English 20-1: Poetry and Research Writing with the Music of Bruce Springsteen

Mr. Steel

 

 

“When I was a kid, Bob’s voice somehow thrilled me and scared me, it made me feel kind of irresponsibly innocent... Dylan was a revolutionary. Bob freed the mind the way Elvis freed the body. He showed us that just because the music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti-intellectual.”

-Bruce Springsteen speaking about Bob

Dylan’s poetic-musical influence

 

During our three-week poetry unit, we will be listening to, studying, thinking about, and discussing the music of Bruce Springsteen. Students will learn how to write a properly formatted, well-researched and well-documented critical-analytic paper. They will learn how to use primary sources (the Springsteen poems and the sources he used when he composed his songs) as well as secondary sources (things written about Springsteen’s music and poetry). Students will be responsible to sign out and take care of one of the duo-tangs of research materials I have compiled for them. The materials in this duo-tang will constitute the majority of their research; however, students will also need to access Bruce Springsteen’s official website in order to download copies of lyrics for their own use (www.brucespringsteen.net).

 

Itinerary of Work for Assessment:

 

Tests:

ü       A poetic devices/terminology test

 

Minor Assignments:

ü       Write a poem of your own that uses 5 different poetic devices. Underline/highlight/otherwise indicate where each device can be found in your poem. Define each term, and then explain how you’ve used each device according to its definition.

ü       Secondary text(s) summary (see below)

ü       Secondary text(s)  reflective analysis (see below)

ü       Primary text(s)  summary (see below)

ü       Primary text(s)  reflective analysis (see below)

 

Major Assignments:

ü       Critical-Analytic Paper (see below)

ü       Music-Poetry presentation: Choose a song (NO: it doesn’t have to be by Bruce Springsteen!) that has meaning/significance to you personally. Bring the actual music for us to listen to in class as well as the lyrics in PAPER copy. Print off enough copies for every other student in class so each of us can pair up. Alternatively, make an overhead projector transparency. DO NOT expect the internet or the technology at our school to work either for finding your lyrics or your song online: always have a back-up plan for such contingencies. That’s why it’s best to bring enough copies of your lyrics for everyone to share, and why you need to come to class with a recording of your song ready to be played. If your presentation is cumbersome, makes inefficient use of time, if you have not made careful preparations to ward off exigencies, your work will be judged accordingly. You need to speak about 5 different poetic devices that appear in your poem: what they are, where you find them in the poem, how each device is defined, and how the poet/musician uses the device to create an effect. If your song doesn’t have 5, then PICK A DIFFERENT SONG! Additionally, you must speak about what YOU take to be the meaning/significance of the song you have chosen. NOTE: A little profanity in a song is generally OK (even Shakespeare uses a cuss now and again). But extended, insulting, misogynistic, racist, or bigoted selections will not be tolerated. If you’re not sure about your selection, it’s probably no good. You should clear your choice with me first if you’re worried about its suitability. Students who choose music that violates these simple guidelines will not be allowed to complete their presentation, and their work will be graded accordingly. Student presentations are normally between 5 and 9 minutes in length, including the musical selection.

 

 

Weeks One and Two: Minor Research Writing Components

 

1. Reading the Question and the Duo-tang: Select a research duo-tang. Look at the research question that accompanies this duo-tang. This question will orient your work in the paper you are going to write. After you have read the question carefully begin reading through the contents of the duo-tang. Read the secondary source research article(s) carefully.

 

2. Taking Jot Notes: Use the research question posed for you particular duo-tang to help you focus your own reading efforts. Look for things in the duo-tang that are relevant to helping you write a paper that responds to this question. Take point form/jot notes to assist you with the difficult passages. If you are going on to college or university you will need to learn to take good notes as you read; you’ll need to learn to read and to think independently, and to struggle with difficult or challenging texts. Do not worry about understanding every single word of what you read. Try reading each paragraph and then writing a single jot-note that summarizes what you take to be the point of that particular paragraph. If you don’t feel like what you just read makes sense, or if you don’t feel it is relevant to the question you are investigating for your research paper, then move on to the next paragraph. Remember: the broad ideas are more important than the little details as you research, and you may find that slogging through difficult or challenging passages will help you discover these broad ideas and to see past the little details that confuse you. Critical-analytic writing requires careful reading, deep thought, and hard work: you must read and re-read, think and re-think, question and answer and re-question in order to understand. Hand in your jot-notes with your secondary research summary and analysis.

 

3. Using Jot Notes to Write Summatively and Reflectively: Take notes on your primary and secondary reading(s). Your notes should be in sentence form and proper paragraphs:

i. Secondary Text Summary: Having read the secondary research that appears in your duo-tang, you will need to summarize what it is about. Look back at your jot notes for clues. How do all the jot notes fit together? What is the big picture, the big idea, or the big question being explored in the reading? Write a summary of this secondary research.

ii. Primary Text Summary: You will need to look up the primary source lyrics to Bruce Springsteen’s songs if they are not included in your duo-tang. Go to www.brucespringsteen.net and click on the “songs” option. Most of the other primary sources you’ll need (ex., texts that have influenced Springsteen’s writing) are already included in the duo-tangs. Read and listen to the lyrics to these songs repeatedly to “get a feel” for what the poet is saying, and write a summary of what you take to be the meaning of the song(s), poem(s), and/or stories in question.

iii. Reflective Response to Secondary Text: After summarizing your secondary text(s), you must relate each of these back to your research topic. Write about what you see as the connection between the article(s) you’ve read and the research topic you have been given. What is the argument of the secondary text? What evidence does the author provide for making this argument? Do you agree/disagree with what the author of the article says? Do you think that the author has missed something important, or that the author has distorted something? Are there questions that the readings present to you that you don’t feel have been sufficiently answered by the author(s) of the secondary text(s)?

iv. Reflective Response to Primary Text: How does Springsteen’s poetry relate to the topic you’ve been researching? What insights, ideas, questions, and/or problems does Springsteen grapple with in these poems/songs that are relevant to the topic you have been assigned?

 

 

Week Three: Paper writing and Music/Poetry presentations.

 

Students will be presenting all week long in class. Work on their papers will take place outside of class. Papers that are handed in on time will be afforded an optional re-write following class guidelines for submissions. Details on constructing bibliographies and proper citations have been discussed in class, but can also be found on my website: www.mrsteelsclass.com.

 

DEADLINES:

 

End of Week One:

Secondary and Primary Text Summaries (with attached jot notes) are due.

Creative poem with 5 different devices identified, defined and explained is due.

 

End of Week Two:

Reflective Responses to Secondary and Primary Texts are due. If you’ve done this exercise well, then most of your work for your paper due at the end of next week is already done!

Poetic Devices/Terminology Test.

 

End of Week Three:

Final Critical-Analytic Paper is due (must include properly-formatted citations and a Works Cited page). Papers ought to be 3-4 pages in length (750-1000 words, double-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font). Papers are written on student time outside of class.

Poetry/Music Presentations all week in class. Students must come prepared each day since without volunteers, a lottery system will be used each day.


Research Questions for Springsteen Duo-tangs:

Number

Research Question

1

What is the meaning of the term, “Eternal Recurrence”? How does the author of this article think that Springsteen’s work affirms this concept? What evidence does he provide? Is it convincing? Evaluate and support your arguments.

2

How does Bruce Springsteen’s music portray the everyday struggles of ordinary working-class people? Use the secondary texts provided and rely on Springsteen’s own poetry to help you make your case.

3

What does this writer see as the connection(s) between Springsteen’s music and the story of Peter Pan? Do you agree or disagree? Evaluate the author’s claims using careful support from Springsteen’s poetry.

4

Evaluate the author’s interpretation of “Thunder Road.” What does he say about the song, and how does he support his interpretation? Is his article persuasive? Do you see the song differently? Are there things that the author left out that are important? Are there alternative ways of seeing the song? Offer your own assessment of what the song means. Use textual support from the song.

5

What is “fatalism”? What is the author’s central point in this article, and how does he use Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” to explore this question? Is his investigation of the song in relation to questions about “fatalism” persuasive? Why or why not? Provide your own thoughtful reflective analysis on the song and concerning the question the author poses.

6

Who was Socrates and what did he do that was important? What parallel are the authors of this article trying to draw between Socrates and Springsteen? What evidence do they provide to establish this parallel? What do they see both Socrates and Springsteen trying to do, and what are the different/similar ways that they do it? Is this parallel persuasive? Why or why not? Provide your own assessment of the authors’ argument. Use evidence from Springsteen’s poetry to help you make your case.

7

What role does a sense of place, setting, or geography play in Springsteen’s effectiveness as a storyteller with whom his audience may identify? What do the various secondary texts provided say about this? How do they make use of Springsteen’s poems as support for their claims? Do you find their arguments persuasive? Do they distort the meaning of Springsteen’s lyrics at all? Do they add things or leave things out about his songs that you think are important in relation to this question? Support your own ideas about the use that Springsteen makes of place, setting, and/or geography with reference to the secondary and primary texts provided.

8

Having examined and listened to his songs, try to figure out what is Springsteen’s view of America and global citizenship. Use the secondary text about “world citizenship” in the work of Bruce Springsteen to help you explore what Springsteen understands to be our duties towards each other in a globalized world. Find support in his lyrics to build your case.

9

What is “poetic virtue”? What are the Muses? How does the author of this article understand the “Musical” nature of Springsteen’s music? What is his argument, and what evidence does he provide to make it? Do you find his argument persuasive? Why or why not? Support your views with reference to Springsteen’s music.


 

10

Springsteen often writes about criminals and law-breakers. Read through the various secondary texts to help you explore some of the reasons why Springsteen chooses to investigate criminal behaviour in his poetry. What can we learn about ourselves through Springsteen’s stories? Use both the secondary and primary texts to help you make your case.

11

Explore the imagery and symbolism of borders, lines, and boundaries in the songs of Bruce Springsteen. What do lines represent? What social, political, and spiritual problems is Springsteen exploring through his use of such imagery? Use secondary and primary research in order to make your case.

12

Who was Woody Guthrie? Explore the manner in which Guthrie’s music influences Springsteen’s own poetic/musical song writing. Use the secondary research provided along with some primary source investigation to help you make your case.

13

Read the secondary literature provided to help you explore the manner in which Springsteen’s music investigates how human beings variously deal with suffering, loss, alienation, and death. How does Springsteen’s music help us to understand how some people are crushed by such things, whereas others come out stronger and with more insight into life? Be sure to ground your paper in a careful reading of Springsteen’s lyrics/poetry.

14

The authors of this article claim that Springsteen’s work can be “periodized” into three stages. Explain how their argument works and what textual/lyrical evidence they use to support it. Does their argument hold up? Can you find counter-examples that tear apart their rationale, or do you find their use of evidence air-tight and convincing? Looking to the songs of Springsteen yourself, develop your own assessment of these authors’ claims.

15

What is the meaning of the term “utopia”? What does the author of this article say about Springsteen’s views on utopias as they are presented in his music? Looking at Springsteen’s lyrics yourself, evaluate the author’s claims about Springsteen’s views on utopias. Do you think that the author is right? What does Springsteen think about utopias? Do you think that Springsteen is right? Why or why not? Build your own argument using evidence from the secondary text, from Springsteen’s own poetry, and your own ideas about utopias.

16

Having read through the secondary texts provided, what do the various authors say about the influence that author John Steinbeck has had on Springsteen’s song writing? What evidence do they provide for these claims? Along with these articles, examine some of Springsteen’s poetry to build your own case.

17

Read through the secondary texts provided to try to figure out what role religion, religious imagery, and religious questions play in Springsteen’s poetry. Make sure you use examples from Springsteen’s own poetry to help you make your case.

18

Read the articles that concern Springsteen’s response to 9/11. Investigate the songs that appear particularly on his album The Rising. Use the secondary texts to help you develop your own interpretation of the powerful imagery in one or more of the songs that appear on this album. What is Springsteen’s message about 9/11 on this album?


 

19

Read the short story by Flannery O’Connor. Then read the secondary texts provided that explore the influence of O’Connor’s writings on Springsteen’s work. What argument is made by the author’s of these secondary texts? What evidence do they provide to support their case? Do you find it persuasive? Why or why not? Look at Springsteen’s poetry yourself and compare it with the Flannery O’Connor short story that you have read in order to build your own case.

20

What is feminism? How might a feminist approach to Springsteen’s music better enable us to understand his writing? How are women and men portrayed in his work? Is Springsteen fair to women? Is he misogynistic? Are the authors of these articles fair to Springsteen in their analyses of his work? Build your own case using the secondary research provided, and by referencing Springsteen’s poems/songs for support.

21

What is a theme, and how are themes related to what musicians sometimes do on “concept albums”? Explore one or more of Springsteen’s albums thematically? Use primary texts (Springsteen’s songs) and the secondary text provided to help you build your case.

22

For this assignment, EITHER use the secondary and primary texts to explore the relationships depicted in Springsteen’s poetry between fathers and sons OR use these sources to investigate the way that men and masculinity is defined in Springsteen’s music. Make sure that you ground your use of secondary texts in a careful reading of Springsteen’s actual lyrics.

23

What is narrative poetry? How might Springsteen be considered a narrative poet? Using the secondary text provided to assist you, explore some of Springsteen’s narrative poetry to figure out what he has to say about hopes and dreams and the relation that social/political order/disorder has to the fulfilment/discouragement of those hopes and dreams. Ground your work in one or more of Springsteen’s own narrative poems or stories.

24

Read this secondary text provided to help you explore the way that Black/African American music and culture has influenced Springsteen’s own writing and composition. Make sure that you ground your work in lyrical analysis of one or more or Springsteen’s own songs.

25

For this assignment, EITHER explore the way that live musical performance is related to ethical questions of right and wrong (read the Gimbel article), OR investigate the moral/ethical dilemma that Springsteen depicts in “Highway Patrolman” (i.e.: What is the moral dilemma? Why is this a dilemma? How do we know how to do the right thing? Is the problem resolved in the poem? Why or why not? Defend your response with support).

26

Read the secondary texts provided, and use them to help you write a paper that explores the use that Springsteen makes of images and experiences of driving and open roads/highways. What role does driving and do roads play in his narratives? What symbolic significance do these elements play in his songs? Make sure you ground your analysis in careful readings of his poetry.

27

What does it mean to be “patriotic”? What does it mean to be “progressive”? Do patriotism and progressivism ever conflict? Is Springsteen patriotic? Is he progressive? What role does dissent play in patriotism and progressivism? Read the secondary texts provided to help you start your paper. Make sure you ground your paper in a careful analysis of Springsteen’s own poems.


 

28

What role does emphasis on “the local,” “the Hometown,” the place of person origin, and the sense of community play in Springsteen’s writing? Read the articles provided to help you formulate your argument, and make sure that you ground your paper in a careful analysis of Springsteen’s own poetry.

29

What is music? What is philosophy? What is the difference between music and philosophy? What can each teach us? Can music be philosophical? Or is the philosopher always critical of what the musician sings? What does the author of this article say about this subject? Could it be that there is something deeply philosophic about Springsteen’s music? Use the secondary text provided to help you make your case. Ensure that you ground your argument in a careful analysis of one or more of Springsteen’s songs.

30

What is “ontology”? What does the author suppose is the ontology that Springsteen is espousing in his songs? (If you can’t understand what he’s up to in this article, just ask yourself: what ontology do YOU think Springsteen is exploring in one or more of his songs? This would be just as good!)

31

Use the secondary source provided as a doorway into exploring what you take to be the meaning or central problem/concern of Springsteen’s “Straight Time.” Make sure that you support your work with reference to the actual song.

32

Browse through the literature provided in this duo-tang and use the secondary research to help you isolate an instance of influence or at least similarity between the musical lyrics of Springsteen and the poetry of Walt Whitman. Some of Whitman’s poetry as it is pertinent to this question appears towards the end of the duo-tang. Make sure you ground your comparative work textually in the primary sources from Whitman and Springsteen.

33

Use the secondary texts provided to get you started exploring the way that Springsteen’s poetry investigated the effects that “social traumas” like 9/11 and the everyday disenfranchisement people experience from the “American Dream” affects their lives. How do characters in various among Springsteen’s songs deal with socially traumatic events? How come some people are crushed by social traumas while others overcome them and are even strengthened by them? Be sure to ground your analysis in the songs of Springsteen.

34

Read the secondary texts to help you begin thinking about the role that “hope” and not giving in to despair but always supposing there is a kind of meaning to things plays in Springsteen’s poetry. Be sure to ground your analysis in the songs of Springsteen.

35

Read the secondary text provided and then investigate Springsteen’s poetry yourself to explore the way that cultural diversity and multiculturalism are treated in his music. Be sure to ground your analysis in the songs of Springsteen.

36

Read the secondary literature provided to help you explore the manner in which Springsteen’s music investigates how human beings variously deal with suffering, loss, alienation, and death. How does Springsteen’s music help us to understand how some people are crushed by such things, whereas others come out stronger and with more insight into life? Be sure to ground your paper in a careful reading of Springsteen’s lyrics/poetry.


 

37

Read through the secondary literature in this duo-tang carefully as a means to develop an in-depth analysis of Springsteen’s most famous song, “Born in the USA.” What is the central concern of this song? Be sure to ground your paper in a careful textual analysis of the lyrics.

38

When we listen to music, we don’t often think of musicians as poets or authors, and we don’t think about our appreciation of music as a literary exercise or as the appreciation of literature, but it is. Read the article in this duo-tang to explore the way in which Springsteen the musician can be understood as an author. Then, examine one or more of his songs carefully as a piece of literature, and make a case for understanding it as literature.

39

Use the article that appears in this duo-tang as a springboard to think about the problem of interpreting songs, poetry, music, stories, literature... anything for that matter! Why is it so hard for us to understand the things we read or hear or see or experience? What are some famous examples of interpretations/misinterpretations of Springsteen’s own writing? How can we know that one interpretation of a work of art is correct and another is not? Make reference to the examples in the secondary text to help you, and ensure that you ground your work in a careful analysis of Springsteen’s poetry.

40

Read through these accounts provided by real teachers of their own experiences of using Springsteen in their classrooms, and the various ways in which the music of Springsteen influences and challenges and provokes them. Detail their experiences and then look to Springsteen’s songs to find one that you yourself feel challenged by, or that teaches you something about yourself. Explore what this particular poem/song means to you and how your own experiences with Springsteen are similar/different from the ones in the accounts provided. Make sure you ground your work in a careful exposition of Springsteen’s poetry.

41

Read through these accounts provided by a businessman and a businessman’s wife of the various ways in which the music of Springsteen influences and challenges and provokes them. Detail their experiences and then look to Springsteen’s songs to find one that you yourself feel challenged by, or that teaches you something about yourself. Explore what this particular poem/song means to you and how your own experiences with Springsteen are similar/different from the ones in the accounts provided. Make sure you ground your work in a careful exposition of Springsteen’s poetry.

42

Read through these accounts provided by ordinary people of the various ways in which the music of Springsteen influences and challenges and provokes them. Detail their experiences and then look to Springsteen’s songs to find one that you yourself feel challenged by, or that teaches you something about yourself. Explore what this particular poem/song means to you and how your own experiences with Springsteen are similar/different from the ones in the accounts provided. Make sure you ground your work in a careful exposition of Springsteen’s poetry.

43

Use the secondary text that appears in this duo-tang to explore the question: “What can reading or listening to the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen teach us?” What kind of knowledge do his words impart? Make reference to the examples in the secondary text to help you, and ensure that you ground your work in a careful analysis of Springsteen’s poetry.