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Assignment 1: Musical Genre Analysis
When you think of genre, the odds are good that you think of musical genres. In our class this semester, we'll explore what genres are and how they are used in a variety of rhetorical situations: and we'll begin our conversation by considering music and sound as our medium. Genre choice is integral to composing and communicating processes: it is informed by purpose and simultaneously informs invention, arrangement, style, and delivery. Therefore, knowledge of discourse communities – particularly academic communities – and their respective genres is critical.
In this assignment, students will begin to develop the strategies they will need to rhetorically analyze and use different genres, conduct research throughout this course and beyond, and explore the ways in which genres function in different communities. In assignment one, students will analyze how concepts of genre and community function in music. In order to do this, they will have to work through several steps. First in class and with one another, students will define the terms “genre” and “community,” and understand how they function in practical terms. Next, students will chose a genre of music that they are familiar with. Then, they will examine the common features of that musical genre, using a specific songs as examples, and then consider how the genre is used by its community of listeners.
Finally, students will develop a 2000-word essay incorporating evidence from the readings and their own experiences and observations in their musical genre and its community of listeners that presents a coherent examination of the conventions of the genre and the way genre is used within their chosen communities. The essay must meaningfully incorporate evidence from at least two of the assigned readings to support, refute, expand, develop, frame, or otherwise analyze how genres of music function within a community to which they have a personal connection. For example, if I were completing this assignment, I might choose "Red Dirt" (Texas & Oklahoma) Country as my musical genre. I would listen to specific songs and write about genre conventions; perhaps I might discuss the use of acoustic and steel guitars and other musical conventions. I then might situate the genre within the discourse community of Red Dirt musicians and listeners--connecting the genre to my own experience growing up in a small town in Texas and the role played by that genre in our community. I could discuss the narrative conventions of Red Dirt Country and the way those musicians speak to the larger discourse community of country musicians in general. In the 2000-word essay, students will provide specific details in writing for their analysis, but they may also incorporate images and sound into your essay as evidence. The paper will be composed in three stages--the due dates for each are listed below:
Due Dates for Drafts:
Tuesday, September 6: Rough Draft (at least 500 words)
Tuesday, September 20: Second Draft (at least 1500 words)
Tuesday, September 27: Third Draft (complete, polished draft)
Final draft due in ePortfolio at semester’s end.
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