WRIT 1122 / Winter 2021

WP #2—American Anthem Story

Worth: 40 Points

Goal:
You will write a 1,000-1,500-word story for the American Anthem Series that effectively comes to
terms with an anthem of your choosing. The goal of this story is to define a song as an anthem for a
particular group, moment, movement, idea, and/or principle. You will forward the song and at least
one other text to develop an argument about the song’s meaning and how people use it. A draft will
undergo peer review and be revised for Sunday February 14th.

Purpose:
NPR’s All Songs Considered articulates* the purpose of their American Anthem series as follows: the
discourse surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem got them
thinking about songs that carry charged meaning. They aren’t just interested in overtly political or
patriotic songs, however. Anthems have a very broad definition—they are (paraphrased) “rousing,
uplifting songs built around an idea, feeling, or principle.” These songs can act as personal anthems
and inspire us to rise to an occasion. As a “stirring call to arms” or “expression of collective emotion,”
an anthem can unite a group of people. But ultimately, a song is an anthem because people use it for
some reason.

Highlighting 53 songs, the American Anthem series seeks to investigate these reasons through stories that:
1. Examine the context in which the song was created,
2. Understand how certain people use the song, and
3. Articulate the song’s meaning, given this context and audience.

* The hosts explain their call to write in “American Anthems: The Songs That Unite Us.”

For our WP #2, students will write a story for the American Anthems series. It can be any song (from
any era, culture, genre, etc.) you’d like that wasn’t already included in the series (see handout on
canvas), as long as you make the case that it’s an anthem.

Task:
For our second Writing Project, please write an American Anthem series story that:
• Identifies a selected song as an anthem and articulates its meaning (comes to terms with its
project/aim);
• Examines/defines the context in which the song was created;
• Illustrates claims using lyrics, musical elements, video, etc.;
• Authorizes with insight from the creator, experts, or other musicians;
• Makes effective writing decisions that are appropriate for your text, audience, and purpose;
• Considers peer feedback during the revising stage.
 Timeline:
• Draft of WP #2: due to Discussion Board by start of class on Thursday 2.11 (5c). We will be working with
the University Writing Center on peer feedback activities (5d) and the Revision Plan (5e).

• Revised WP #2: due to Canvas as .doc/.docx by 11:59pm on Sunday 2.14. Students will work on their
Author’s Note for WP #2 during class on Tuesday 2.16.

Please note: other readings or assignments may be due on these days. Consult our Course Calendar.

Grading—40 Points
WPs will be evaluated using 5 criteria:
• How well it fits a given readership or audience;
• How well it achieves a given purpose;
• How much ambition it displays;
• How well it conforms to matters of fact and reasoning (argumentation); and
• How well it matches formal conventions expected by its audience (genre).

Rough conversion: 40 = A; 38 = A-; 36 = B+; 34 = B; 32 = B-; 30 = C; 26 = D; <24 = F

Format:
• Give it a compelling title (be inspired by the American Anthem Series). Include a proper MLA
heading (top left corner of 1st page). Number pages in the MLA running header.
• Story should be set in 12 point, double-spaced type.
• Word count should be between 1,000—1,500.
• Illustrate using the song itself & with publicity images and/or screenshots from a video (music
video, live performance, etc.).
• Forward (support, illustrate, authorize) at least one other text.
• Include in-text references to other works in a genre appropriate manner (i.e., hyperlinks & full
signal phrases), and include a Works Cited at the end of the document (not included in word
count).
• Follow formatting conventions from the NPR website (placement of images, videos, etc.).
• Save as a .Doc or .Docx file.

TIPS:
nd
• On Tuesday, February 2 , I shared examples of regions, groups, movements, ideas, principles,
etc., that I could theoretically use for this project:
o Regional Identity—Boston/Boston Red Sox (“Sweet Caroline”)
o Moments in Time—Summer of 2012 (“Call Me Maybe”)
o Transitions/Coming of Age for 80’s kids—“The Graduation Song (Friends Forever)”
o Sports Anthem of the 90’s—“We Will Rock You” & “We Are the Champions” (thanks to
The Mighty Ducks)
o Human Experiences—Getting Over a Breakup/Radio Story (“Stronger”) or Awkward
Middle School Dances [maybe only in New England] (“Stairway to Heaven”)

Genre Notes [will be available as jpeg on Canvas after we generate the conventions together]