MUS10150 Writing about Music

Academic Year 2022/2023

This module examines some of the key principles in writing about music. Those principles include style, tone, persuasive argumentation, and appropriate structure. In the initial part of the course students are instructed in these principles through the tasks of writing a review. Students will receive feedback on a draft version of each assignment and can then revise the draft before submitting it for grading. During the second half of the module students will develop these principles in an academic context through planning, researching, and writing an academic essay of 1,500 words. That task is divided into a number of steps: putting together an annotated bibliography and essay outline; drafting a section of the essay and finally completing it. Formative feedback for the first two steps step (including peer feedback by other students) is intended to improve the final product. In this way the module equips students both with a general understanding of the different ways of writing about music and the more specific techniques necessary to produce good academic work.