Laughing to Music Final Project

Laughing to Music, final project
PURPOSE: The final project gives you an opportunity to explore some aspect of the course in significant detail. Through it, you develop your skills in finding a problem, addressing the problem, and presenting your conclusions.
DESCRIPTION: You are to come up with TWO items: something tangible that you can turn in for me to evaluate, and a 5- to 10-minute presentation or summary of your work to present in class. The final project will represent substantial thought and reflection on your part. While the form of the final project (paper, video, music, PowerPoint presentation, or any other medium that is suitable) may vary widely, each project will demonstrate engagement with the ideas we are exploring in the course. The assignment is deliberately quite open-ended. Your goal is to show that you are thinking carefully about the concepts we are studying and that you can base your arguments and conclusions on tangible evidence.
FINDING A TOPIC: The first goal should be to find a topic.
IMPORTANT: Let the topic dictate the form of the final project, not the other way around! While it would be possible to say, ?I want to make a funny video?let me figure out how to do that,? you will actually have a lot more difficulty if you go about it this way. It?s much better to begin by focusing on something you?re trying to understand, a question you?re trying to answer, or material you want to know more about. Once you have framed the question, it will be easier to see how best to present your answers.
A starting point might be things that interest you that we are not talking about in this class. Was there something you?d hoped we?d consider that isn?t in the course? Did we touch on something in passing that you want to explore further? Is there something from your other studies that might connect well with the material in this class and shed other light on it?
(Example 1: You are a psychology major and want to explore the psychology of humor.)
(Example 2: You are a theater major and want to try performing some commedia dell?arte.)
(Example 3: You are a musician and want to explore the structure and style of some of the music more deeply.)
In general, it?s better to stay away from material we?ve covered significantly unless you intend to approach it in a way we didn?t discuss.
(Example: If you want to do more with Marriage of Figaro, you could look further into the Beaumarchais play, you could analyze some of the music, or you could apply one of the critical modes discussed in our edition of Frankenstein and examine Figaro from one of those points of view. Alternatively, you could decide to look at one of Mozart?s other comic operas and show how it uses commedia ideas, or you could compare it to Figaro in some other way. These are just ideas?there are other possibilities.)
Brainstorm. What interests you? What have you most enjoyed learning about in the class so far, or what do you most look forward to? If you need help brainstorming, email me or make an appointment to see me.
YOUR GOAL AT THIS STAGE IS TO COME UP WITH A QUESTION YOU WANT TO ANSWER OR A STATEMENT YOU WANT TO PROVE. THEN DECIDE HOW BEST TO GO ABOUT ANSWERING THE QUESTION OR MAKING THE ARGUMENT.