Extended Essay English B HL

Extended EssayEnglish B HL

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Víctor Varela

Introduction

• My research question is to what extent does the American West Coast music scene from the second half of the 1960's reflect the values of the US counterculture?

• Category 2b. Analyzes the culture from a country where the language is spoken by using cultural artifacts, in this case the US with songs by different artists.

How did I choose this topic?

I came up with the idea while listening to a podcast on the radio when travelling to Galicia about Love which is a band that heavily embraces the values from the sixties counterculture, as my father is a big fan of 1960s rock music. But ended up deciding to explore a general aspect as I couldn't find enough sources.

Brief overview

To explore the main values from the counterculture I have used 6 songs:

• Anti-War activism: "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Civil rights and racial equality: "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone
• Individualism and nonconformity: "Seven and Seven Is" by Love
• Drug culture: "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane
• Sexual liberation: "Light My Fire" by The Doors
• Environmentalism: "Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat

Examples of sources

For the investigation I have used several sources, for example an interview with the singer of "Fortunate Son", John Fogerty by a famous music magazine called Rolling Stone.

Questions