Lived Literacies: Popular Music in Higher EducationWe began this semester discussing how our popular music literacies affect how we know what we know, whatwe know, and how memory creates images and ideas about life in America.In paper #1, each of you will have the opportunity to explore and communicate some of the ways that yourmusic literacies can help you make the transition to writing in higher education. In paper #1, each of you areinvited to explore some aspect of your own popular music literacy history to identify the ways it can berevised and transferred into your life as a writer and/or reader and/or researcher in higher education. Hereare some of examples of types of literacy you might explore:•reading music: e.g., understanding things about rhythm, tone, interpretation and performance thatcan assist you as a writer
•how listening to music everyday and memorizing songs can enhance your academic writing•how thinking/singing/talking/reading in verse allows for expression of things that don’t getexpressed in prose and other forms of texts
•exploring how verse forms help you make new connections between in-school and out-of-schoolwriting
•analyzing how the moves and emotions of other popular songwriters and/or performers help usunderstand and deal with audience/readers
•explain how knowing more than one genre of popular music helps you deal with the various genresof writing you encounter in undergraduate education in AmericaAs our discussions about popular songs’ lyrics and music illustrate, there are a number of different ways tofocus your paper: working from a significant song(s) or album and its impact on your writing; tracing certainverse forms and their influences on in-school and/or out-of-school reading and/or writing, exploring popularpeople in music and their lyrics as a way to understand what it means to build historical context fromindividual events/lives, etc. You can choose any one or any combination of these focusing methods, use oneyou discovered outside of our readings, or create your own. As you make these decisions, remember that yourmusic literacy history should do more than tell a story or strive for self-expression. Your purpose is to helpothers with that type of literacy to engage it successfully as they start their college/university educations. Thismeans that you must explore the connections between that type of literacy meeting literacy expectations inhigher education. Understanding the significance of what you learn is a common expectation for students inhigher education; this assignment will help trace your learning in effective ways.Like each assignment this semester, your paper must include a visual; for this paper your visual will be a coverpage that prepares your audience to enter into your text as an engaged reader. You will also want to thinkabout the visual and audio representations of songs that you want included in this paper. Remember, thisparticular assignment calls for an essay in a fairly traditional academic style. You will have opportunities laterin the semester to create other kinds of texts. We will spend a significant amount of time discussinginvention, arrangement, revision, style, and delivery (RAIDS) activities for this assignment. Due dates andother requirements such as length and form expectations will be discussed in class.
