Research proposal revised

Taryn Brown

Mrs. Wendy Austin

ENGL 102: Specialized Writing and Research: 037

February 12, 2009

My Research Proposal

The topic I would like to research is the history of jazz music. My family is very involved with music, especially my younger brother. My younger brother composes his own music, is in his schools' orchestra and jazz band, does several after school activities for music, and recently submitted work to Governor's School for music composition. My younger brother is especially fond of jazz style music, and it has also made me interested in learning more about this genre of music. I would like to look into the history of jazz, how it came about, what effects it had on society during its time, the different eras of jazz music, and some of its influential musicians.

Some guiding questions I have for my research paper are:

What is jazz music?

Who are some famous jazz musicians?

What are the different eras of jazz music?

What effect(s) did it have on society?

Keywords:

Jazz music

History of Jazz music

Famous Jazz musicians

Preliminary bibliography:

1. http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/zaire/721/historyframe.htm
2. The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia
   
3. Shining trumpets: a history of jazz by Rudi Blesh
4. History of Jazz in America by Barry Ulanov
5. Jazz styles: History and Analysis by Mark C. Gridley
6. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=9&sid=64f253bd-a65c-42b3-bdba-de2c0de2db2c%40SRCSM1&bdata=JmxvZ2lucGFnZT1Mb2dpbi5hc3Amc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=a9h&AN=36156823
7. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=102&sid=23bfe0c0-67f3-4aeb-9048-c1bb3dac91f0%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JmxvZ2lucGFnZT1sb2dpbi5hc3Amc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=a9h&AN=36326637
8. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=102&sid=23bfe0c0-67f3-4aeb-9048-c1bb3dac91f0%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JmxvZ2lucGFnZT1sb2dpbi5hc3Amc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=a9h&AN=35859420
9. http://www.swingmusic.net/getready.html
10. Jazz: A History of America's music by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
11. http://web.li.gatech.edu/~rdrury/700/write/sp2_01/jazz/tempforjazz.htm
12. http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/lookup/encyclopedia/li/List_of_jazz_musicians.html
13. http://louis-armstrong.net/bio.html
14. http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=2311
15. http://www.milesdavis.com/
16. http://library.thinkquest.org/18602/historystart.html
17. Jazz Masters of the Thirties by Rex William Stewart
18. The New Jazz book: a History and Guide translated by Dan Morgenstern
19. The Reluctant Art: the Growth of Jazz by Benny Green
20. Frontiers of Jazz by Ralph de Toledano

New research proposal

My previous research proposal was too broad, so I would like to change my research proposal to the history of jazz music. I would look into when jazz music originally started, the different eras of jazz music, and some influential artists of that time period.

Reseach Proposal

I plan to write my research paper on the history of music. I will look into what music has been used for, what changes it has gone through over history, how it changes with each time period, and its effects on people/society.

Top 3 Research Questions

1. Why we need to create music.
This is one of my top choices because it has always been something that has interested me and something I have wanted to find out more about. My younger brother is very involved with music; he plays viola, self-taught himself how to play piano, composes his own music, and is involved in numerous after school activities with music. My family enjoys classical music, but we all also have our own genres of music that we like. I want to learn more about the need for humans to listen to music, what purposes it was originally for, what it is used for now, and what it has meant/means to people.

2. Why we need to create art.
This is another top choice because I am a Fine Arts major and it is also something that has always interested me. My parents are both more science-mathematical people, so sometimes they don't understand art completely. For example, if I were to go to an art museum with my parents, they might have a harder time understanding the art, its purpose, or why the artist created it. I would like to learn more about what purposes we have for art, what intrigues us in art, and what it means to people when they see or create art.

3. Why college is such a big deal.
This is another topic because it is something I have felt very stongly about. I had a difficult time with trying to choose a a college with my parents, since my parents wanted one thing for me and I wanted something completely different. Choosing a college was/is very important to me because I feel like it is a decision that should be made by the college-bound student because it is a very adult decision to make that can change the students' life.

Possible Research Questions

Things I want to learn about:

1. Why our society is obsessed with pop-culture and the live of famous individuals, such as actors, singers, etc.

2. Our need to create Art: what it is used for (rituals, aesthetic purposes, etc.), what defines something as art.

3. Our need to create Music: different styles of music, how people are attracted to certain styles of music, what music means to some people.


Things that bug me:

1. People being ignorant or non-caring about important issues in the world, such as the election of the president, the tradegies happening around the world, etc.

2. People who are racist, judgemental and/or non-accepting of other cultures, races, religion, etc.