MUSIC HISTORY & LITERATURE I
MUH 3211 – Warfield
(Fall 2010)

OBJECTIVE: In lieu of a full-fledged independent research project in music history (this semester), you will read, discuss and report on a scholarly article or essay, i.e., a single piece of research directed at an audience of professional musicians and scholars. The purpose of this project is to prepare you for independent research in more advanced music history courses.

In the course of this project you will do the following:

STEP 1: Assemble the Group

Groups must consist of exactly five (5) members from the same section of MUH 3211. (NB. In the event that the roster of students in MUH 3211 changes during the semester, some groups may be formed with either four or six members, but only so as to keep the maximum number of groups of five.)

Each group must pick a leader, who is the only person who communicates with the instructor. Each group will be identified by its leader, and the graded item for the group will be submitted by the leader.

The group should consider itself a "committee of equals," with NO division of labor. All members of the group must read and discuss the chosen article, and the final document should be written with contributions from all five members of the group.

See the list of groups and their members at the bottom of this page

STEP 2: Choose an Article and Acquire a Copy of It

  1. By mutual consent, the group should select at least three articles from the list below.
  2. The group leader must then submit the three ordered choices to me via email, and wait for my approval before proceeding with the project. NB., When submitting your choices, give full author/title citations.
  3. NB. Only one group may read any particular article, and choices will be approved on a "first come" basis.
  4. Choices will be approved within about 48 hours (or possibly sooner), and those articles will not be available for choices by later groups. If all of your group's choices are taken, you will be advised to re-submit three new choices from the remaining articles. The process continues until every group has a unique article.
  5. After your choice has been approved, every member of your group should acquire an electronic copy of your chosen article, which may be printed for marking as you read. You should also retain at least one PDF copy for viewing color images, etc.

STEP 2: Read and Discuss Your Article

  1. Every member of the group should read the essay at least twice, and for some passages, several more times. The first time through, read for the general flow and structure of the article. What information is presented, or what argument is put forth, and how? Note especially any references to people, places, concepts, musical or non-musical terms, etc., with which you may not be familiar. Be sure to look at the footnotes, since they may explain unfamiliar material or guide you to sources that will explain that material.
  2. After your first time through the article, look up any unfamiliar terms, etc. You need not do extensive research on these new or unfamiliar terms, but you must know enough to understand the article when you re-read it. For basic music information, use:
  3. Re-read the essay (or portions of it) as many times as necessary until you really understand it. Pay closer attention to the details as you become more familiar with the essay. What evidence is put forth to support the argument? Is there any real evidence, or just supposition? How does the author proceed from one point to the next in the argument? Is the author’s reasoning flawed, is evidence missing, or do things just not add up? In short, read with a skeptical and critical eye (as does any scholar). Something is not true just because it’s in print.
  4. When you have read and re-read the article to the point that you believe you truly understand it, you should discuss it with your group members. Do you all agree on the general ideas presented or not? If not, work out your differences before attempting to write your report.

STEP 3: Write a Report on Your Article

  1. Only when your group understands and agrees on the contents of your article, should you write your report.
  2. Your report will do three (3) things:
  3. You may divide the writing in any way that you choose, but remember that everyone is equally responsible for the content and format of the final document. To ensure the you submit your best possible work, organize your writing with a group-determined outline, and share writing, editing, and proof-reading tasks equally.
  4. The format of your (electronic) paper will be as follows:
  5. The content of your paper should be roughly as follows:
  6. The minimum acceptable length is 1,500 words (about 6 pages, not counting the title page or any bibliography page). While there is no absolute maximum, you should try not to exceed 2,000 words. Excessively long papers may be down-graded for failing to focus their contents.

STEP 4: Submitting Your Report and Grading Criteria

Potential Essays (updated 20 OCT '10)

The journal Early Music [UCF Library ML 55 . E18, vols. 21-34] contains the following articles, all of which are acceptable. NB. In addition to the hard copies of selected volumes held by UCF, you may access many of these articles either through the JSTOR (up to 1999; use the "Browse" function and search under "Music" for Early Music) or Project MUSE (2003-present; select "Journals" and search for Early Music) databases on the UCF Library Web site.

Approved Groups (group leader in BOLD, updated 21 Oct '10)