Step 1: Find a scholarly source about music and sexuality
The source must be scholarly (e.g., a peer-reviewed journal article or a chapter in a book published by a university press or other reputable press like Routledge). The source must be related to the topic of this module: music and sexuality. It also must be a source that is NOT an assigned reading for this course.
My lectures focused on music by and for members of the LGBTQ2S community. Your source doesn’t need to be about the queer community. Nevertheless, that might be an easy way for many of you to approach the task. Pick a queer artist (e.g., Stephen Sondheim, Elton John, Sam Smith) or someone who may not be queer but nevertheless has a queer following (e.g., Judy Garland, Nicki Minaj)
If you are struggling to find an appropriate source, I recommend picking one of the chapters from Queering the Field: Sounding Out Ethnomusicology. If you choose a chapter from here, do NOT rely on the results of the “Citation” button on the Brock library website. This will generate a citation of the collection as a whole. You need to cite the particular chapter you picked. The authors should be the authors of the chapter, not the editors William Cheng and Gregory F. Barz (unless one of them is also the author of the chapter you picked, in which case, their names need to appear in both the author spot and the editors spot). Again, return to the Writing about Music PDF for examples of how to cite an edited collection.
Step 2: Read that source and take notes
Take note of what the author’s main argument is. After you figure out what the argument is, take note about the chief evidence the author uses to demonstrate the argument.
Step 3: Begin your forum post by including a properly formatted BIBLIOGRAPHY entry in CHICAGO STYLE for the source
Everyone must employ Chicago style for this assignment. Consult the Writing about Music PDF for instructions and examples. Make sure you look at the section on Bibliographies rather than on Footnotes. Do NOT use online citation tools, including the “citation” button on the Brock library website. They will NOT do it correctly, not even the Brock library’s website.
Step 4: Write a 200-word summary of the article’s main argument and central examples
Begin by summarizing (in a sentence or two) what the article’s main argument is. Explain how the author demonstrates this point by describing the main evidence or examples used. Your annotation should be less than 200 words.
Before you submit, double check the formatting of your bibliography entry against the Writing about Music PDF. Look at the rubric and make sure you’ve fulfilled the assignment criteria.
Example (Note this source is not about on music and sexuality. Your source MUST be about music and sexuality.)
Mueller, Fred. “Fred Astaire and the Integrated Musical.” Cinema Journal 24, no. 1 (1984): 28–40.
While most scholars treat “integration” as a binary concept (either present or absent), Mueller defines six different senses in which a number may be related to a musical’s narrative. Progressing from least to most integrated, there are numbers (1) that are irrelevant to the plot; (2) that contribute to the spirit or theme; (3) whose existence is relevant but whose content is not (e.g., production numbers in show musicals); (4) that enrich the plot, but do not advance it (e.g., the “dream ballet” from Oklahoma!); (5) that advance the plot but not by their content (e.g., auditions like “I’m Always Catching Rainbows” from Ziegfeld Girl); and (6) that advance the plot by their content. The litmus test of the last category is whether the number can be removed without leaving a gap in logic. Mueller argues that Fred Astaire played a hitherto unacknowledged role in the integration of dance in this strongest sense. His central examples are “Night and Day” from The Gay Divorcée and “Dancing in the Dark” from The Band Wagon.
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