Literature and Styles in Music I
Writing Emphasis Assignment
This will be a brief research paper of approximately 5-6 pages in length plus a "Sources Cited" page. In this paper, you are to discuss briefly what you believe to be the most important historical events in the period from 500 A.D. to 1500 other than those having to do with music or music history. Obviously there will be some leeway in this connection since not everyone will focus on the same events or political, social or intellectual movements etc.
In the course of your paper, you should cite at least four different sources, e.g., various history books, magazine or journal articles etc. Remember, you cite authors not only when you quote from them directly or paraphrase them, but when you borrow their "intellectual property" in any way. For example, if an author has a unique or distinctive interpretation or analysis of a specific event or historical movement, and you refer specifically to that interpretation or analysis, then you must cite the author whether or not you use his/her words. This doesn't mean you have to cite the source for common historical facts, e.g., the approximate dates of the Black Plague, since that is assumed to be common academic knowledge; i.e., it does not involve a personal analysis or interpretation on the author's part (although an analysis of the significance of the Black Plague to European culture would presumably involve a personal interpretation on the part of an author). Although there are several approved ways for citing authors and using footnotes or endnotes, we will use the approach used in the MLA Handbook which inserts the citation into the text itself. For example:
"The series of wars that raged in the 14th century resulted in a loss of prestige for the nobility throughout Europe" (Smith 210). Please note that the period is after the parenthesis.
This means simply that the source for that quote (or interpretation etc.) was page 210 of a book or article by Smith. On the final "Sources Cited" page, you supply the full reference to the source.
If it is a book, it would look like this: Smith, Katherine. Europe in the 14th Century. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1978.
If you cite two different publications of Smith, you could refer to a key word in the title in your citations e.g., (Smith, Europe 210).
If Smith is writing in a magazine or journal titled European Studies, you would cite her the same way within the text. On the "Sources Cited" page, you would write:
Katherine Smith, "Europe in the 14th Century," European Studies, Vol. 6, no. 2 (1983): 210-13.
If you are in doubt whether to cite or not, it's better to err by over-citing than by under-citing your sources.
If you're not confident about the procedures you should follow for citing authors in different circumstances (or the contexts in which you should cite them), please go to the UW-Green Bay Writing Center and ask for their handout, Documenting in the MLA Style (based on the 2003 MLA Handbook for Writers, 6th ed.) or click on this link www.uwgb.edu/writingcenter/handouts/mlaStyle.pdf.
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