All assignments are accessible here on our Canvas website
Discussion Posts (60% of total grade)
Instead of submitting most of your writing assignments directly to your professor in the form of a paper, everyone will post their writing in a designated Canvas discussion so that we can share our perspectives, read each others’ work, and learn from the different ways that our peers both listen to and engage with punk music. In my experience, and from what I’ve been told by a few music journalists over the years, the best way to become a more effective listener, as well as a better music writer, is to read more music criticism and to bounce your ideas off of other people. These discussions can hopefully function as a small microcosm of that larger process. Beyond that, this will be a nice way to both speak your mind and get to know your classmates in more depth. Indeed, since this course takes place asynchronously online, our Canvas discussions serve the dual function of providing us with a crucial space in which to have conversations with each other!
You should strive to make your discussions posts a few solid paragraphs, or roughly the equivalent of a single-spaced page. Posts should be checked for clarity, spelling, and basic grammar (pro tip: it’s easiest to compose & edit yourself in Word and then paste it into the discussion once you’re completely finished). Please take advantage of the fact that, unlike regular papers, Canvas discussions allow you to easily embed media into your posts and include links in the text – something that’s handy for both citations & pointing your reader to other relevant content online.
- Prompts for each post are accessible via Canvas, typically the day before they are due.
- You will write 11 discussion posts throughout the Maymester and your lowest score will be dropped.
NOTE: If you are new to Canvas and/or unfamiliar with how to utilize some of the basic features in Discussions: Please let me know ASAP and we can make an appointment to chat via Zoom within the first few days of the course.
Critical Responses (30% of total grade)
Critical Responses are 1-2 page (single-spaced) essays in which you will respond to a prompt from your professor, such as a specific question or set of issues outlined in the assignment description.
- You will write three of these throughout the course and the prompts are accessible via Canvas.
- Whereas discussion posts are due the following day after course material is assigned, you will have four days to complete these longer assignments.
Punk Mixtape Project (10% of total grade)
- Click here for detailed guidelines.
Scene Report – CANCELLED DUE TO COVID
- Typically, every student in this course attends a punk show in Pittsburgh at some point during the semester and subsequently writes a brief paper about the experience. Guidelines for the assignment, as well as info about show spaces and music listings, are posted here if you feel like checking them out.
