John Cage 20th century, Instructions in notes

o   In your best scholarly prose, you will write about one of the major composers from the time period that we are studying this term. You should first pick one of the composers whose music is interesting to you (if none of the composers’ music interest you then one can be chosen for you).

• ***Your choice of composer must be approved by Dr. Keates. Once you have chosen a composer to write about, email Dr. Keates for approval. If your topic was not approved, your paper will not be accepted.*** 
• You should do some research in several sources and write about the composer’s life and compositional output.
• Your paper should answer (but not be limited to) the following questions. Points will be deducted if the answers to these questions do not appear in your paper. Sources should be clearly cited to show (specifically) where you did your research and got your information. Only one source can be an online-based source. Do NOT use Wikipedia for a source. If you choose to use an online source, it should not be your primary source of research. Published journals and articles that are available in online databases are not considered to be online resources. I encourage you to use them.
• If you have questions about what research materials are appropriate, ask.

• What is this composer’s general biographical information? (While this is important and can sometimes be interesting, this answer should not be the majority of your paper. The composer’s biography should only be one paragraph in length.)
• What was/is the composer’s compositional style?
• What was/ is the composer’s compositional output? You do not need to list all of their pieces, just provide general information. For example, if one were writing about Giacomo Puccini, they would say that he primarily composed in the genre of opera and some art songs.
• Why is this composer’s music interesting to you? Be specific.
• What piece/pieces caused you to choose to write about this composer? And why? It will be necessary to listen to several of the composer’s pieces to answer this question.
• Why is this composer important in the history of music?
• How does this composer’s music compare or contrast to the other music studied so far in this course?
• What are any other important facts about this composer’s life or place in music history?
• **This is an opportunity to use music vocabulary learned in the first two weeks of the course.

Do not plagiarize. All information should be cited clearly using a standard citation system such as Turabian or MLA. Make sure you are fully aware of the concept of plagiarism. If you are unsure, you should consult the link on the front page of this course (near the bottom). Plagiarism will not be tolerated (you will receive a grade of 0). This paper should be approximately 3-4 pages in length, typed, double spaced with 1-inch margins.