Research Paper

Each student in this course is expected to complete a college-level research paper on a relevant American music topic. Your topic should be sufficiently narrow to write a paper that is focused, articulate, and informative and NOT generic, trite, or a simple restatement of the text.  It is assumed that you will use your best scholarly written English and adopt a sufficiently academic tone.  I will be looking for a 5-8 page paper that is well edited for grammar, spelling, content, and organization.  It is expected that you will consult at least five (5) sources, of which the majority must be print sources (or sources accessed electronically that originally exist in print format, such as journals or ebooks).  You should provide citations (in the form of footnotes in Chicago style—see the handout in Files > Writing Aids) throughout the text.  You must also provide a complete bibliography of all sources consulted in the development of this paper.  It should be noted that if you do this correctly, you will probably list more sources in the bibliography than you cite directly in the paper.  Your textbook may be used as a source, but only as a minor source.

Examples of potentially good topics (Don’t feel you have to do one of these.  I provide them as a set of examples of papers that have worked in the past, though I have gotten papers along these lines that have been spectacularly awful, as well.  I would encourage you to come up with something not on this list):

Origins of the American Patriot Song
The Alabados and Gregorian Chant: A Comparison of Styles
Gender Issues in the Critical Reactions to the Music of Amy Marcy Cheney Beach
Antonin Dvorak’s Vision of an American Nationalism
Musical Responses to the Second World War
The Impact of the McCarthy Hearings on Aaron Copland’s Career
The Music of the California Gold Rush (or the Building of the Erie Canal…or the Travels of Lewis and Clark…etc.  Basically, pick an event in history and investigate the music tied to it, either topically—music ABOUT that event—or culturally—music listened to and performed by those who participated in said event)

Category: Essays