PJ College Research Paper

PJ

Hey all,

I just registered for fall 2009 classes and it turns out one of the classes is focused about research writing: Music. The description of course was as follows:

"Why can't you stop singing that terrible song? Why can't you get that advertising jingle out of your head? Why do some of your best friends love musicians that you can't stand? These casual questions can become the point of departure for a research paper that earns you college credits! This course explores all kinds of music from high art to low trash and everything in between. Possible topics include generic changes and fusions in classical, jazz, and world music, film scores, the psychology of listening, fan behavior, and the various effects of visual and commercial culture on music."

Of the basic assignments the final grade will be mainly based on the final paper listed below:

Research Paper (10-15 pages long): The final product is the Research Paper. It showcases each student's ability to conduct scholarly research; analyze, evaluate, and interpret information from many sources; articulate and support a position; and become a "mini-expert" on a topic of his/her choosing.

I immediately got the idea to write a PJ centered paper, and I emailed the professor of the class to see if that would be acceptable, maybe I could work it out to just concentrate on a certain era of Pearl Jam, the start of the band, whatever. I'm still waiting to hear back from the professor but I was wondering if you guys had any ideas for a cool PJ related topic? Has anyone ever written one before? Is there enough information out there for a decent paper? :geek: What are your opinions? I know I wont be able to personally sit down and interview the guys but maybe some of you out there can steer me in the right direction!

-PJ

It_Wasnt_My_Surface

I once wrote a paper relating Pearl Jam with Bob Dylan. I got a B+

Arcticangel

I wrote a Jeff Ament biography when I was in high school.
I got an A and my teacher's only comment was "you are obviously very interested in this topic."
I used "Five Against One" as a source for a lot of my history of the band and such..
Good luck - and have fun with it!

red mos

Sounds like an awesome class. I really wish I had taken advantage of our music history course when I was in college. Just my 02: See what response/ additional requirments your professor will address for the paprer. Yes, you can write a paper focused on pearl jam or the whole grunge scene in general (if you choose) but make sure that you center the focus of the theisis and topic of the paper to adress specifically the main focus the professor wants from the assignment.

Sounds like a bad ass assignment. Let us know how it turns out.

topc ideas:

Pearl jam's fame and how they dealt with it.. a contrast betwen then and now.
how have specific pearl jam songs in general/ albums influenced and affected your life?
Is Grunge really dead? Talk about pearl jam's influence on die hard fans then and now boh General public and die hard fans)
I wrote a music related paper in Sociology that centered around social institutions and how people were against then (anti government, anti Education,) ect. Maybe you could talk about social institutions that center around pearl jam's songs and beliefs if you want to go that route.
Just a few ideas to get you started.
Best of luck man.

thebetterman

PJ wrote:

Hey all,

I just registered for fall 2009 classes and it turns out one of the classes is focused about research writing: Music. The description of course was as follows:

"Why can't you stop singing that terrible song? Why can't you get that advertising jingle out of your head? Why do some of your best friends love musicians that you can't stand? These casual questions can become the point of departure for a research paper that earns you college credits! This course explores all kinds of music from high art to low trash and everything in between. Possible topics include generic changes and fusions in classical, jazz, and world music, film scores, the psychology of listening, fan behavior, and the various effects of visual and commercial culture on music."

Of the basic assignments the final grade will be mainly based on the final paper listed below:

Research Paper (10-15 pages long): The final product is the Research Paper. It showcases each student's ability to conduct scholarly research; analyze, evaluate, and interpret information from many sources; articulate and support a position; and become a "mini-expert" on a topic of his/her choosing.

I immediately got the idea to write a PJ centered paper, and I emailed the professor of the class to see if that would be acceptable, maybe I could work it out to just concentrate on a certain era of Pearl Jam, the start of the band, whatever. I'm still waiting to hear back from the professor but I was wondering if you guys had any ideas for a cool PJ related topic? Has anyone ever written one before? Is there enough information out there for a decent paper? :geek: What are your opinions? I know I wont be able to personally sit down and interview the guys but maybe some of you out there can steer me in the right direction!

-PJ

let me get this straight, you emailed a professor about an idea for a research paper for a course that hasn't even started yet, and is probably due in late november or early december??

i think the correct term here is "eager beaver".

of course it would be interesting to do though.

HeavyHands

That sounds like a neat project. For reference I posted a thread yesterday that would be great to assist in your research. You can find it here: http://forums.pearljam.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=97085

I wrote a paper similar to your description years ago and had a great time doing it. I'd look at "Five Against One" like someone else already mentioned along with "Loser" by Clark Humphrey. A word of warning about "Loser" though... I'd use it more as a reference to find other sources of information since it contains statements like this to describe the song Rats (among others): "an animal-rights anthem attacking the concept of house pets." Really, Clark?

Would you believe that out of the entire class (40 + people) I was the only one to make the professor a mix tape summarizing and covering what I was writing about? I figured it would be a given that people would do that. Apparently not. He loved it. I'd suggest you do the same. Although you may want to make a cd instead.

PJ

Thanks guys for all the info, I actually read 5 Against 1 earlier in the year and really enjoyed it. Im liking the idea of is grunge really dead? and I could use the loyal fan base of PJ as an example.

thebetterman wrote:

let me get this straight, you emailed a professor about an idea for a research paper for a course that hasn't even started yet, and is probably due in late november or early december??

i think the correct term here is "eager beaver".

of course it would be interesting to do though.

Yeah well registration just started and classes are filling up so I want to make sure I can do a paper on something that interests me. If I can't, I need to change my class ASAP and try to get another time slot that fits with my other classes. But yes I usually do these kind of assignments the night before it's due.

andrewb

I recently wrote a profile on Mike McCready with his work for Crohn's for a intro to writing class. It was a fun assignment

Smarter_Than_U

Possible themes for your paper:

Commerce and Rock and Roll

Cult Followings in Rock and Roll

Hero Worship in Rock and Roll

I'll assume your professor will want you to branch out beyond Pearl Jam regardless of the path you take in your research. Focusing on just one band will be really boring for him/her to read about.

Stephen Flow

I once wrote a paper for a psychology course and in it I analyzed the lyrics to I Got Shit... my teacher was really impressed and I handed in a cd w/ the song on it along with the paper... I got an A-, not too bad.

rhcpjam1029

you could talk about how much ass pearl jam kicks.

Dissident67

sounds like a sweet class, but you could write your paper on how terrible ticketmaster is, you could include stuff about when pearl jam took them on and how things have not changed as ticketmaster keeps getting worse and worse. although this isnt pearl jam centered, it may be easier to source and write. but if you did do a paper strictly about pearl jam, that just kicks ass for a college class.

InMyTree4

i wrote a paper about bonnaroo last semester...im taking history of rock in the fall too im pumped for it!

corduroy2121

I wrote a 12 page paper in high school about the formation of the Seattle music scene, obviously focusing on Pearl Jam

PJ20

It seems like a couple more things are important to writing this:
a. What are the minimum amount of sources needed?
b. What is the quality of sources required, e.g., can you cite from this forum or other fan sites (such as, Two Feet Thick)? or are you limited to published works (such as, Rolling Stone or Current Musicology)?

Answers to both of these will help dictate what you could possible write about.

Arcticangel

I'm taking "History of Rock and Pop" over the summer (as long as it doesn't interfere with me EXPERIENCING the history of rock... if PJ is on tour in July, I'm dropping that shit.) But it only covers US and UK music 1955 through 1985...so PJ papers are probably out of the question for me.

HeavyHands

Arcticangel wrote:

...it only covers US and UK music 1955 through 1985...

Sheesh! Only through '85? Yuck.