Research Writing Assignment: Exploring and Analyzing Course Material

Purpose of the Research Writing Assignment

The research writing assignment is a paper that allows students to further explore material related to the class. It must have a written component, but it can also have other supporting elements like a musical composition, a sound sculpture, sketches, maps or the creation of an instrument.

The assignment will include some research that builds on some of the course material or explores new related material.If you want you can start to look further into the resources that you found in the library assignment and come up with a thesis to frame your research assignment.

For example,If you looked into reproduction technology, you might frame your paper with the thesis of something like “Looking at three seminal recordings, this paper will examine the role of technology in the creation of late 1960s popular music.”

If you are still unsure of what you want to write about, here are some other ideas to get you started doing some reading and coming up with a thesis:

1. Research the physical makeup and design of an instrument and how it is used in a few different compositions.
2. Research the design and architecture of a performance space in relation to its acoustics and the kinds of music that one finds in it.
3. Design an instrument that illustrates some particular property of sound and create a composition (or outline of a composition) that features that instrument.
4. Research sound walks and create one in the Calgary or surrounding area.
5. Research sound compositions and do an analysis of one or two. Alternatively create your own composition that organizes sounds in your environment or tells a story.
6. Find a composition that references some physical phenomenon and consider how it represents that phenomena musically.
7. Research the relationships between music technology and its enabling effect on various music projects, pop or classical.
8. Research compositions that relate to the perception of our natural environment or climate change.
9. Explore experimental compositions (John Cage, Yoko Ono, “Fluxus”, RM Schaf-fer, Alvin Lucier, Steve Reich etc.) considering what they tell us about our natural world.
10. Design an experiment that quantifies the effects of music or sound on something (like blood pressure, stress, table tennis, plant growth, homework, etc.)This could be replicating a preexisting study or extending one.
11. Got a different idea? Does it relate to sound and music?