Cool idea. This was an amazing work by Leonard Bernstein. Look into musical elements like his use of jazz and pop music in this somewhat orchestral work. Also make note of the songs that came out of the score – Somewhere and One Hand One Heart.
Assignment: Students will write a research essay about a composer, music style, or music related issue (25% of final grade). Essays may be submitted using MS Word attachment via the online Dropbox.
Essay titles must be pre-approved by the instructor (read Sample Essay Titles below, select your own topic of interest, then make email contact with instructor for approval).
Essays must be typed and double-spaced.
Essays must contain elements of scholarly integrity (spell-check, good grammar, etc.).
Essays should be 5 to 7 pages long.
Essays should have a list of references including at least 3 sources of information.
All paraphrased or quoted material must be cited (see below for clarification).
Use the Sample Essay as an assignment example.
The following guidelines will help you prepare an essay containing elements of scholarly integrity. These guidelines provide explicit style recommendations, but do not offer solutions for all stylistic problems. Balance the guidelines with good judgment while creating the best possible research essay.
Select a topic of genuine interest. Time spent researching passionless subjects will generate spiritless results.
Narrow the scope of your research to a specific topic. General themes are difficult to cover comprehensively.
Give credit to authors whose work you paraphrase or quote in your essay. Parenthetical or other text citations and a list of references are required.
Proofread your essay, looking for flaws in your work. Allow a colleague to read your essay word for word. Request feedback regarding clarity and readability.
Reference Citations in Text
Text citations enable readers to locate sources of information in the alphabetical reference list found at the end of your essay. Document everything! Any ideas taken from another source requires a reference. Footnotes or parenthetical citations should be used when paraphrased or quoted material is introduced.
Do not plagiarize! Plagiarism is using some else’s ideas without giving them credit and violates ethical principles of research. The only exception to this rule concerns the use of common knowledge, or information most people should know. When in doubt, give a reference!
A paraphrase restates original information in different language (using your own words to convey the material). Paraphrases require reference citations. A paragraph may contain several citations giving credit to sources you paraphrase. Typically, a reference should be given to the author and date of publication when paraphrases are included in your work.
The following are examples of the author-date method of reference citations that can be used in your work:
Hoffer (2007) claims that music can vary tremendously from culture to culture. . .
In 2007, Hoffer stated that music can vary tremendously from culture to culture. . .
. . . music can vary tremendously from culture to culture (Hoffer, 2007).
If the work has more than one author, cite all names every time the reference occurs in your text and the date of publication:
Forney & Machlis (2007) state that technology has changed the way we listen to music . . .
In 2007, Forney & Machlis stated that technology has changed the way we listen to music. . .
. . . Technology has changed the way we listen to music (Forney & Machlis, 2007).
When a work has no author, cite the first few words of the reference title, periodical, or book. Place double quotation marks around the title of an article and underline the title of a periodical or book and the date of publication:
. . . keeping the arts strong in schools (â¬Å“Art Education Advocacy,â¬ï¿½ 1992).
the National Standards of Education for the Arts (1993) recommend keeping the arts strong in schools.
Quotations
Material quoted from a reference (word for word) should be enclosed with double quotation marks. The author, year, and specific page(s) of the quoted reference should then be noted. The following are examples of citing a quotation in your text:
â¬Å“We listen to music because it gives us pleasureâ¬ï¿½ (Wright, 2008, p. 2).
Wright (2008) states that â¬Å“we listen to music because it gives us pleasureâ¬ï¿½ (p. 2).
Citing Web References
Web references may be used in your research essays. Know, however, that anyone can publish information on the web and that no standards exist to ensure accuracy. Before including web information in your research efforts, consider the following: Is the information reliable? Is there an author? Is there an editor who verifies the information? Does the information show a minimum of bias? Is the web page dated? Make every attempt to include web material that is reliable and error-free.
Citing web sources in your work for paraphrased or quoted material requires a listing of the web address in parenthesis:
(http://www.edu/citation.example)
Remember to include your web sources in the list of references.
List of References
The list of references at the end of your essay provides the information necessary to identify the sources used in the research. References cited in the text must appear in the list of references. Each reference usually contains the following information: author, year of publication, title, publisher, or explicit details necessary for subsequent data retrieval. References should be listed in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author.
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