Analysis of the Themes in the Blues

Begin by brainstorming while glancing at your notes. What are some of the reoccurring themes? Write down as many of the themes that occur to you; choose three, and then write down some of the lyrics or names of the songs that back up or prove each of the three themes. Now you have your backbone.

This kind of writing is an argument, argument in the good sense of the word. You are trying to prove that certain themes dominate the lyrics in the blues. The lyrics are your only evidence. For example, if you find that many of the blues are about elephants, you must prove this with several different songs' lyrics dealing with the subject of elephants. If you can't find any mention of elephants, then you know that this is not a reoccurring theme that you can argue in your essay.

Begin with an interesting title.

Write an attention-getting essay. I noticed that some students were looking at some web sites on the blues; you might want to use such a web site to provide some background information on the blues that you can use in your introduction. Please include the address of the web site you use, so I can see it too.

At the end of the introduction, write a divided thesis sentence much like the one we wrote for the classification essay: Some of the common themes in the blues are ___a___, ___b___, and ___c___.

Then write a separate paragraph for a, a separate paragraph for b, and one for c. In each of these body paragraphs refer to lyrics and/or names of some of the songs that prove a, for example is repeated in several songs.

Conclusions usually look forward. You might write about how themes are the same or have changed in more current music or any type of music you are interested in.