Academic Writing 1 Gary Rostock Winter Semester 2008
Lectures will take place every two weeks. Two essays at pass – 12 marks
– are necessary for an overall pass, essays should be between 600 to 700 words
and are to be emailed to [email protected].
[email protected]
Your essay should contain a header in which there is: your name, your course
code, my name and the deadline date, below this should be the exact title. If
you do not comply with this requirement I shall send your essay back to you.
Do not bring me paper versions. I will Google at least seventy per cent
of work submitted and will fail all plagiarists with no chance of
re-submission.
I have uploaded an excellent essay by Marie Pecarova as an illustration
of academic writing by a Czech student for which I gave a maximum of 20. She
also formatted the essay correctly but as a web page this is not visible.
You will need to refer to the Academic Writing website throughout the course
for support materials and a course outline www.geocities.com/grostock
The focus this semester will be on literary critique using the academic writing
course as your skills base. My lectures will go over sections 1 to 12 of the
Academic Writing outline and we will also discuss elements of literary
criticism.
IMPORTANT NOTICE CONCERNING ESSAY REQUIREMENTS
You will evaluate two music videos (compare and contrast); their visual
content, lyrics and style. The videos are available on the Internet; see below.
Essay 1, Deadline: Friday 14th November 2008
Your first essay title is: Compare and contrast the music
videos `Hurt` performed by Johnny Cash and `Baby One More Time` performed
by Britney Spears
Think about the seriousness of each song and its presentation. What do
they represent? What is Cash trying to
convey? How does the music/lyrics/video achieve this? What is the aim of
Spears` video? Think about the sexual imagery and suggestiveness. Is she selling
more than a song? How are they different? What is asked of the viewer? Think
about why videos are made, who they are made for, what role do they play in
popular culture?
Links:
Johnny Cash:
Video… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go
Lyrics… http://www.lyrics007.com/Johnny Cash Lyrics/Hurt
Lyrics.html
Britney Spears:
Video… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bsniYwSaWg&feature=user
Lyrics… http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/britneyspears/babyonemoretime.html
Video criticism, page 221…
http://books.google.com/books?id=nr-o8xEJSfoC&pg=PA224&lpg=PA224&dq=music+video+academic+criticism&source=web&ots=4U07DBAlCA&sig=vw8VXmK7JnTH5AmW1pVpCOpcr7I&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result
- PPA222,M1
http://www.edcox.net/research/ba/musicvideo/part2-4.asp
http://www.edcox.net/research/ba/musicvideo/conclusion.asp
Essay 2, Deadline: Friday 12th December 2008
Your second essay title is: Compare and contrast the lyrics of
Joy Divison´s ´Love Will Tear Us Apart´ and the Beatles´ ´Love Me Do´
What do both songs represent? Are they positive or negative
reflections? Who are they aimed at? What are they trying to convey? Why did the
writers choose to write in this way? Which affects you the most? Why? Which
will endure over time? Why?
This is a textual analysis; the videos are to be used only to relate to
the song.
Videos:
Beatles - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwbOp8mqD7g
Joy Division - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yTIpcwBTTs
Lyrics:
Beatles - http://lyricwiki.org/The_Beatles:Love_Me_Do
Joy Division -
http://lyricwiki.org/Joy_Division:Love_Will_Tear_Us_Apart
Lyrical analysis…
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/lyrical/tools/docs/songs.pdf
http://beatlesnumber9.com/together.html non academic but interesting ideas about the lyrics to the Beatles `Come Together`