Canadian Music Essay
Write These 4 Titles:
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•
•
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An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay
Cortez the Killer
Grim Cathedral
Wheat Kings
An American Draft Dodger in Thunder
Bay
Cortez the Killer
Grim Cathedral
Wheat Kings
Read Your Song
1) Feel it
1)
How does it make you feel?
2) Understand it
1)
2)
Translate new words
Look for cultural references: homework=research!
3) Look at the title
1)
What does the title tell you about the song?
4) Look for poetic devices
1)
Imagery, simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration
5) Analyze the theme
1)
What is the message/lesson of the song?
P.E.E. Paragraphs
• POINT: what is your idea?
• EXAMPLE: give a specific example (a
quotation or a strong summary)
• EXPLANATION: how does your example show
your idea? Why is the information important?
P.E.E. Paragraph
Point: The song “Rocks and Trees” uses humor to
make fun of the focus on Canada’s nature.
Example: They say that in Canada, “we don’t have
history, gold medal winning teams, heroes, or
prisoners”, even though Canada does have all of
those things.
Explanation: This shows that The Arrogant Worms
think it is foolish that people only focus on
Canada’s nature instead of the other important
parts of Canadian history and culture.
Thesis Statement
• Shows the main idea of your essay
– For this essay: what is the theme of your song?
• Example:
– Possible themes for “The Northwest Passage”
include exploration, perseverance, learning from
those who came before us
Outline
• Plans your essay
• Helps you think of ideas before worrying
about structure
• You don’t need to write full sentences; just
put ideas
• Put sentences from the songs in “quotation
marks”
Outline
• Thesis: fill in the name of your song, the singer, and the
theme. Choose use if the singer is a band, and uses if it
is a single person.
• Body Paragraph 1: do this for homework tonight.
Research the history of your song for homework (links
on website)
• Body Paragraph 2: Think about how the song uses
poetic devices to show theme
• Body Paragraph 3: Choose a song we have studied that
is similar to your song. Think about how the message
of each song is similar, and how it is different.
• Conclusion: Rewrite your thesis in new and different
words
Homework
• Go to the website
– Research your song’s historical topic
– Finish outline (due tomorrow)
• Bring your computer tomorrow