Paper Assignment

This paper will examineissues that have been explored musically. These are the songs you may choose from for the assignment.

Wealth Inequality

"Working Class Hero" by John Lennon

"Money" by Pink Floyd

Death Penalty

"Faye Tucker" by Indigo Girls

"25 Minutes to Go" by Johnny Cash

War

"Rich Man's War" by Steve Earl

"American Soldier" by Toby Keith

Format of the Paper

Choose one set of songs for your paper. Each deals with a different topic which we will cover this semester, though from somewhat different perspectives.

The discussion for each song should include the following (in this order):

1. Identify the song, artist, and year of recording

2. Provide a brief biography of the artist that includes a discussion of who they are (nationality, race, gender and other relevant demographics), the genre of music they primarily perform (i.e., rock, pop, soul...), whether they are/were politically active and, if so, how and what issues are primarily of interest to them.

3. Identify what the song is about (through a brief discussion of the lyrics) and what aspect of the political issueseach song raises.

The words limit for this section is 1000 words.

BELOW IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PAPER AND THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE WHAT YOU SPEND THE MOST TIME AND WORDS ON.

4. Identify the past and current debates on the identified issue (what are the different political positions surrounding the issue? is the debate around a general ideological divide and, if so, what is that divide? what position do the artists take on the issue?)

5. Discuss your position on the issue, using facts, not opinions, to support your position. Discuss whether the your research reinforced or changed your position on the issue and in what way.

6. Discuss what it was about the research that reinforced or changed your position

Total word limit is 2500.