• ENWR 1510: The Musical Then and Now

    Author(s):
    Brandon Walsh (see profile)
    Date:
    2018
    Group(s):
    MS Screen Arts and Culture, MS Sound, Pedagogy and Textual Scholarship
    Subject(s):
    Teaching, Musical theater, Writing, Rhetoric
    Item Type:
    Syllabus
    Tag(s):
    pedagogy, Teaching Composition, Musical, Theatre history, Pedagogy
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6VG13
    Abstract:
    ENWR 1510 is a writing seminar designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of academic prose. We cover a number of writing topics in class, including the crafting of arguments, methods of brainstorming and revision, approaches to research, and the principles of good style. Like other classes in academic writing at the University of Virginia, this course has a specific theme. Ours is “The Musical: Then and Now,” which will help us develop paper topics and focus class discussion. We will pair classic musicals with more recent works and articles that speak to them in ways that open up discussions of race, sexuality, violence, and audience, among others. The broad historical scope of the pairings will allow us to broach larger questions about the changing relationships among the musical, the marketplace, and current events. We will examine several musicals: Singin' in the Rain, The Muppets, West Side Story, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and a few other short pieces. That said, I encourage you in later papers to look to other musicals and related topics that may serve as relevant points of comparison or interesting grounds for argument. No prior experience with music, theatre, or film is required.
    Notes:
    Shared along with other materials at walshbr.com/teaching/
    Metadata:
    xml
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    Attribution
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