step 1: read the article “Music as a Cultural Mirror,” OAH Magazine (July, 2005) (attached in files)
step 2: select a song- song you will be writing over – “Women Is Losers,” Janis Joplin (1967)( lyrics attached in files, video on YouTube)
step 3: Listen to your song. YouTube or Spotify would probably the two easiest websites to use but you can use whatever platform you want that has the song you are looking for.
step 4: Find a website (it needs to be reliable) and learn more about your song. Do NOT use or cite Wikipedia.
step 5: Now find and read the lyrics of the song. Read them as you listen to the song again, and then read them on their own. Consider what emotions they evoke when you read them separately compared to when you listen to them along with the music. Is there a difference?
NOW REFLECT:
What was the main point of the OAH article “Music as a Cultural Mirror” (2005)? Have you ever considered listening to music as a way to connect to the past? How does the article explain the value of this approach? Include a quote and discuss why you selected it. *I want this to be a very personal response – YOUR opinion. If your response to this question reads like something Google or AI told you, I will not give you credit.
What song did you select to research further in Step 2? Why did you choose it? Who sang it? When was it written? What historical, cultural, or social event is this song connected to?
What website did you select and use for Step 4 (include a link)? What new/additional information did you learn about the song?
Analyze the song by interpreting the lyrics and the message that the artist(s) was trying to get across. What did you think? Was the artist successful? Include at least one quote from the lyrics that you think stands out and discuss why you selected it.
Now that you’ve done it, what are your thoughts about using music in the learning process? How could it assist in how you learn and/or study history overall? *Again, I want this to be YOUR opinion. “I” statements are expected. Like I said above, if your response to this question reads like something Google or AI told you, I will not give you credit.
COMMENT (with another twist)! Just like we’ve been doing in previous assignments, when you comment this week you MUST comment on posts that talk about two different songs than what you selected and wrote about in your original post. This means, when all is said and done, you will have learned about three (3) different songs from the 1960s, which will really help expand your overall cultural understanding of this decade! With that said, this also means you will need to read a variety of your classmates’ posts to decide who/what you want to comment on. You can’t rush through the commenting portion this time around!
