Writing About Music

• Section: 460-001
• Day/Time: M-W 3:55 - 05:10
• Room: HU 412
• Professor: Dr. Byron Hawk
• Email: byron [dot] hawk [at] gmail [dot] com
• Office: HUO 316
• Office Hours: M-W 2:30-3:50

• Woodworth, Marc and Ally-Jane Grossman. How to Write About Music. Bloomsbury Press, 2015.
• Johnson-Sheehan, Richard, and Charles Pane. Writing Today. 3rd Ed. Pearson, 2015.
• Various online and PDF readings

This course focuses on being a nonfiction writer in the subject area of music. While the topical focus is on music, the emphasis on process, genre, rhetorical strategies, and freelance writing applies to all nonfiction writing regardless of subject. The focus on writing about music will entail extensive practice in various genres of popular music criticism and common issues in writing about music. Topics such as close listening for music, voice, and lyrics; examination of personal, historical, and cultural contexts; along with the music industry and digital media will be discussed in support of nonfiction genres such as blogs, reviews, interviews, features, profiles, and opinion pieces. Students will be expected to do the academic and popular readings diligently and be prepared to write about songs, albums, artists, scenes, and musical genres of their choice. The goal is for students to be able to transfer these writing practices and skills to any area of future interest.

• To understand various traditional and contemporary genres of writing about music.
• To deepen the students' knowledge of the music they consume, produce, and write about.
• To develop consistent writing practices that enhance the students' ability to write and argue across genres and areas of expertise.

Because this is process-oriented portfolio class, attendance is extremely important and will count as a part of your participation grade. Each week students will develop ideas and drafts that will be revised to become parts of their Mid-Term and Final portfolios so it is imperative to have a solid body of work to draw from. In accordance with University policy, anyone who misses 25% of our scheduled class periods (7 of 28) will fail the course, and anyone who misses more than 10% (3 of 28) may receive a grade penalty. If you stop coming to class, it will be your responsibility to drop. Failure to do so will result in an "F."

I will use this basic grading scale: A (90-95), B+ (85-89), B (80-84), C+ (75-79), C (70-74). All assignments will be turned in on Dropbox and archived. However, you should keep copies of all assignments until after you receive your final grade for the semester in the event that there is any discrepancy. For percentages see Writing.

I will have office hours on M-W 2:30-3:50 in HUO 316, essentially right before class. If you have another class right before ours, then ask me to schedule a time that is convenient for both of us. I check my e-mail several times daily, so this will be the best way to contact me in a hurry if you have a question or problem, especially about what is due the next day. Zoom is often best for a more extensive consultation.

In keeping with the University of South Carolina's commitment to non-discrimination--based on age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation--and providing program accessibility for qualified students with disabilities, I am happy to provide reasonable accommodation through the Student Disability Resource Center office. Students wishing to make such arrangements should contact the Student Disability Services office at 777-6142.