Please consult the course calendar, which is available on Canvas, for due dates.
Final Project (Draft) (5%)
Your purpose in this final project is to explore how country music can be used to make a political or social statement. You should expect to write about 1000 words in total, but this number is flexible and may depend on whether you pursue the creative or analytical option.
Creative option: Write a new country music song that expresses your perspective on a current topic of controversy (gender roles, climate change, immigration, gay marriage, marijuana legalization, etc.). Attach a 750-word essay explaining the point you want to make, the strategies you used to make it, and how you think a country music audience would respond. If appropriate, you can also compare your song to others that have also addressed a similar topic.
- Like most songs you hear on the radio, the one you write should last 3-5 minutes (if it were to be performed). This probably means 3-4 verses and a chorus.
- Your song should have a melody. You are welcome to write the melody yourself or borrow it from a song that already exists. (If you borrow the melody, you should explain why you chose it in your 750-word essay. Choose a melody that means something to your topic.)
- Dusty will assume that your intended audience for the song is the modern country radio. If you have a different audience in mind, say so in the accompanying essay.
- To effectively explain the effect your song will have on a typical country music audience, you will need to cite sources. These may be credible print sources like the ones you have used in your other papers or other country songs that are somehow related to yours. Cite at least 2 sources in your essay, and be sure to include a Works Cited page. See the Purdue OWL for help citing songs in MLA (look under the “Sound Recordings” heading).
- If the audience for the song is country radio, the audience for the 750-word paper is Dusty. Think of the paper as your chance to explain what a great job you have done.
Creative projects will be evaluated for Creativity, Demonstrating Rhetorical Knowledge, Demonstrating Knowledge of Country Music, Research and Documentation, and Format, Neatness, and Proofreading. See the rubric (on Canvas) for more information.
Analytical Option: Create a compilation CD or playlist of 8-12 recent country music songs that all comment on a topic of controversy (gender roles, climate change, immigration, gay marriage, marijuana legalization, etc.). Attach a 750-word essay introducing the controversy, explaining how the songs address it, and analyzing their effects on the country music audience.
- You will submit two items: First, a track list that includes each song’s title, performer, writer, and date; and second, the 750-word essay.
- Students who select this option should expect to spend a significant amount of time listening to country music and searching for potential songs. The 8-12 tracks you ultimately select should represent “the best of the best.”
- The topic that you select must be controversial in our current historical moment. The songs you select should also be current (released within the last five or so years). You may include older songs if you believe they remain integral to the topic. For example, if your topic is the legalization of marijuana, you may include Willie Nelson’s “Me and Paul” to argue that country music has been addressing the topic for a long time.
- It is okay if the controversy topic is not the song’s principal theme. For example, you could include Kacey Musgraves’s “Follow Your Arrow” on a playlist for gay marriage or marijuana legalization, though neither of these is Musgraves’s main topic.
- Ideally, the songs you select will represent a variety of viewpoints on the controversy. If one perspective or “side” of the controversy gets significantly more attention than another, consider explaining why you think this is in the accompanying 750-word essay.
- In the essay, you should cite short quotes from all of the songs that you include. You should also cite at least two additional sources, either to provide context about the controversy or to demonstrate the effect the songs have had upon the country audience.
- Be sure to include a Works Cited page. See the Purdue OWL for help citing songs in MLA (look under the “Sound Recordings” heading).
- Also create/include an album cover that is appropriate for the controversy topic.
Analytical projects will be evaluated for Demonstrating Rhetorical Knowledge, Demonstrating Knowledge of the Controversy, Demonstrating Knowledge of Country Music, Research and Documentation, and Format, Neatness, and Proofreading. See the rubric (on Canvas).
Final Project (Final) (10%)
Before submitting your final project, you will meet with Dusty to discuss your score on the draft and his recommendations for revision. Note that students are expected to make substantial changes to their projects, and that the rubric may be applied more strictly to final submissions.
In addition to revising your essay, you will prepare to present it in class. Dusty will share more details about the presentation as the presentation date approaches.