OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this project is to allow you to demonstrate your ability to investigate on your own some topic in the history of music in the era from about 1600 to roughly 1750. Note especially that this project is not a piece of completely “original” research; rather, it is more of an investigation into the current “state of knowledge” about your chosen topic, with some additional commentary by you.
GENERAL METHOD: In broad outline, you will:
LIMITS: Your topic must deal with some aspect of Western art music in the era from about 1600 to roughly 1750, specificly, the style called the Baroque. It may be concerned with any subject ranging from a single major work by one composer up to a related group of pieces by various composers; with individual performers or a group of related performers; with issues of performance practice, instrumental technique, orchestration, and the like; with social and cultural issues; or any other issue or topic that can be dealt with in a paper of the prescribed length. You may not choose any composer or topic that would relate more properly to another era, except as it relates directly to the Baroque. You may not simply choose the biography or a composer, performer or other person, you may not choose just the history of an instrument, and you may not choose any work, composer or topic covered significantly in class. Students are reminded that this course will also include assignments dealing with basso continuo and (Bach) fugue analysis, and graduate students will also write a short paper on a topic that deals with music before 1700. This major paper cannot repeat any significant portion of those assignments.
PROPOSAL AND APPROVAL OF THE TOPIC: Your topic must be approved by me, and you may therefore want to communicate with me before you prepare your proposal. The proposal will specify (1) what you intend to study, (2) how you intend to limit your topic, and (3) any questions you hope to answer in your paper. The typed proposal should be at least a half page in length, but no more than a full page (roughly 150-300 words). The proposal is due by 5:00 pm on Monday, 13 February 2012 and counts for 5% of the project grade. Any proposal that does not show genuine effort toward defining a suitable topic will be returned for revision and the grade reduced by 50% per day, i.e., you have two days in which to resubmit an acceptable proposal before losing all points for the proposal. If you fail to submit a satisfactory proposal within those two days, similar reductions will continue against the rest of the project’s value. Grading of the proposal will be based primarily on the coherence and viability of the proposal as a research topic, i.e., how well have you defined the parameters of what you intend to investigate and how feasible is that topic for an advanced undergraduate- or graduate-level paper in the time allotted.
RESEARCH & BIBLIOGRAPHY: Once your topic has been approved, you should begin to assemble a suitable bibliography on that topic, using the skills, techniques, and resources mastered in MUH 3211-3212 [old MUH 4211-4212] or MUH 6916. Remember to expand your search to include items beyond those on hand at UCF, but do be aware of the time limitations for acquiring ILL items.
As a record of your research and a way for me to suggest additional items, (1) you should keep a journal of your research work, and (2) you must prepare an annotated bibliography. Use the journal to keep track of your work, noting such things as the various bibliographic searches that you make. Journal entries might list the specific terms that you searched, how you searched (e.g., subject, title, author, keyword, etc.), and where (which collections and databases) you searched. Be sure also to include unsuccessful searches, in order to save yourself the trouble of retracing your steps later.
Your annotated bibliography will be an alphabetical list of at least twenty (20) [for graduate students] or fifteen (15) [for undergraduate students] quality items that relate to your topic. Each item must be listed in a proper bibliographic format (author, title, publication information, etc.), using any consistent style of citation that you prefer. In addition to the bibliographic entries:
NB. You are not required to use all of these bibliography items in your paper. You may later decide to add more items to your bibliography and to drop others from it. The purpose of this stage of the research is to demonstrate that you have begun to accumulate and evaluate the literature on your subject, and that a suitable bibliography is available.
The annotated bibliography is due by 5:00 pm on Friday, 2 March 2012. The bibliography counts for 25% of the project grade. Again, your bibliography must include at least twenty (20) items for grad students and fifteen (15) items for UGs. Grading of the annotated bibliography will be split 50/50 between (1) the correctness of the citations themselves, i.e., proper bibliographic format, spelling, punctuation, etc., and (2) your annotations [UGs] or the essay [grad studnets], specifically your explanations of why these particular items are included in the bibliography.
OUTLINE OF THE PAPER: A copy of your proposed outline for the paper is due by 5:00 pm on Friday, 30 March 2012. Any outline that does not go beyond the first level of subdivision (I.A.) will receive a maximum grade of "65" ("D"). A better outline will include significant (Arabic Numerals: 1, 2, 3 = probably "C" or "B" grade) and even minor (Arabic Lower case: a, b, c) subdivisions as necessary. The outline counts for 20% of the project grade. Those who are not familiar with outlining papers may wish to see me (formal appointment or simply drop by during office hours) for help with this stage.
THE FINAL DOCUMENT: This Paper must:
The final paper is due electronically as an attachment an email sent to me by 10:00 pm on Thursday, 26 April 2012. The final paper itself counts for 50% of the project grade, with the value split equally between writing and content.
Electronic submission of all parts of this assignment--proposal, bibliography, outline, or paper--by means of email attachment is expected.
Undergraduates [MUH 4341] are reminded that this entire project counts for 20% of your course grade.
Graduate Students [MUH 5345] are reminded that this entire project counts for 30% of your course grade.