) Find at least 5 songs with lyrics that address
your chosen social issue/problem. You will need to cite these songs using
proper APA formatting (see below).
3) Analyze the songs for similarities and
differences in how they address the social issue/problem. You may:
– look
for themes within and among the songs (i.e. songs about war that talk
about ‘ending war’
– consider
the year the songs were copyrighted
– consider
the genre the song fits in
– is
the song directed at a particular audience? (think socio-demographic characteristics:
age, race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status (SES), and sexuality)
– what
type of vocabulary, words, grammar, euphemisms, vernacular is used for the
lyrics?
– Consider
the actual production of the song as well: tempo, emotion, male/female singer,
individual singer/band, etc.
4) Find at least two sources that address music and
your social problem (i.e. the sources are providing similar analysis or
commentary on how your social problem is addressed through music). These
may be popular sources (i.e. magazine articles or websites), but Wikipedia is
not acceptable.
5) Find at least one peer-reviewed article (see
attached Finding Peer Reviewed Journals guidelines) that discusses your social
issue problem and how it is portrayed by the media (ideally this would be
focused on your social issue and problem, but this may be difficult to find –
so an article on TV, radio, internet, movies is OK).
6) Write-up your paper
a) Cover Page
b) Clearly
identify your chosen social issue/problem.
a. Why are
you interested in studying this?
c) Write-up your
analysis of how this social issue/problem is addressed in the 5 songs you chose
a. NOTE: this
is the majority of your paper. It is a ‘comparative critical’ analysis of
how your chosen social issue/problem is addressed in these songs. It is
NOT a summary of each song, and it should not include cutting and pasting the
lyrics of all of the songs into the paper.
i. If you submit a paper that is full of
copied lyrics, you will receive a ZERO.
b. Use the
prompts in step 3 to help you organize this analysis
c. Information
about the singer/band should be a VERY minimal part of this analysis; the
lyrics are the heart of the analysis
d. APA-formatted
in-text citations should be used throughout this section
d) Briefly describe
the TWO sources you found that discuss music and your chosen social problem.
a. Discuss
how the analysis or commentary in these two sources compares to your analysis
b. Remember your
APA-formatted in-text citations
e) Briefly
describe your chosen peer-reviewed article.
a. What is
the main research question/thesis of the article
b. What is the
research method used in the article (i.e. survey, interview, content analysis,
observation, experiment, etc)
c. What
are the key findings of the article
d. Discuss how
the findings in this article can help you to better understand/explain your
chosen social issue/problem and how it is addressed in your chosen songs
e. Remember
APA-formatted in-text citations
f) Conclude
by discussing how your analysis is helpful and relevant in the study of
American Popular Culture
PAPER FORMAT:
– length:
3-5 pages
– APA
formatting should be used throughout
o 1” margins
o 12 pt arial or times new roman
font
o in-text citations and
corresponding full references
o See APA formatting help under
Lessons
|
APA Formatting for Music Recording must include: |
|
1. Name(s) of composer(s) |
|
2. Date of copyright in parenthesis () |
|
3. Title of song [Recorded by (if available) |
|
4. On Title of album(italicised) |
|
5. Location: label |
|
6. Recording date if different from copyright |
Examples:
Nicks, S. (1977). Dreams [Recorded by Fleetwood
Mac]. On Rumours [CD]. Burbank, Calif.: WB Records.
Vine, C. (1996). 5 bagatelles [Recorded by I.
Munro]. On Mere bagatelles[CD]. Australia: Tall Poppies.
Mussorgsky, M. P. (1994). Coronation Scene from
Boris Godunov [Edited by K. Marie Stolba] On Development of western
music, Vol. 2, No. 4.[CD]. Madison, Wis.: Brown and Benchmark.
Example of Rerecording by artist other than composer with different
recording date:
Goodenough, J. B. (1982). Tails and trotters
[Recorded by G. Bok, A. Mayo, & E. Trickett]. On And so will we
yet[CD]. Sharon, CT; Folk- Legacy Records. (1990).
In text citations singer
or band, copyright year and track number.
– E.g.
for the song: “Tails and Trotters” (Goodenough, 1982, track 5)
