Jump to content
  • entry
    1
  • comments
    7
  • views
    296

Desperately Seeking some advice


SillyGilly

351 views

I'm (obviously) a Madonna fan. I'm also lecturing a course on qualitative research methods to second and third year university students. I want to my students to analyse "I'm going to tell you a secret". There is a lot of academic literature that discusses Madonna, but I want to gather expert/fan opinions about the core/central issues that should be discussed when trying to understand (i) Madonna, and (ii) the album. Any ideas?

7 Comments


Recommended Comments

Go to you Tube; type in: Madonna, I'm going to tell you a secret...Read the entire paragraph on the right side of the computer screen...Next, down load each of the 7 references on the screen's left side...Herein, the problem will be explained and solved.....

Link to comment

what exactly about your research method is the basis for using that movie in particular? I have been her fan since 1983. I would love to help, just not sure how.

 

Maria Elena

Link to comment

Go to you Tube; type in: Madonna, I'm going to tell you a secret...Read the entire paragraph on the right side of the computer screen...Next, down load each of the 7 references on the screen's left side...Herein, the problem will be explained and solved.....

This sounded like the advice to end all advice - thank you! However, when I went to YouTube, nothing appeared on the right-hand side of my screen... Am I complete idiot (highly possible)! Thanks for the attempt to assist!

Link to comment

what exactly about your research method is the basis for using that movie in particular? I have been her fan since 1983. I would love to help, just not sure how.

 

Maria Elena

Hi Maria

Thanks for your willingness to help. I don't have one particular research method in mind - beyond the fact that a qualitative analysis is not about numbers, but theoretical interpretation. Rather, I want my students to actually analyse some text (in this case song lyrics) as part of the course. In order to do this, they would need to have some theoretical concepts to talk about (I'm thinking gender relations, and the ideologies of religion and the USA (democracy, capitalism, individualism). I have found some controversial examples of analyses of Madonna's work, e.g. the infamous Steve Allen article, which functions as a great example of how NOT to do an analysis! However, why I asked for help was to try to make the course more authentic.. I'm not convinced that the academic voice is necessarily the "most authoritative" (if anyone actually is!) when it comes to Madonna. Particularly seeing as the feminists seem to have one problem after another with her! I suppose clearer questions to have asked you would have been - (i) what are the central themes that epitomise Madonna and the album, (ii) what kind of a model for identity formation is she for young people?, (iii) or maybe even more simply, why have you been a fan for 30 years? Thanks again - Gill

Link to comment

Hi Maria

Thanks for your willingness to help. I don't have one particular research method in mind - beyond the fact that a qualitative analysis is not about numbers, but theoretical interpretation. Rather, I want my students to actually analyse some text (in this case song lyrics) as part of the course. In order to do this, they would need to have some theoretical concepts to talk about (I'm thinking gender relations, and the ideologies of religion and the USA (democracy, capitalism, individualism). I have found some controversial examples of analyses of Madonna's work, e.g. the infamous Steve Allen article, which functions as a great example of how NOT to do an analysis! However, why I asked for help was to try to make the course more authentic.. I'm not convinced that the academic voice is necessarily the "most authoritative" (if anyone actually is!) when it comes to Madonna. Particularly seeing as the feminists seem to have one problem after another with her! I suppose clearer questions to have asked you would have been - (i) what are the central themes that epitomise Madonna and the album, (ii) what kind of a model for identity formation is she for young people?, (iii) or maybe even more simply, why have you been a fan for 30 years? Thanks again - Gill

FANTASTIC THE WORK YOU ARE DOING AND THE MATERIAL YOU HAVE CHOSEN ;)

Link to comment

I think one of the reasons why Madonna is so iconic is that she does what men are supposed to have the right to do. When she first hit the scene you thought you were seeing Marilyn Monroe, but over time you came to realize that she makes her own decisions. That's one of the most revolutionary thing about her. She doesn't give a shit. She's like a man. She's bossy, she goes for what she wants.

 

I'm Going to Tell you a Secret was an amazing movie. Truly amazing. She's also should be analyzed because she goes into subjects taught in academia. She does really smart things, lyrics that make you think, full of ironies and context. You could go on forever on the subject of Madonna.

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...