ASSIGNMENT 2: MUSIC ANALYSIS
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Assignment 2: Music Analysis
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.
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.
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
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