First Draft Due: Monday, February 6th (Peer review in class. A missing draft will be counted as an absence.)

Second Draft Due: Monday, February 13th

Conferences: Monday, February 13th and Tuesday, February 14th

Final Draft Due: Monday, February 20th

How does a song get categorized in a particular genre of music? What characteristics attract us to our favorite artists and styles? And how do artists make use of genre characteristics to convey meaning in their songs? For this essay, you’ll need to use rhetorical analysis as you look at a song addressing an event (or series of events) covered in a media outlet. Cite (a) news article(s) that discuss(es) the event as evidence, and offer background information from reliable sources about the artist you are discussing, providing overall context for your audience. Clearly identify the genre of the song you are focusing on, and define that category using research in order to provide context for your readers. Explain your reasons for choosing to place the song you’ve chosen as partaking in that genre. What characteristics does the song display that clearly makes it part of the genre? How does genre play a part in the meaning of the song? How does the artist use elements of that genre in order to talk about a significant event in a way that the news outlets were unable to approach? In your essay, use rhetorical analysis to back up your points. Provide examples from the lyrics and point to specific moments in the music. If you can find a music video for the song, include a discussion of the rhetorical choices in the video as they connect to the music and lyrics. Provide links to YouTube videos or MP3 files of the songs on GrooveShark, Spotify, SoundCloud, or other websites, and feel free to use images (album covers, news photos, etc.) to supplement your text.

In your essay:

• Clearly identify the genre of the song.
• Explain why you think this song belongs to this genre:
  • Think about the context for the song, and its purpose. Research will help you begin to determine this.
  • What are the typical characteristics exhibited by songs in the genre you’re discussing? Research will help you back up your points here, as well.
  • What genre characteristics does the song display?
• Explain the song’s connection to the news event you’ve identified.
  • How does genre play a part in the way the artist makes meaning regarding the event in the song?
    • *^ This is perhaps the most important concept for you to reflect on in this project.*
  • What larger issues are being addressed in the artist’s purpose in this song?
  • How does the artist attempt to affect audience perceptions of the event in ways that the news source does not?
• Be sure to provide examples from the lyrics and point to specific moments in the music in order to back up your points and help with your rhetorical analysis.
  • Remember that a good rhetorical analysis keeps in mind the purpose, audience, tone/stance, and media/design as well as the genre.
  • Also, remember that the artist is most certainly relying on some or all of the rhetorical appeals – ethos, pathos, logos.
  • When you examine the songs in detail, pay close attention to:
    • Lyrics
    • Arrangement (what instruments, how many singers, etc.)
    • Song Structure
    • Mood & Tone
    • Melody & Rhythm

Please provide links to YouTube videos or MP3 files of the songs on GrooveShark or other websites as well. (Including any images you feel help your points along is also a plus!)

You might want to review the Dirk reading for this assignment.

Make sure you include a reference list and in-text citations for any outside sources (MLA or APA format) as well as the full title and artist name of each song you use.

If you’re looking for an example, take a look at this one on Beyonce’s “Formation” or this one on a Rammstein song.

As always, if you have any questions – ask away!

• Exercises, 1/25/17
• Visual Rhetoric Exercises, 2/1/17

Categories: Assignment Guidelines

Tags: assignment guidelines, february, genre, music, news, rhetorical analysis