Hendricks 1

Anna Hendricks

Professor Williams

English 111

November 10, 2022

Artist Statement

When choosing my genre for formal assignment three I wanted to pick something that I would

enjoy. Before choosing a genre I chose a topic that I knew I would enjoy writing about. The topic

I chose to write about was “Music and the Brain.” I chose this topic because it is something that

I’m passionate about and I would like to do studies like this for my future career. After

researching the topic I chose to create an article for my genre.

The purpose of writing this article is to inform those who are interested in how music

works with the brain. The target audience for this audience is high school students who are

interested in the subject. Since it is an article, the audience is geared more toward interest than

age, however, I used scientific terms so I chose high schoolers. The only appeal is the topic I

chose and the credibility of the research.

I chose this genre because recently I have wanted to do more research on music and the

brain and this gave me a chance to do research and get to write about it. I picked the audience

after picking the writing genre. I think that high school students are a good audience because of

the terms I used. Many of the terms you have to have learned in school, or looked up to

understand them. I also picked high school students because I do not feel like my research is

good enough for anyone older to read it since I’m still a high school student myself. Although
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this is an article I feel that since it is about music and the brain and high school students would

possibly enjoy reading it.

To begin my writing I had to do research on the topic myself. I searched various websites

and articles for information. I did not limit myself to a specific focus. I did research on music,

emotions, the brain, neurological disorders, effects, therapies, and music processing and

overlapping. I also wrote down previous knowledge I know about the topics. To begin I started

by making a list of websites that I thought would be useful and wrote descriptions of the website

content. I then started going through the websites and articles and took notes on what I thought

was important or interesting.

When I began to write my article I started by coming up with a thesis statement.

Although music and the brain is a broad topic I needed to specify some specific subjects I would

write about. I then constructed my article. I did have to go back to the information I took and

research more information so I could try and expand. The majority of the research came easily to

me. I have a music background, so I understood most of the context and wanted to learn more.

When I finished my article the first thing I did was reread it. As I was rereading it I made

sure to check my grammar and spelling. I also put it into Grammarly to fix any mistakes I may

have missed. I then reread it again and made sure the information flowed together and rearranged

what I needed to. I then added my work cited page to the bottom. Lastly, I put the information

into a website format.

Writing an article was not my intent or first idea. When I began I originally started to

write a research paper. After I wrote all my information I felt that it would fit an article better

than a research paper. I then chose to put the article on a website to fit my audience. I believe

that high school students are more likely to read informational articles on a website than a pdf.
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Now that it is done I think it turned out well. I’m proud of all that I wrote and researched.

The purpose of my article is to inform those interested and I feel like it does. I do feel that I

could have elaborated more in some of the paragraphs. I am happy that I was able to accomplish

this. I enjoyed learning more about how music and the brain interact with each other. It is also

exciting that I was able to write about my discoveries. Writing the article came easily to me since

I myself am interested in the topic I was writing about and I had writing freedom.

Having this as a college project was shocking but also not. I know that when taking a

college class you get more advanced and hard work. I also know that in an English or writing

class you have to conduct essays and other writing assignments. It came as a shock with the

aspect of choosing the genre. When I think about school or college I think about strict or

structured writing. The majority of the time teachers leave no room for creativity and they tell

you exactly what to write about. This was a project that I was able to enjoy and have more of a

leeway in the rules.