CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT

AMERICAN ETHNIC GEOGRAPHY MUSIC ESSAY BY AMERICAN (USA) MUSICIAN AND ABOUT THE USA

You are to select a song from the past or present that contains geography in the lyrics. The song is to have been written and performed by someone from the USA and be about the USA. The purpose of the assignment is to examine the ethnic origins of the songwriter and the singer and to examine the lyrics for clues about the cultural and physical geography of the song. Some examples of music styles include country-western, blues, jazz, Tejano (Tex-Mex music), Latino, Cubano, rapp, reggae, gospel, folk music, hymns, pop, ballads, and others.

The essay will be graded for clarity and content. Please check your spelling. The essay is to be typewritten double-spaced 1 inch margins 12 font and 2 full pages in length. Be sure to put the song title, date written, songwriter and performer of your song at the top center of the first page. It is not necessary to attach a copy of the lyrics to your essay. Please upload your 2 page essay to the DROPBOX in Desire 2 Learn (D2L).

First summarize in no more than 1/2 page the story that is told by the song. Then think about how this story is occurring in a physical and cultural geographic context. Decide what geographic ideas that we cover this semester apply to the song and discuss them. These ideas can come from any chapter in the Human Geography Textbook. Think like a geographer!!

Discuss geographic topics that are best suited to your particular song. Here are some examples. You do not need to use all of them and you can add some of your own.

1. What are the ethnic origins of the song, the songwriter and the performer?

2. What region of the United States is associated with this songwriter/performer?

3. Describe the location of your song. What is the physical location, topography, climate, vegetation? Is the location urban or rural? What is the cultural landscape?

4. What linguistic or religious factors are involved? Are certain words in the lyrics from a non-English language? Is there evidence of a dialect?

5. What cultural or ethnic groups are represented in this song?

6. Can you tell what the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the characters are (for example, young or old, rich or poor)?

7. Is there a political and economic context? If so, describe the context of the song.