Students will choose a song and by analyzing its lyrics (and possibly other aspects such as rhythm, sound, and pacing) they will come up with a claim (thesis statement) about what their song means. This assignment is 3 paragraphs long. The first paragraph should be an introduction to the song and its artist. The introduction should contain the title of the song, the artist’s name, the gist of the song, and, most importantly, a thesis statement regarding the underlying meaning or message of the song. The second and third paragraphs are meant to be body paragraphs (claim, evidence, conclusion paragraphs) that make claims about certain parts of the song that back up your thesis statement. The analyzed song can be anything as long as it makes sense and its not inappropriate for school.
