What are You Listening to? Literary Criticisim

Your assignment is to write an essay that explains the meaning of the song you’ve chosen. You will need to select two different approaches to literary criticism in your attempt to explain what the song “really” means. You may NOT use the formalist approach for this assignment. Your essay will essentially offer a comparison of the two interpretations given to the song. You will need to show the similarities or common points between the two approaches in order to support your thesis.  Your essay must include lyrics from the song as well as reference to the artist responsible for the lyrics. You must include the full lyrics of the song as an appendix to the essay. Your essay must also include research to support the two literary approaches you have used in examining the song.  You must use at least six different sources (3 for each approach) in the essay. Your essay must be written following MLA guidelines. This class assumes that your are competent with MLA formatting and rules – especially works cited and in-text citations.  Your essay must exhibit a strict adherence to MLA guidelines.  Your essay must be at least 1200 words. The song to write about is Beyonce’s “Listen”.