English 112

I will be doing my research paper on a topic related to music.  I was originally going to discuss the illegal downloading of music, however, the topic has already been debated heavily and I wanted to do something that is not discussed very often.  I think my topic will be whether the drug abuse and violence depicted in music has an influence on young listeners.  I arrived at this issue using the six steps stated in our textbook.

First, I drew on personal experience.  I have listened to all types of music and have heard lyrics that range from love stories, to the strange, bizarre lyrics that do not make sense, to the most disturbing and offensive music.  Many songs have some sort of drug reference in it and numerous songs also discuss violence.  I have always wondered whether these types of lyrics have ever influenced a young listener to do drugs or commit an act of violence. 

Second, I identified what is open to dispute.  The use of drugs and violence are very real issues in today’s society.  Especially with the numerous school shootings that have occurred, people will think that lyrics in songs may have caused these young people to commit these crimes.  However, people from the music industry may dispute this claim and say that their music does not influence young adults to do anything.  Therefore, this topic is really open to dispute between several types of people. 

Third, I resisted binary thinking.  I did not just think about this issue from my point of view.  I thought about it from the perspective of people in the music industry as wells as from people who may be against music that involves drug references or violence.  It is important to know the issue from many different perspectives because if you are to persuade one of these different people to believe what you think, you should know where they are coming from and then decide what is the best way to go about persuading them. 

Fourth, I built on and extended the ideas of others.  When I started to do some research for this topic, I saw that the issue can be looked at in different ways and I that I will have to take these ideas of other people into consideration when I begin to formulate an outline. 

Fifth, I set out to find theories that shape my primary focus in my argument. 

Finally, I considered the constraints of the situation.  I had to determine what possible counterarguments there would be and then finally decide on my issue.  

Overall, I chose this topic because I have a big interest in music and all of the aspects of it.  I really want to do research and decide whether I do believe lyrics of songs influence people to do certain things. 

Most likely, my topic will be:

Do they drug abuse and violence depicted in the lyrics of songs have an influence on young listeners?

I am really excited to begin my research on this topic.