Hi guys, this is my first post on here!
I'm doing an EPQ (extended project qualification) which means you can write an essay on whatever you want, so I chose:

I hope we both die: love and death in the lyrics of the mountain goats

Which I thought was pretty cool, but I have to change it, since it's not an essay "question" it's just a title.
So, what I was wondering is; do you guys have any suggestions/tips on writing a tMG essay or ideas for essay questions?

If you did it would freakin' awesome (I'll probably update this thread with my progress/any changes as time goes by anyway!)

Hullo, and welcome! You should definitely check out this thread and www.sadyoungcardinals.com that WildCreature set up.
It's been 5-6 years since I wrote a real essay so someone else'll probably be better placed to give actual advice.

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midgoat

If you write an essay on the MGs, I would be happy to put it up on Sad Young Cardinals. If you want to discuss specific ideas, we can either do it here or you can e-mail me at MHession63 at gmail dot com. I don't know what you mean by an essay question (showing the ignorance which lives at my core). Is that like a hypothesis?

If so, here's one: Why does the Mountain Goats' Alpha Couple cause one another such pain, yet never give up on one another?


p.s. yeah, yeah, I know you all think that the Alpha Couple divorce in Alpha Omega. It's not true!! Or, maybe it is....

p.p.s. Another question could be: Does the Mountain Goats' Alpha Couple divorce and, if so, ever reconcile?

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

well they could never reconcile, just as they could never divorce

Wow! Thanks guys! Sad young Cardinals is awesome (for sure gonna end up in my bibliography in some way or another.)

An essay question is something that starts with "to what extent..." so I guess an Alpha question could be "to what extent do the alpha couple save each other?" where you can argue both sides e.g they destroy each other Vs. they save each other from destruction ("What will I do when I don't have you?" etc.)

I've got another meeting with my tutor on Monday, so I'll keep you guys informed!

P.S Alpha Omega has always confused me...

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damn_vampire
P.S Alpha Omega has always confused me...

my interpretation: it doesn't refer to Omega as the end of something; it refers to the place of the incident occurring, Omega, Georgia, not far from the Macon County line.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

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JD
it's called Alpha Omega, it is the last song in the alpha series, and it sort of tells the very anticlimactic end of the story.

never saw it as a divorce, she (or he?) just up and leaves one day. I like to think they may have found each other again one day 10 years later, sort of like the 4th and 5th verse of Tangled up in Blue, except for vodka instead of a pipe and bank ransom notes instead of a book of 13th century poetry.

Never knew about Omega, Georgia, though. That's an interesting angle.

edit: OK, now envisioning a play/musical version of the Alpha Couple centering on them meeting again, with the back story being told through the songs in flashbacks (which is nice because it negates the need to get the order right, because let's face it they were probably not written with a linear story in mind anyway).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2012 03:04PM by dtrom4.

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damn_vampire
Hi guys, this is my first post on here!
I'm doing an EPQ (extended project qualification) which means you can write an essay on whatever you want, so I chose:

I hope we both die: love and death in the lyrics of the mountain goats

Which I thought was pretty cool, but I have to change it, since it's not an essay "question" it's just a title.
So, what I was wondering is; do you guys have any suggestions/tips on writing a tMG essay or ideas for essay questions?

If you did it would freakin' awesome (I'll probably update this thread with my progress/any changes as time goes by anyway!)

If you need any general essay writing tips, feel free to shoot me a note. It's always nice to have the opportunity to put the old English degree to some use beyond instructing high schoolers.

In terms of essay questions, my first and most important suggestion is to choose something that interests you (of course tMG interests you, but perhaps there is a particular album/theme/concept that particularly appeals to you?).

Wild Creature's suggestion is probably more fun, but here are a couple other ideas that might interest you:

- To what extent does JD's use of animal and/or creature metaphors in his lyrics (and in the the name The Mountain Goats itself) suggest ______________? (a disconnect from humanity? an autobiographical viewpoint? you get the picture.)

- To what extent do the titles of the albums (or just one particular album) matter? (matter is subjective, of course.)

- To what extent is the central character in ___________ (choose an album or a batch of songs) in love?

Okay, an update:

Love and death is still my theme, and the focus of my essay will be about which one prevails...
I'm gonna focus mainly on post-2000 material, since I don't have some of the early stuff/helps to focus the essay more.
So some the songs I'm gonna focus on:

• Love, love, love
• Pale Green Things
• Lion's Teeth
• All of Tallahassee
• Fault Lines

(bearing in mind this is just of the top of my head, I'll think more about it later.)

Also, walkunafraid, I'm afraid you'll still be helping out a highschool student, I'm 17! But seriously, I could email a draft when I've got one, if you want...?

So yeah, I guess I've got to go away and write the thing now!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2012 06:02PM by damn_vampire.