Taylor Swift
This is a writing course. Its goal is to prepare you to write effectively in “real life” and in university classes so that you can successfully create and communicate ideas. Be prepared to do a lot of reading and writing.
This quarter, we will focus on the work of Taylor Swift. While she has been a popular musician since her debut album was released in 2006, in the last year she has ascended to new heights of fame and success. Her ongoing Eras Tour is the most popular musical tour ever, and the Eras Tour concert movie is the most successful concert movie ever. Swift is the first billionaire with music as the main source of income. What makes Taylor Swift so popular? How have her songwriting techniques developed over the course of her career? How has she shifted between genres? How do her songs respond to the cultural moment while maintaining popularity after the moment has passed? What other texts does she reference in her songs, from “Tim McGraw” to “Love Story” to “Dear Reader,” and how do these references serve her purposes? We will address all these questions and more in this class.
Writing Assignments:
6 short assignments
2 major projects
1 portfolio