1. Guidelines for Paper Proposal 

Page Specifications

Your project proposal should be between 1 and 2 pages, double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. 

Project Proposal

Choosing your topic:

1.  Pick something that interests you and/or is relevant to your primary area of study

2.  Make sure the topic allows you to focus on music (since this is a course in the music department)

3.  Remember that for your paper, you will have to write about the soundtrack more broadly and also do close analyses of three scenes, so make sure your film has enough moments that you want to analyze in great detail. 

4.  Make sure your proposed topic has the correct scope for a paper of about 6-8 pages. 

5.  Feel free to contact Dr. Kass before putting a lot of work into your proposal if you want to run your ideas by her. 

What to include: 

Your proposal should state (a sentence or two for each of the following):

1. What movie you have chosen

2. Why you have chosen this movie

3. Brief summary of the context of the movie and its music 

a. For example: 

 i.  When did the movie premiere? 

 ii.  Who directed it? 

 iii.  Who composed the soundtrack?

4. What you expect to find of interest in the soundtrack to this film – a kind of hypothesis, which will hopefully morph into the basis for your thesis statement for your paper.

a. For example (from the movies on the syllabus – off-limits for your own papers): 

 i.  I have chosen Harry Potterand the Sorcerer’s Stone, and I expect to examine how the soundtrack changes from the scenes in the wizarding world and the scenes in the Muggle world. 

 ii.  I have chosen Coco, and I expect to find many examples of Mickeymousing because it is an animated film. 

5. What outside sources you will use to help you write about the soundtrack and how they will be helpful (Include at least 3)

a. Types of sources: 

 i.  Encyclopedia articles (If you use Wikipedia, explain why this is the best source available)

 ii.  Reviews of the film

 iii.  Reviews of the film’s soundtrack

 iv.  Blogs about film music

 v.  Chapters from books

 vi.  Keep in mind:  

1. The readings assigned for this class should be useful to you and can be used in your final paper but do not count towards your three sources in this proposal. 

2. You do NOT have to fully read all of the sources that you list in your proposal before the deadline for this assignment. Just read/skim enough (or read about them elsewhere – you can find published reviews for a lot of books) to be able to determine how these sources will be useful to your paper

How to Find Sources:

1. Type keywords into the Temple Library’s search box

a. If you find a book on a topic related to your paper, go to the library to get it, and browse the other books near it on the shelf – they might be relevant too. 

b. Ask a librarian for help or advice

2. Type keywords into JSTOR, a database of journal articles 

3. Type keywords into Google and limit results to books

4. Type keywords into http://www.worldcat.org/, a database that includes the holdings of libraries internationally. 

2. These notes are just a chance for you to work towards writing your final paper by writing down your thoughts about the music, and its relationship to the images in the film, as you watch your film. You can write them in whatever format you choose, although you know that my preferred format when I take my own notes is in a table, with separate columns for timestamps, descriptions of the image, and descriptions of the music and how the music interacts with the other elements in the film. Your notes are to help you prepare to write your paper, so make sure they at the very least include:

1. Timestamps (so you can go back to moments in the film that you might need to revisit, and so you can include this information in your final paper)
2. Detailed descriptions of some important musical moments, including information about musical elements such as timbre, rhythm, meter, melody, harmony, instrumentation, tempo, range, and dynamics (of course I would love detailed descriptions of the music throughout the film, but I know it is hard to type that fast while you are watching, and I won’t mark you down if some of your notes are vague at this point)
3. Terms such as “audio suture,” “empathetic,” “Mickeymousing,” etc. to describe how the music interacts with other elements of the film (when they apply).
4. Noting down silence on the score – it’s important too!

I will not mark you down if you don’t have notes for every single minute of the film, but please include notes across the whole film, not just a few scenes. Again, these notes are to help you. Once you have a good set of notes, and a good thesis statement, writing the paper itself should be very straightforward and not take too long!

3. Guidelines for Final Paper 

Page Specifications

Your final paper should be about 6-8 pages long, double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. 

What to include: 

Your paper should include the same content as your project proposal but greatly expanded with more details and supporting evidence for your claims. 

(The following is not necessarily the best order in which to organize this information)

1. What movie you have chosen

2. How this movie fits into the genre of an epic

3. Why you have chosen this movie

a. What you expected to find of interest in the soundtrack to this film 

 i.  For example:

1. I have chosen Harry Potterand the Sorcerer’s Stone, and I expected the soundtrack to change from the scenes in the wizarding world and the scenes in the Muggle world. 

2. I have chosen Finding Nemo, and I expect to find many examples of Mickeymousing because it is an animated film. 

b. Whether you found what you thought you would find. 

 i.  For example: 

1. The soundtrack did change from scenes in the wizarding world to scenes in the Muggle world. In the wizarding world, the celeste, an instrument with a bell-like timbre, was used to indicate magical occurrences. (Note, this is just the start of an example and is nowhere near detailed or expanded enough.)

4. Summary of the context of the movie and its music 

a. For example: 

 i.  When did the movie premiere? 

 ii.  Who directed it? 

 iii.  Who composed the soundtrack?

5. What is the soundtrack to the movie like in general?

a. For example (you don’t have to answer all of these, and there are many other questions you could answer): 

 i.  How is diegetic music used in the film?

 ii.  Are there leitmotifs? How are they used? 

 iii.  Does the composer often use certain timbres, or are is the orchestration varied throughout the soundtrack? 

 iv.  Are there instances of anempathetic music? 

6. Choose at leastthree clips from the film.

a. Introduce the clips

b. Perform a close analysis of these clips (What does the clip show? Is it representative of the soundtrack on the whole or is it an anomaly?)

c. You should reference many more than three scenes in your paper. These are just two scenes for which you need to give a very detailed account. 

What you will be graded on:

· Organization

o The paper has a clear beginning, middle, and end.

o Your paragraph breaks make sense.

o You group similar ideas together.

· Argument

o Include a strong thesis statement in your introduction in which you clearly state your main point.

o Refer back to your thesis statement throughout your paper, relating other content back to the thesis statement.

o Your analysis of your clips should support your argument.

o Your argument should be based on your own original ideas. (i.e. Don’t read an article by someone else and use the main points in their article as the main argument in your paper.)

· Analysis

o Correct use of terminology and relevant core concepts learned in class

§  If a term can be used, you should use it.

§  If something we learned about in class can be applied in your paper, you should at least mention it.

§  Steer clear of vague language and be as specific as you can.

o Choice of clips

§  You should choose to analyze the moments in the film that best relate to the arguments in your paper.

· Use of outside sources

o Sources should be used to contribute to background information for your topic and to enhance your own original points.

o Remember that the film itself is a source.

§  Include precise time referenceswhen citing the film so that your reader knows which part of the film you are talking about. 

o Sources should be cited correctly.

§  Any language that is not your own should be placed in quotation marks and cited parenthetically.

§  Any information that is not either common knowledge (i.e. the date a movie was released) or your own original ideas should be cited parenthetically.

· If you are in any doubt, CITE!

o Citing too much is fine. Citing too little can lead to (inadvertent) plagiarism.

§  If you are reading a source for background information and you are including that information in your paper, filter it through your own brain first.

· Don’t list the same facts in the same order as your source.

· Make connections between the items in the list of facts.

· Relate the facts back to your own ideas.

§  Pick a style and stick to it. 

·  I don’t care whether you are using APA, MLA, Chicago Style, etc. but pick one, and format all of your citations consistently. 

o Incorporate feedback

§  If I told you to correct anything from your proposal or your presentation, be sure you do that in your final paper.

§  If your classmates asked you good questions in class, try to address them in your final paper.

· Adherence to the instructions in this document

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeGood overall analysis of the film as a wholeAble to take a long view of the film, thinking of overarching creative choices like use of diegetic music, musical repetition, orchestral forces, etc. Good use of terminology.

25.0 ptsFull Marks

0.0 ptsNo Marks

25.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeGood organization of materialPresentation flows well

10.0 ptsFull Marks

0.0 ptsNo Marks

10.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeStrong main argument(Connected to most of the content in the presentation)

10.0 ptsFull Marks

0.0 ptsNo Marks

10.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeGood use of contextual informationUses outside sources well

10.0 ptsFull Marks

0.0 ptsNo Marks

10.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeDetailed close analysisGood use of terminology

30.0 ptsFull Marks

0.0 ptsNo Marks

30.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeFollows Guidelines(i.e. length, format of documents)

10.0 ptsFull Marks

0.0 ptsNo Marks

10.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeCorrect use of citationsN.B. Please review the Academic Honesty Policy on the syllabus