The readings for today highlight some of the ways that women are portrayed in lyrics and music videos in heavy metal and rap.
For this assignment, choose a song from one of these genres and write a thorough analysis of it. (You can also analyze the video, if there is one.) How are women portrayed in the song? Does the song illustrate (or counter) any of the common themes described in the readings? How do the music, lyrics and/or images work together?
Due:
The readings for today’s class illustrate how novels by authors like Jane Austen can provide evidence about women’s music making in the nineteenth century, particularly in domestic settings. Can you add to the list of examples? Search 19th-century works of fiction. Post your findings in the “Fiction” thread on Blackboard (a link to Google Books will work, or you can type in the excerpt), and include a few words about how your example compares to the ones in the readings.
Due:
To earn this credit, give a brief (3-5 minute) lecture/presentation to the class about some aspect of nun’s lives in Europe in the 16th or 17th century. Alternatively, you could present on the life or music of a specific nun or group of nuns.
Due:
Listen to the pieces/excerpts on today’s listening list, and—without thinking too much about it—make a list ordering them from most to least “feminine.” After you have done this, write a one-page paper considering what features of the music may have caused you to attribute gendered qualities to it.
Due:
Gender in Heavy Metal and Rap – Misogyny in Music Video
Reading: Excerpts from Walser, Running with the Devil: Gender and Power in Heavy Metal Music and Weitzer/Kubrin, “Misogyny in Rap Music : A Content Analysis of Prevalence and Meanings”
Viewing: Watch a selection of the videos linked on Blackboard
Listening: Kanye, “Gold Digger”
Queen Latifah, “Ladies First”
Tasks:
Midterm Exam
Salons and domestic music-making – Frauenlieben und Leben
Reading: Mary Burgan, “Heroines at the Piano: Women and Music in Nineteenth-Century Fiction,” pp. 51–63.
Optional reading: Ruth Solie, “Whose Life?”
Listening: Robert Schumann, Frauenlieben und Leben
Tasks:
2/6 – Music in convents II: The Renaissance and early Baroque eras in Italy
Reading: Craig Monson, Nuns Behaving Badly: Tales of Music, Magic, Art, and Arson in the Convents of Italy, pp. 8-18 (and optional, but recommended reading: all of Chapter 2, “Dangerous Enchantments: What the Inquisitor Found”)
Listening: Lucrezia Vizzana, selections from Componimenti musicali
Caterina Assandra, Duo Seraphim
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Kyrie
Tasks: