Consult the MLA research web page on the Owl Purdue site at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ to see how to do text notes and works cited citations, and specific examples of different types of citations. Do not do a title page. Essays must be a minimum of seven pages (6 whole pages of text and a works cited page), and they must cite at least five sources. Acceptable sources include web pages, books, recordings, periodicals, newspapers, CDs, downloads, relevant personal interviews, and films. Encyclopedias will not count as sources because they are common knowledge; however, specialized reference books will be acceptable. SparkNotes. CliffsNotes, Shmoops, and other study aids will not count as sources either. You should use some scholarly articles, music magazines or reviews. Pitchfork.com is a great source for music reviews. One of the sources must be the actual song or poem
Students need to pick a poem or a favorite song. Each student must pick a different lyricist or poet and sign up for him or her on the suggested author list.
Whenever you use another persons thoughts or ideas, make sure that you either paraphrase or use quotes. Always use MLA guidelines for documenting sources. Students must use parenthetical documentation (also known as textnotes) rather than footnotes, which are cumbersome and outdated.
Students need to apply at least three poetry definition (included on this handout) to the work.
Students should pick sophisticated and/or lengthy and challenging works to analyze. In addition, the prospectus or proposal should tell what the student is trying to do and in the paper, and it should summarize some of his or her thoughts on the poem (s.) or song (s). It must also name two potential sources of information in MLA works cited format at the bottom of the page.
Each student must also complete a typed proposal or prospectus that tells which author and poem(s) or song(s) with poetic elements that the student is covering. No papers on short stories, novels, or plays will be accepted for this assignment.
You need to send me a one-paragraph proposal by Thursday, April 23. The proposal must tell which song or poem you are using, and it should state some basic info on the song or poem. It must also mention a few sources and it should have the sources in MLA format at the bottom of the page.
Rough drafts are due for peer editing on Tuesday, April 30. You should have someone you trust peer edit your typed draft (it will not be collected.) If there is no one in your house that can do it email one of your follow students on the Brightspace classlist. You do not need to send me the draft but the final version of the essay is due on Wednesday, May 5.
on that day anyway. Students who missed the class must make up the speeches on the next class.
Poetry definitions (many can also be applied to songs) .You need to use at least three in the essay.
Allusion-A reference to something outside the text (often it is literary or historical)
Theme-What the poem is about (usually it tends to be a bigger subject like love or death)
Narrator-The speaker of or in a poem
Persona-The identity that the poet assumes to tell the poem
Metaphor-An expressed relationship between two things often using is
Simile- An expressed relationship between two things often using like or as
Symbol-a word, image etc. that represents two things
Allegory-A work in which almost everything is symbolic including characters. An example would be Young Goodman Brown or The Truman Show.
Stanza-In poetry, groups of lines separated by space (prose generally has paragraphs instead of stanzas)
Enjambment- a situation in which the sense of one line or stanza runs over into the following line, or stanza
End-stopped line-a situation in which the sense of a line of poetry is logically, grammatically concluded,
often with end punctuation, such as a period, exclamation point, or question mark
Denotation-the dictionary definition of the word
Connotation-what words, through their use within culture, imply
Rhyme scheme-patterns of recurring sounds at the end of lines
Lyric-a short songlike poem, often about love
Lyre-A tortoise shell with strings that was used as an instrument. The ancient Greeks chanted or read
memorized poems while they played lyres.
Epic- A long poem, often telling a story
Alliteration Repetition of initial consonant sounds within a poem
Assonance-Repetition of initial vowel sounds within a poem
Time Table
Thursday, April 23-typed one-paragraph proposal is due
Thursday, April 30-Rough Draft is due (it will not be collected)
Thursday, May 5-Final Research Essay is due
Suggested Poets and Songwriters (You may pick someone who is not on the list but I must approve your artist on the proposal)
Time of Class ________
Adele
Maya Angelou
Fiona Apple
Arcade Fire
Billy joe Armstrong,/Green Day
John Ashberry
W.H. Auden
Cardi B.
Jimmy Santiago Baca
Bad Bunny
Julien Baker
Amiri Baraka/Leroy Jones
Charles Baudelaire
Syd Barrett
Courtney Bartnett
Matt Berninger/The National
Beyonce
Bjork
Patrica Barber
William Blake
Gwendolyn Brooks
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Jeff Buckley
Kate Bush
Caf Tacuba
Brandi Carlile
Lewis Carroll
Neko Case
Nick Cave
Chance the Rapper
Manu Chao
Helen Chasin
Vic Chestnutt
Jimmy Cliff
Childish Gambino
Cardi B.
Julian Casablanca (The Strokes, Voidz)
Chuck D
Sandra Cisernos
Lucille Clifton
Kurt Cobain
Jarvis Cocker /Pulp
Samuel, Taylor Coleridge
J. Cole
Billy Collins
Wayne Coyne (flaming lips)
Common
Elvis Costello
e.e.cummings
Drake
Billie Eilish
Eminem
Florence and the Machine
Lana Del Rey
Ray Davies (the kinks)
Del Rey, Lana
Zach De Rocha/rage against the machine)
James Dickey
Emily Dickinson
Snoop Dogg/Lion
John Donne
Drake
Bob Dylan
Laurence Ferlinghetti
Carolyn Forche
Foster the Children
Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
Childish Gambino
Allen Ginsberg
Goethe
Gotye
Ariana Grande
Haim
Terrence Hayes
Jimi Hendrix
Josh Homme /Queens of the Stone Age
Langston Hughes
Ice Cube
Ice T
Michael Jackson
Jay Z
Robert Johnson
Lady Ga Ga
Kendrick Lamarr
Miranda Lambert
John Lennon
Lil Wayne
Phillip Larkin
Arthur Lee/Love
John Lennon
Lil Wayne
Patricia Lockwood
Logic
Jennifer Lopez
Lorde (singer)
Lupe Fiasco
Audre Lorde
Courtney Love
Ludicris
John Keats
Ghostface Killah
Elle King
Etheridge Knight
Fela Kuti
Jon Langford/The Mekons
Lizzo
Madonna
Bob Marley
Sebastian Nosalik
Vic Mensa
Freddie Mercury (Queen)
M.I.A.
Niki Minaj
Joni Mitchell
Janelle Monae
Pat Mora
Marianne Moore
Alanis Morrisette
Morrissey /The Smiths
Morrison, Jim
Kacey Mustgraves
Nas
Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes)
Frank Ocean
Mary Oliver
Angel Olsen
Katy Perry
Pink
Pitbull
Sylvia Plath
Edgar Allan Poe
Prince
John Prine
Radiohead
Lou Reed
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)
Adrienne Rich
Rihanna
Arthur Rimbaud
Edward Arlington Robinson
Robyn
Michael Robbins
Smokey Robinson
Rodriquez
Carl Sandburg
Sappho
Ann Sexton
William Shakespeare (as a poet)
Shakira
Sia
Charles Simic
Tupac Shakur
St. Vincent
Percy Shelley
Sturgill Simpson
Eliot Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Smith
Bruce Springsteen
Getrude Stein
Sufjan Stevens
Cat Stevens
Mark Strand
Taylor Swift
Pete Townscend (The Who)
Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)
Taylor Swift
21 Pilots
Tom Waits
Kanye West
Phillis Wheatley
Brian Wilson (beach boys)
Amy Winehouse
Thom Yorke (Radiohead)
Neil Young
Warren Zevon
