Working with 2-3 other students, you will select a topic relevant to the history of country music, locate, and synthesize a variety of research sources, and create a professional webpage that can be included in the “History” section of the Country Music Project website. You can use the Bristol Sessions page, which Dusty wrote in June 2014, as your model.
Your audience for this project (and everything else you will write for CMP) is people who want to learn more about how country music has developed over the course of the last hundred years and what roles it has played in United States culture. Your group’s webpage should convey as clearly and concisely as possible the most important details about the topic you have chosen, and it should give your reader plenty of places to turn for additional information. Imagine that you are writing the page to inform students who take this course in a later semester and need to know about the subgenre that you are researching.
The project gives you the opportunity to utilize the skills we have practiced in Unit 1, including locating, summarizing, and documenting credible research sources. It also asks you to collaborate with other students and practice writing for Internet publication.
Projects should include 5 sections:
- Overview: Write 400-600 words introducing your topic. Your goals are to define the topic, letting readers know when and where it happened and who was involved, and to explain the topic’s importance in the larger history of country music. If you paraphrase or use direct quotations, be sure to document them properly. Consider embedding a video.
- Key Figures: Give a list of 3+ people who are especially important to your topic. Put the full name in bold print and include the dates of birth and death in parentheses [For example: Ralph Peer (1892-1960)]. If the person is still alive, include only the date of birth [George Strait (b. 1952)]. In 2-3 sentences, explain the person’s relevance to your topic. Consider including a photo of at least one of these key figures.
- Recommended Listening: Let your readers know how they can listen to the musicians you have introduced. Your goal is to give a representative sample, directing them to only the best or most important albums. You can suggest albums that are discussed in your research sources, but you should also consult the reviews at AllMusic.com and user comments at Amazon.com. Whatever you recommend should be available at major retailers like Amazon, iTunes, or Best Buy. Link titles to the appropriate AllMusic review.
- *Annotated Bibliography: List 8+ research sources, at least 4 of which you have found in books or through the Library’s databases, followed by short summaries explaining how the sources have contributed to your understanding of your topic. Start by giving the source’s MLA citation. If the source is electronic, link it to the appropriate URL. If the source comes from a book, link the title to the appropriate publisher’s page for the book. Summaries should be 150-250 words in length and answer 2 questions: What is the source’s main argument concerning your particular topic? How does it relate to the other sources you have utilized? Each summary should include at least one brief quotation from the source. If it is relevant, summaries may include details about the author or context.
- Guiding Questions: Finish the page with 3-5 questions that readers (and teachers) can use to check their understanding of your topic. Strong questions will ask readers “why” and “how” instead of “who,” “what,” or “when.” Instead of asking readers to recite “data points,” encourage them to identify trends and express big concepts in their own words.
The project is worth 100 points, which will be distributed as follows: Annotated Bibliography (20 pts.), Overview (20 pts.), Key Figures (10 pts.), Recommended Listening (10 pts.), Guiding Questions (10 pts.), Format, Neatness, and Proofreading (10 pts.), and Peer Assessment (20 pts.). See the rubric, which is available on Canvas, for more information.
*Annotated Bibliography
The annotated bibliography is one of the hardest and most important sections of the group project. You will submit a draft version of the annotated bibliography to Dusty before the rest of the project is due so that he will have the chance give you some suggestions for revision.