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Curriculum Guide: Song Lyrics
Sample Discussion/Exam Prompts
- (W) What are some of the methods Volpert uses to analyze the song’s rhetoric? In your opinion, which method offers the most persuasive evidence in support of her conclusions?
- (M) In your opinion, does Petty rely too much on melisma to fit his lyrics to the song structure?
- (P) To what extent does Volpert’s analysis in this section reveal that Petty is a feminist? How might this be connected to existentialist considerations raised in the text?
- (C) How does Petty’s obsession with England impact his own position within the rock and roll canon? How is this position shifted through associations with the American locations in Florida and California?
- (W) The author secured permission to reprint the song lyrics, which likely included submitting the finished manuscript and paying a fee. Was the reprint worth it? How might the permissions process have influenced what content Volpert was willing to put in the manuscript?
- (M) Petty says he prefers not to explain what his song lyrics mean. Overall, do you think this is a wise position for a songwriter to take? What does Petty seem to have gained or lost by such a preference?
- (C) In both the song and Volpert’s research about it, Petty’s view seems to be that overcoming a struggle by directly engaging it is part of the American way. In your opinion, is this still an accurate description of the American way? What, if anything, makes it uniquely American?
- (P) There is no scientific evidence to support the validity of determining someone’s personality traits through graphology. What do you make of the author’s chapter analyzing Petty’s handwriting?