Friday, March 27, 2009

Help!

This is an unabashed solicitation for assistance.

I'm taking a class entitled, "History of the U.S. through Music." It is a complete and utter waste of my time. The instructor is certifiable, and I'm not learning jack from the class, but I need the credit to finish up my minor so I can graduate in a month and a half.

Here's my problem: I have to write a paper for this class. And I'm absolutely clueless what to write about. I'm drawing a blank. I've got nothing. Nada. Zip.

So I am now literally begging anyone who will read this for ideas. If you had to write a paper for a class called "History of the U.S. through Music," what would you write?

I'm even willing to turn this into a contest, the winner of which will receive a coveted North Dakota trinket of some sort or another. Now who wouldn't want tourist crap from a state you'll probably never visit? A giant pencil? A snow globe? A refrigerator magnet?

Please, throw me a bone. I'm dying here.

6 comments:

Claire said...

Here's an idea...look at music that was popular among soldiers during a war...I understand that Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller were big during WWII (and Miller died in a plane crash while serving in the Army Air Corps), and soldiers in Vietnam listened to the Stones or maybe Motown. Does it have to be a broad, cover everything paper, or is it more specific? You could also look at a specific type of music and how it influenced American culture...Jazz, Rock, R&B, etc. I hope that helps!

alana said...

My friend took a class like this and he said you could focus on the rock and roll era and how it changed America by giving the youth something to identify with and some political power to some extent. He said to start with anything out of chess records in the early 50s.

Hope that helps. lol

Angie Ledbetter said...

Make a timeline of the USA's major musical movements up to the present. See if you can corrolate what was going on in history with the favored style/form of music. I bet you'll find amazing results since music and art often reflect the popular mindset of the time. Good luck!

Kathryn Magendie said...

I was going to suggest something like Angie said....

hmmm....how music affected the mood of America...

or did the mood of america affect music...

which came first, chicken/egg

Cheryl said...

At first I thought History of the US through Music...no wonder you're drawing a blank. But the suggestions you've already gotten sound like really good ones. I'd only add... Bing Crosby to Justin Timberlake American pop culture as interpreted by male singers...pre-civil war hymns and the states on the verge of war....race relations and jazz 1900...hope this helps, probably doesn't, but good luck.

Writing on Board said...

I'd go with "black" American music. From slave songs to blues to gospel to jazz to soul to hip hop (thinking Public Enemy). A History of America in Freedon Songs.