Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The Poetry of Song: Review of Devices & Elements

Below is a list of the devices that we have covered thus far in the course. For each device, develop a review bank based on the following template. Absentees must be sure to obtain active listening notes and instruction from peers or Mr. Kefor. You will have an objective test, for which you will be accountable for all of these terms, on Thursday, May 1.

Device: definition. Artist’s “Song Title from Active Listening”; Artist’s “Song Title from Elsewhere”; (example).


imagery, hyperbole, allegory, alliteration, assonance, consonance, local color, double entendre, oxymoron, irony, paradox, tone, point of view

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Mr. Milliken's B Block Honors English IV: Literary Theory Research & Annotated Bibliographies

Annotated bibliographies are a very useful tool for sorting out ideas and beginning to write a daunting paper using many sources. It allows you to begin collecting meaningful quotes and analyzing before you're required to formalize your thoughts into a final paper. Your goal for today is to complete one complete citation as described on the Annotated Bibliography assignment sheet.


Citation generator: this site will create a citation in MLA format for you if you give it a title which it recognizes. Make sure you check this citation against the publication information provided in your specific copy. There is also a "cite manually" option, where you fill in a form and the site formats the information for you. This latter function is one I use more often, and I have not run into issues/mistakes going through Easybib. For you own peace of mind the first time using Easybib or any other citation generator, check it against a scholarly source like the Purdue OWL.

Scholarly search engine. Use this as a search engine when researching. It will provide only scholarly articles and allow you to be confident in your source. Remember to vary search terms if you find that one approach does not provide the content you hoped for. Going forward, any college will want you to be familiar with this skill, but their platform will look slightly different. For instance, Wheaton College uses JSTOR instead of Gale.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

The Poetry of Song: Plagiarism in Song and Music

Musical plagiarism is complex, subjective, and a bit confusing. For decades, blues musicians have covered or restructured older songs as homage to past musicians. An artist may borrow lines, make allusions, or sample. Occasionally, artists take issue with this "borrowing" and sue.

For blog-work this week, research and listen to some examples of musical plagiarism. Identify: 1) the definition of plagiarism 2) at least one example of a truly plagiarized song (paragraph explanation) and 3) at least one example of a coincidental relationship between 2 songs (paragraph explanation). Discuss your findings here.

 In the spirit of avoiding plagiarism and associated transgressions, you must cite (MLA format) at least 3 sources for each argument. Citations will also allow you to incorporate periodicals and other resources that may offer some direct evidence to support your claims. On the left side of this blog, you will find some of the many useful citation tools available to you.

Some notable instances include (listed as original/supposed plagiarism): Chiffon's "He's So Fine"/George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord"; Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance"/The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California"; Queen's "Under Pressure"/Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby" , Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly"/Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" and, more recently, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"/The Black Keys' "Little Black Submarines," Bob Dylan's "Fourth Time Around" and Fleet Foxes' "Lorelai,"and Pink Floyd's "Breathe"/Dave Matthews Band's "Drunken Soldier." You are not limited to these examples, so feel free to find your own.