American Protest Music

Persuasive Essay # 5539

English > Persuasive Writing
Music Studies > Contemporary
Political Science > U.S.

This paper examines the use of protest music in the United States during the last century.

2,030 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2002 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper traces the four rhetorical strategies used in American protest music of the twentieth century, discussing the themes of rebellion and civil rights in art of all media, and then closely examining the lyrics of four musical pieces designed to correct social injustices and applying the analysis to an explanation of the four strategies. The artists are Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Country Joe and the Fish, Woody Guthrie, and Public Enemy.

From the Paper:

"Fighting for civil rights necessarily implies rebellion, or defiance against authority or an established convention. If the rights and standards in question are already in place, there is no need to fight for them. Throughout human history, the full spectrum of artistic media have been employed in the fight to correct social injustices."