The Power of

Musical
Expression in
Wabanaki Blues
By Lila Bilsky
04/07/16

As The Years Go Passing By by Gary

Moore
There is nothing I can do
As you leave me here to cry
There is nothing I can do
As you leave me here to cry
You know my love will follow you
As the years go passing by

Sources
Larson, Grace M., and David A. Sbarra. "Participating in Research on Romantic
Breakups Promotes Emotional Recovery via Changes in Self-Concept Clarity."
Sage Journals (2015): 1-7. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://spp.sagepub.
com/content/early/2014/12/18/1948550614563085.abstract>.
Siegel, Daniel J. Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain. New York,
NY: Penguin Group, 2014. Print.
"2014 Native Youth Report ." The White House . N.p., Dec. 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.
<https://www.whitehouse.
gov/sites/default/files/docs/20141129nativeyouthreport_final.pdf>.

Thesis
Part 1:The singer of As The Years Go Passing By displays a lack of emotional
stability/security. The love triangle between Mona, Beetle, and Del displays their
emotional instability in Wabanaki Blues. Why does this happen?
Part 2: Adolescents react to stressful and emotional situations immaturely due to a
physiological condition called pruning. Discussed in Dr. David Siegel's book
Brainstorm, pruning occurs when neural connections are carved away. At this stage
in their lives, Mona, Beetle, and Del are trying to understand themselves while
biology simultaneously reshapes their brains. This process makes it harder to
process feelings, which can explain immature or dramatic tendencies.

Thesis
Part 3: The search to understand oneself in the Native American community is
challenged by the inherent genetic and environmental factors Native American
youth face. Pruning is especially hard on indigenous youth, who suffer from
vulnerabilities before the onset of adolescence. Therefore, the way Native American
youth process their emotions may continue to be immature even into adulthood. In
order to create emotional stability for Native Americans, we need to drastically
decrease the initial vulnerabilities indigenous youth are exposed to.

Outline

Intro:
discussion of song, stereotype of romantic relationships
between youth
Body:
Establishing emotional instability through Larson and
Sbarras study by analyzing word lyrics
Discussing why this occurs in adolescence through
Daniel Siegels study of the brain
Move on to the so what and why does this matter
factor by using the White House Report to discuss
Native American youth vulnerability

Challenges

At First:

Deciding how I wanted to analyze the song

Choosing relevant sources

Now:

Relating the topic of the essay to Wabanaki Blues

I am struggling to find passages to include in my paper
Keeping my argument linear:
There is a lot I want to say but I cannot include everything
Developing a unique argument

I tend to focus on forwarding, but I need to make sure I also develop my own argument,
which I have yet to finish

Thank You