Individual Research Project

Playlist Assignment

Curate a playlist of at least 5 songs with context. This playlist will need to explore at least one major theme of the class. This theme should be directly related to your final research essay, i.e., pop music and environmentalism, pop music and animal rights, etc.

Write a 250 word introduction to your playlist. Describe why you chose these particular songs and put them together in the order that you did. What are the major (lyrical) themes that connect the songs? What is the larger historical, political, and social context for these songs? How might the songs demonstrate continuity and change over time? How would you describe the sound of these songs?

For each song, provide a caption of about 50 words. Provide the artist, release date, and genre/style at least. Provide a brief analysis of the major theme(s) of the song. What is its possible message(s)? How does the song relate to others on the list? How does the song relate to others in the artist’s catalogue? Why is this song important in the history of music, and/or history in general? Does it demonstrate something unique?

Provide links to each song or playlist in general, preferably through Spotify or Youtube. Remember, this will be shared with the class, via an open access dropbox

Here’s a few examples of playlists in popular media:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/songs-of-black-lives-matter-22-new-protest-anthems-15256/beyonce-feat-kendrick-lamar-freedom-33813/

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/best-feminist-songs-for-a-fierce-playlist

Create one document with links to songs (or playlist) embedded. (pictures optional).

Overall, you can imagine that you are producing this for a popular publication like Rollingstone, Vanity Fair, NPR, Cosmopolitan, Vox, Vice, etc. Try to use engaging language that catches the reader’s attention. Try to avoid clichés. And, try to find a hook/angle for each song and your list in general. Essentially, what is the main theme for your playlist and how do you make that accessible and exciting for a general audience?

For any information that you use from secondary sources, you will need to credit it in a footnote.

You will be graded primarily on how well the songs hold together as a group, expressing a common theme that you identify; you will also be graded on how well you express that in writing. A smaller portion of your grade will be based on clarity and mechanics of writing. See below:

80% - content (approx. 500 words total; 5 songs total); intro, and song captions

10% overall clarity of writing and structure

10% mechanics – grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.