Protest Music Inquiry: Song Analysis and Five-Paragraph Essay

Inquiry Question: "How does music reflect social change?"

In this assignment, students will be analyzing American protest music from the 20th century. All of the songs relates to the social changes that occur in the 1960s-1970s and represent the following topics: The Civil Rights Movement, The Gay Liberation Movement, The Second Wave of Feminism, The Red Power Movement (indigenous peoples), the Anti-Vietnam War/Counterculture Movement and the Brown Power/Chicano Movement.

Procedures:

Step 1:

Students will choose THREE songs (song options and YouTube links including in the instructions) and complete an analysis document for each (a 6C chart, asking students to analyze the following aspects of each song: content, citation, context, connections, communication and conclusions).

Step 2:

Students will choose a MODERN song (I usually require to be 2000s or later), and repeat the process from Step 1!

Step 3:

Students will utilize a "Sentence Structure" document to write a 5-paragraph essay using the analysis they completed in the previous steps. Students will write an introduction (explaining what social movements are), three body paragraphs (analyzing each of their three chosen songs), and a conclusion (relating past protest music to their modern song).

Typically, I provide my Sophomore students one week of in-class time to complete the entire inquiry process! I like to use this as an "end of the semester" assessment, after students have spent several units learning about all of the topics included. Students should be introduced to the topics included prior to completing this inquiry process. My TeachersPayTeachers store also offers another assignment, called "Social Movements of the 1960-70s: Photograph Analysis & Evidence-Based Paragraph," that introduces students to the concept of social movements.