250-350 word RC Response:
1st paragraph: What was your reaction to the article?
2nd paragraph: Identify a potential connection between the topic of the reading and a person, group, or movement of your choice.
Be sure to cite your work properly, including quotation marks and page numbers when adopting even short passages from the original text.
These responses should submitted in the form of a pdf or Word
document in Blackboard and should be 2 concise (but not incomplete) paragraphs totaling 250-
350 words (about 1-1.75 pages double-spaced, Times New Roman). They are due at 5 p.m. on
their required dates of submission. The assignments will follow an “RC” format (so named for
Response and Connection; adapted with permission from Prof. Rosenberg):
1) In the first paragraph, you will respond to the content of the reading. Seek to make your
response substantive. Instead of writing, “I liked the reading,” or, “I didn’t like the
reading,” try starting with prompts such as “One thing I found most interesting,” or, “I was
confused by…,” or, “The author really persuaded me/did not persuade me that….”
2) In the second paragraph, you will identify a potential connection between the topic of the
reading and a person, group, or movement beyond the context of the text. What does the
topic of the reading remind you of? Can you think of any external issue or example that
shares qualities in common with the case study of the reading? You could, for instance,
begin this paragraph with a thought such as, “I could really identify with some parts of this
reading,” or, “This article brought to mind something I studied in another class….” You
can also discuss connections between the article and another musical tradition, another
culture, something you have read about or a film you saw…any connection to the main
theme or subject that you can write about. Feel free to be creative—there is no need to
reach any grand conclusion.