An update on the paper on the song

Once upon a time there had been (in the syllabus) some noise about a biography paper, which was then turned (by an conjurer of strange skills hard to fathom) into a paper on a specific song. The people wrote blog entries (if but mostly brief ones) on what song they would like to write upon, but the promised details never seemed to materialize, remaining but a shimmering illusion on the horizon.

Or something like that.

With my father's illness and whatnot, it is now into November, Jamboree is growing nigh, and I still haven't done my part. Something needs to be done, and whatever it is needs to be reasonably fair to you folks.

So here's what I propose: The paper becomes extra credit applicable just to the performance part of the course. Now that the performances are done, I'll try to e-mail everyone a performance grade in the next few days. While there were some really wonderful performances, many (certainly many more than I expected) weren't really performances, being instead simple variants on a high school book report that didn't display much depth or growth or courage on the part of the presenter. Many of those aren't going to get great performance grades (probably C or D).

My idea, then, is for the paper to be an opportunity for everyone (but especially people who aren't happy with their performance grade) to beef it up; people who are happy with their performance grade can skip the paper and move on with other parts of their lives. For people who turn in a paper, I'll mark them on a 30 point scale, and then add those points to your performance grade (capping the sum at 100 points).

For people who wish to do a paper, you want to move past the basic details of the song you're writing about. It's good (important even) to know who wrote it and when it was recorded, etc., but that's the start and not the end. Why is the song or performance important? How does it speak to us and what does it tell us? Where does it fit in the narrative begun in our readings? Frankly, why would anyone give a damn? I'm not looking for a huge long beast, so don't just ramble on in the hopes that you stumble across something; figure out what you have to say that's important, and say it clearly and concisely. If you're struggling, run ideas past me or other folks in the class.

These won't be due until a week after Jamboree (Thursday, 7 Dec), but if you turn something in earlier I'll try to give you some early feedback on it so you have a chance to revise it if you wish.