Reference no: EM133625217 , Length: Words Count:2500

Assignment:

Music and sociology (should be at least 2,500 words)

Pick out the song you want do do for this research paper

In this project, you will be applying that sociology to a cultural product: a song. This paper will require you to apply sociological themes, do outside research, and analyze a song on multiple sociological levels.

Choose a song that have clear social or political messages, songs by artists that are fairly well known, and songs that have a fair amount of lyrical content are generally easier songs to write this paper about.

For the purposes, a good song is one which has a good amount of lyrics, enough themes that you think you can incorporate lots of sociology, and a song popular enough that there's enough outside sources to research about it.

This research paper requires having three parts.

1. Interpreting symbolic elements.

• The first part of the paper will require you to analyze the lyrics of the song you choose and interpret the important symbolic features of the song. In other words, what does this song mean? What do the individual lyrics mean?
• Ultimately, I'm asking you to analyze what the song means and/or what the song is meant to mean (sometimes artists intend things other than what is taken by the audience). And a bit more directly, how can we use sociology to understand it?
• Does the song reference other songs or artists? This may require some research.
• If we were to look at the three grand theories of sociology, what grand theory do you think best represents this song? Why?

2. Analyzing small group interaction.

• Do the research on the group or singer that released the song. You will want to know the dynamics of the relationships in their lives at the time that they released or wrote the song. This is so you can tie these events to the writing, performance or reception of the song.
• You are looking for ways in which the way the group's social experiences (at the time or during life) affected how or why they would write this song. we're looking to construct a sociological explanation for why what happened (the song) happened.
• As you include things, ask yourself, "Can I make a connection between these events and why this song was written?" because that's primarily what I'm asking you to be doing.

3. Analyzing the social structure.

• Do research on what is occurring in the world when the song was released and when it did or did not become popular. You want to make major connections of things happening in the larger social structure to the song you chose. These songs were not released in a vacuum.
• Do not just find a bunch of things that happened during this year and list them. Think about what things would have an effect on why a song was popular or not. You're looking to construct a sociological framework to explain why the song was received the way it was received and/or written.
• As you include things, ask yourself, "Can I make a connection between this and why this song was written or how it was received?" because that's primarily what I'm asking you to be doing.

Things to keep in mind.

1. Make sure you are including sociological theory in your paper. We will be going over theories of gender, theories about socialization, theories about interaction and theories about world views (how different people view the world).
2. Be explicit in your use of sociology. I'm not just (though I am also looking for this) looking for sociological themes in your paper, but explicit mentions and descriptions of sociological concepts and how they relate to your paper. So for instance, just saying, "This is like how the social institution of religion affects all of us." Explain that concept you are using, then explain how it fits. Just mentioning a concept will not count.
3. Just mentioning a sociological concept is not enough, explain what it is and how it fits (this is how I know you're using the concept correctly). I /really/ dislike putting a minimum number of concepts, but if I had to make a number, I'd say at least five. To be clear, including five concepts doesn't guarantee an A, that's just the minimum I'd expect to see.
4. Make sure you incorporate sociological concepts.
5. Any time you make a specific sociological reference to satisfy the requirements a-d, you must highlight it (In Microsoft Word, there is a little button you press that says highlight text).
6. You must include the full text of the song, the artist, album and year of release with your paper. This does not count as part of your page count; you will add this as an appendix (appendices go at the end of a paper).
7. Make sure that you properly cite whatever outside sources you use and you will require outside sources. You must cite in the BODY of the paper where you use the information and ALSO in a bibliography.
8. Make sure to proof read your paper.
9. Appendices and bibliographies do not count towards your page count.
10. Make sure the paper has an introduction and a conclusion. An introduction should lay out the framework for the paper (what are we going to read about and why) and a conclusion should explain what we should take from the paper (what did we read about and what did we learn).

Suggested Header format:

• Introduction
• Interpreting Symbolic Elements
• Small Group Interaction
• Social Structure
• Conclusion
• Appendix
• Bibliography