Your task for this assignment is to develop a paper that analyzes the lyrics of a song of your choice as a piece of literature.
The paper should:
Begin with an introductory paragraph that introduces the song (when it was created, by what artist, if it has been popular). This paragraph should end with a thesis that makes a claim about the song’s meaning.
The rest of the paper should use multiple paragraphs to present an explication that provides an overview of the text’s meaning. To do this, you will need to focus on specific features in the poem to help explain what the song’s meaning. (See the Reading & Writing About Poetry (or Song Lyrics) page for help in this regard). It will be necessary to focus on specific features in the song. Please note that you may analyze the musical elements in the song, but that your main focus should be on the song’s lyrics since you are practicing the sort of textual analysis that will help you in our future papers. You should also use specific evidence from the song throughout your paper.
Be sure to choose a song that is appropriately complex. A song with a narrative – that is, a song that tells a story may be useful in this regard. Whatever the case, “Baby Shark” is not going to cut it.
Formatting Requirements:
Papers should be 3-5 pages in length (1000-1500 words).
All work should be typed and double-spaced in size 12 Times New Roman font.All work should be left aligned.
All work should have one-inch margins.
All headers should include the following on the left side of the page
Name
Date
Class and Meeting Time
Word Count
NOTE: Canvas will automatically upload your paper submission to .
Note: Below is a brief list of requirements for an English 101 paper. Your paper should attempt to follow these requirements to the best of your ability based on your experiences and recollection of English 101 or an equivalent course.
Include an introductory paragraph.
Be guided by a single thesis that makes an arguable claim.
Prove the paper’s thesis to be true through the use of specific evidence.
When necessary, practice proper quotation formatting and in-text citations (according to MLA formatting).
Practice strong paragraph structure including topic sentences.Be grammatically correct.
