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Folk Music and the American Memory:
A Web Quest

Created by Alex Hollis
Chapman High School
Inman, South Carolina


Introduction  |  Tasks  |  Process  |  Evaluation |  Conclusion  |  Teacher Page

Introduction

    In early America, many stories were told through the heartfelt lyrics of folk songs.  Some songs portrayed the ways of dancing and enjoyment, some told interesting stories about the signs of the times, and some even explored the deeper meanings of life and love.  Now, in an attempt to understand the writings of these folk singers, you are going dive into their world and explore the lyrics of their songs, with an exceptional eye for all things literary!
 
 

Tasks

    You have been asked by a modern review board to analyze the lyrics of a variety of early American folk songs.  A variety of collections of songs has been provided, and your job is to select several examples of lyrics from the collection that you feel portray the conventions of good poetry.  You must pick apart the words of the songs to determine this literary merit.  In addition to your verbal responses and your selection of songs, you must provide a detailed written song review, or analysis, that not only shows off the exceptional song writing abilities of early Americans, but also your expertise and command of the use of the following literary devices:  alliteration, consonance, assonance, simile, metaphor, personification, dialect, internal rhyme, end rhyme, and repetition.
 
 

Process
1.  Gather the literary information you may need to assist you in your quest... you may want to bring along a dictionary, a thesaurus, and maybe even a glossary of literary terms!

2.  Take a few minutes to review examples of the literary terms listed above in TASKS.  You must know exactly what you're looking for if you expect to find anything!

3.  Proceed to the collections of songs (listed below) and begin searching for your examples of quality writing.  You must cite at least four songs, but may use as many as you need to find at least one example each of alliteration, consonance, assonance, simile, metaphor, personification, dialect, internal rhyme, end rhyme, and repitition.  Underline, circle, or highlight the uses of these devices in the examples you find.  Please include the song title, lyrics, and URL for each song cited.
SONG COLLECTIONS:
*Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier:  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hrhtml/hrhome.html
*California Gold:  Northern California Folk Music From the Thirties:  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afccchtml/cowhome.html
*Southern Mosaic: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lohtml/lohome.html
(The above collections are part of the American Memory, a digital collection of documents of the Library of Congress)

4. Please analyze the lyrics of the songs you have chosen by writing an essay discussing the use of the literary devices in the lyrics and the effects achieved by the authors when using such techniques.  Your essay must include specific examples from the songs.

5.  Compile your examples and your essay into a Folk Song packet, to be turned in for evaluation.
 

Evaluation


Areas of Evaluation
Exceeds Requirements
Meets Minimum Requirements
Major Revision Needed
Does Not Meet Requirements
Examples found of each required literary element
10
8
5
2
Essay is presented in proper paragraph form and remains on topic
10
8
5
2
Essay demonstrates insight by correctly identifying literary devices and their uses, and by using quality connections or comparisons
10
8
5
2
Essay uses proper grammar and mechanics
5
4
2
1
Content is accurate and complete
5
4
2
1
At least four songs are referenced
5
4
2
1
Song choices show variety and critical thinking 
5
4
2
1

TOTAL POSSIBLE:  50 points
 

Conclusion
Now you have had a taste of early American Folk music.  As you have seen, even the seemingly uneducated "folks" of the early 20th century in America made use of some common literary devices.  Some seem more natural than others, and some occur more often, but poetry shows up in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes, it can surprise us!  I hope you have enjoyed your search through these folk songs.  Perhaps one day, you'll write a song of your own!
 

Teacher Page

Consulted resources are listed above, in the PROCESS section of this Web Quest.  Additional resources may include the poetry section of your literature book.

*The above image is from the American Memory Collection.