Music 340: Research Projects

The goal of research this semester will be to create a project that will serve as an oral presentation for the final.  You will do this in several steps.

• Choose a significant piece by a 20th century composer. (Decision by Jan 22)
• Research and write a biographical sketch of that composer. (1st Draft of Composer Bio Sketch Due Feb 14 - Final Draft Mar 6)
• Two article annotations associated with this stage are due on Feb 7.
• Research and write a genre sketch describing either the origins of or changes to your chosen piece's genre during the 20th century. (1st Draft of Genre Study Due on April 17 - Final Draft May 1)
• Two article annotations associated with this stage are due on April 8. (Note: there is no class that day)
• Give an oral presentation on your chosen piece of music.  The presentation will last approximately 20 minutes and include information from your two papers as well as analysis (historical, cultural, musical) of the piece itself.

Biographical Sketch Guidelines

ARTICLE ANNOTATIONS DUE ON FEB 7

ROUGH DRAFT OF PAPER DUE ON FEB 14

FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER DUE MARCH 6

Format:

• Your paper should be approximately 5 - 7 pages long, double spaced, standard 1" margins, Times New Roman 12 point font.
• It should follow a citation format (FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY) as suggested by the Chicago Manual of Style.  Diana Hacker has an excellent guideline on how to do this: DOCUMENTING SOURCES
• You must use at least 5 non-Internet (i.e. traditional book, encyclopedia, journal article) sources.  2 of those sources must be journal articles. 
• For each of the articles you will turn in a paragraph that summarizes the article's content.  The summary (or annotation) will include:
  • Title of article
  • Article source information (author(s), journal name, publication information)
  • A summary of the contents in your own words in about a paragraph.  (double spaced, standard 1" margins, Times New Roman 12 point font)  Please write a good paragraph with a topic sentence and several supporting sentences.  If you need to write more than one paragraph to deal with the article's contents, you may do so.
• Your sketch should deal with salient details from the composer's life, a representative list of major works, and any unique style characteristics.

Genre Study Guidelines

ARTICLE ANNOTATIONS DUE ON APRIL 8 (NOTE: NO CLASS THAT DAY)

ROUGH DRAFT OF PAPER DUE ON APRIL 17

FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER DUE MAY 1

Format:

• Your paper should be approximately 5 - 7 pages long, double spaced, standard 1" margins, Times New Roman 12 point font.
• It should follow a citation format (FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY) as suggested by the Chicago Manual of Style.  Diana Hacker has an excellent guideline on how to do this: DOCUMENTING SOURCES
• You must use at least 5 non-Internet (i.e. traditional book, encyclopedia, journal article) sources.  2 of those sources must be journal articles. 
• For each of the articles you will turn in a paragraph that summarizes the article's content.  The summary (or annotation) will include:
  • Title of article
  • Article source information (author(s), journal name, publication information)
  • A summary of the contents in your own words in about a paragraph.  (double spaced, standard 1" margins, Times New Roman 12 point font)  Please write a good paragraph with a topic sentence and several supporting sentences.  If you need to write more than one paragraph to deal with the article's contents, you may do so.
• Your genre will be determined by your choice of musical piece for the final presentation.
• Your paper will include a discussion of the development of your chosen genre through the 20th century.  You should discuss any significant changes in form or style.  You should discuss at least 2 other composers who wrote pieces in the same genre.  You should mention other significant works of music in this genre and say why they are important in its development.