A PROFESSIONAL SONGWRITER's APPROACH to WRITING a Dissertation by REGINA CHANEL RODRIGUEZ BA, University of Missouri-Kansas C
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A PROFESSIONAL SONGWRITER’S APPROACH TO WRITING A Dissertation by REGINA CHANEL RODRIGUEZ BA, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2004 MA, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2008 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, Texas May 2014 © Regina Chanel Rodriguez All Rights Reserved May 2014 A PROFESSIONAL SONGWRITER’S APPROACH TO WRITING A Dissertation by REGINA CHANEL RODRIGUEZ This dissertation meets the standards for scope and quality of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and is hereby approved. Bryant Griffith, PhD Catherine Quick, PhD Chair Committee Member Robert Bowden, PhD Matthew McClung, DMA Committee Member Graduate Faculty Representative JoAnn Canales, PhD Dean, College of Graduate Studies May 2014 ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between songwriting, creative risk-taking, and critical thinking from the perspective of a single songwriter. This relationship has been examined throughout academic literature and the commonalities among the studies suggest songwriting contains elements applicable to learning how to write. These elements include finding voice, taking creative risks, and thinking critically. Researchers in a variety of fields have individually analyzed these elements, but studies focusing on the entire process of writing a song were difficult to locate. Songwriting curriculum connected to English Language Arts standards is also currently available for schools to utilize, some of which has been analyzed by researchers in the education field. After reviewing the literature, a gap was found in terms of synthesizing the elements of songwriting (listed above) and understanding how those learning those elements could improve writing skills and transfer those skills to other genres of writing. This qualitative study utilized arts-based educational research as a substantive framework and ethnodrama as a methodological framework and was guided by the following research questions: (1) How does the participant describe the process of songwriting? (2) In what ways does the participant use creative risk-taking in his songwriting? (3) In what ways does the participant’s process of songwriting reflect critical thinking? Data was collected through interviews, observations, and documents and was then coded, categorized, and themed. Four themes emerged from the analysis (a) I Do, I Do Understand You, (b) Take a Chance on Me ‘Cause without that, Risk Ain’t Nothing’, (c) R-E-S-P-E-C-T My Comfort and v Privacy, and (d) Think, Think about the Critical in the Creativity. Splices of dialogue were combined with the song-title themes to create an ethnodrama to artistically demonstrate how the findings about process, creative risk-taking, and critical thinking interacted and how they applied to an education setting. Implications include the need for educators to create a comfortable writing environment for their students, for educators to build trust in the classroom by sharing and facing their own insecurities about writing, to expand the concept of writer’s workshop and the Flower and Hayes Cognitive Model. vi DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my ever-loving, supportive husband, Saul Rodriguez, whose you-need-to-write-tonights helped push me through to the end, our ornery, bright toddler Thiago Aurelius Rodriguez, our newborn baby girl, Seraphina Adele Rodriguez, and my always encouraging, set-the-bar-high-from-day-one parents, Nanette and Timothy Burge. I also dedicate this dissertation to my students, past, present, and future, for teaching me there is always room to grow, and with a little nudging, you never know just how far you can go. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the help and support of so many people in a variety of ways. My quest for this degree began long ago when I was still in secondary school and was influenced by the love of English language and literature my own English teachers, Markay August, Glenda St. John, and Natalie Shuler, shared. Their passion, and the intellectual nurturing of their fellow educators: Melinda Dyke, Dennis Steigerwalt, Dan McCann, and Mark Strasser, made me realize my dreams were achievable. Without my students and their struggles and triumphs in writing, I would still be lost in proposal land without a topic. A special thanks to my award winning writers: Emily, Mattie, Michael, Dillan, Kaymon, Breanne, Yoseph, Melanie, Aurora, Loren, Alex, Ian, Alejandra, Brandon, Lydia, Destiny, Jordana, and Audra for affirming that I was a decent writing teacher. And thanks to my struggling writers and co-workers for pushing me to find solutions to their composition problems. To David Bogart at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN for sharing his love and knowledge of music and encouraging me to write songs of my own. To the Turtles from the Coastal Bend Writing Project for inspiring me to write and for sharing their own trials of writing. To the faculty and staff at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, in particular Dr. Bryant Griffith, Dr. Catherine Quick, Dr. Randall Bowden, and Dr. Matthew McClung for their tremendous support and the sharing of their expertise throughout classroom lectures and my dissertation. viii A special thanks to Lucinda Juarez and Lucinda Sohn, my “writing cohort” for all the mornings, afternoons, and evenings of “doc talk” that talked me out of the I-don’t-know-what- I’m-doing zone. Without you, I never would have made it through this grueling process. To Andy Gibson and family for opening up their home, the lives, and their talents to me. Your gift is truly inspiring. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... v DEDICATION .............................................................................................................................. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................xv Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Subjectivity ................................................................................................................................. 1 Background and Context ............................................................................................................. 5 Rationale ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Research Purpose and Questions .............................................................................................. 13 Operational Definitions ......................................................................................................... 13 Methodological Framework ...................................................................................................... 14 Arts-Based Educational Research ......................................................................................... 14 Arts as a Way of Knowing. Eisner states, humans can often find themselves “at a loss . 14 Representation and Editing in Art. A common theme in Eisner’s discussion of making 15 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 16 Qualitative Inquiry ................................................................................................................ 16 Arts-Based Research ............................................................................................................. 16 Limits and Possibilities of Study .............................................................................................. 17 x Chapter Summary ..................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 20 Historical Background .............................................................................................................. 21 Flower and Hayes Cognition Model ..................................................................................... 21 Post-Process Theory .............................................................................................................. 23 Voice in Personal and Academic Writing ............................................................................. 24 Skills Learned from Non-Academic Writing ........................................................................ 25 Songwriting is Therapeutic ................................................................................................... 26 Songwriting Gives Students a Voice and Confidence .......................................................... 26 Songwriting Evokes Critical Thinking