Sarah Knee

Professor E. Kent
English 1020: Evil Empire R
1 March 2016
Unit 2
Curmodgeon NIRVANA. VH1 News Special: Grunge. YouTube. YouTube, 2 Jan
2015. Web. 27 Feb 2016.
This short documentary by VH1 is a compilation of interviews of iconic
people who were not only amidst the grunge movement as it was
happening, but were also major contributors to it as well. People such as Kurt
Cobain from Nirvana, Chris Cornell from Soundgarden, and Kelly Canary from
Dickless, along with many others, were asked to describe how grunge came
to be and what influences helped to shape it. These musicians and producers
spoke of how they did not realize they were staring a movement of sorts,
they were just doing what they loved and what felt right to them and it just
so happened to blow up. They also discussed how the media was the cause
of grunges demise. This source is very relevant because it is coming from
VH1, a channel that focuses on music and subcultures that arise from it.
Also, the people being interviewed are very credible because they were
some of the very ones to create this new Seattle Sound.
This source, like any other, has its strengths and weaknesses. A
strength would be the amount of credibility in the information being
presented due to the fact that these people were apart of the birth of grunge

music. Yet, that can also be viewed as a weakness. There is no outside view
of grunge being discussed here. It would have been nice to see some
interviews from people who were not apart of the grunge scene and to hear
what they had to say about it all form an outsiders perspective. Besides this
small bias, this source is very useful in terms of creating discussion topics
within my research question. This video is not just about the history of
grunge, but about the cultures and feelings that arose from it as well, and
that is essential to my research.
The purpose of this source will be to give insight on grunge and its
culture from the very people who had a hand in creating it. It will help to
provide a better understanding of what grunge really is and how it all came
to be.

Heller, Jason. Did grunge really matter? A.V. Club. Onion Inc. 11 Nov. 2013.
Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
This article from A.V. club takes a look at grunge from present day and
asks the question, does grunge really matter? It explores the idea that
grunge was nothing more than a short-lived genre full of idealism and
hypocrisy. Here, the writer discusses his view that grunge stood for nothing
and was built on nothing, meaning it had no purpose and no meaning. This
source is credible because it comes from a site that often posts about music
and subcultures and the effects it had on others during and after the time of
its success. Though this article was published in 2013, it is still relevant to

my research because it looks at grunge in the past tense and gives a new
perspective as to how it effected, or didnt effect, the music industry.
A strength this article has is that it is very straightforward with its
stance on grunge music and its lack of substance. The author is very
opinionated about this topic and makes very good points with credible
information to back himself up. A weakness, though, would be that he is very
bias and does not include opposing arguments. Though that may be a
weakness, that is good fro me and my research because it provides me with
discussion topics I can argue against.
Though I dont necessarily agree with some of the arguments this
author makes, I can use that to my advantage. The purpose of this source is
to provide counterarguments that I may discuss in order to show that I am
not bias in my research.

Hunter, David. Examining Grunge and Post Grunge Rock Movement Culture
Crossfire. Culture Crossfire. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
This article from Culture Crossfire discusses just the music side of
grunge and how it is thought that most bands after Kurt Cobains death were
only trying to copy the sound and style that made grunge bands successful
in the past. This was known as post-grunge. This new genre was seen as
being unoriginal and produced by major labels only to try and hold onto
something that was already dead and overplayed. Another issued discussed
in this article was how unsuspecting bands were unwillingly categorized as

grunge, though they differed from other grunge bands and werent trying to
pursue this genre. This source is relevant because it shows the view that
some record labels and media sources only saw grunge as a dollar sign
rather than art. Culture Crossfire is well known for discussing music, art, and
culture using credible sources to support their articles.
A strength this source has would be the amount of factual information
that they use in order to back up their claims about how other bands were
trying to mimic the sounds from previous artists in order to achieve fame. A
weakness this source has would be that it doesnt really get insight on how
this made the original grunge bands feel. This article really presents the
argument that grunge was a short-lived genre that could be seen as
unoriginal which is a great topic for me to discuss in my paper.
This source will give me the opportunity to explore the idea that some
people did not appreciate grunge as an art, rather they just saw it as a quick
way to earn a buck, which is part of what the original grunge artists stood
against.

Huq, Rupa. Beyond Subculture: Pop Youth and Identity in a Postcolonial

World. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
This source is a book by Rupa Huq, a well respected writer and
lecturer, that focuses on the idea of the correlation between the behaviors
and identity of young people and the subcultures that surround them. He
states that they are interchangeable, seeing as either or can affect the other.

In the case of grunge music and the culture, the attitude of the American
youth at the time really helped artists to be inspired by the pressures they
felt in everyday life, such as depression, isolation, and angst. In turn, grunge
also affected young adults in a way where they felt comfortable in knowing
its okay not to be the stereotypical macho man or girly girl. This is relevant
because it shows the importance of grunge music during its time and even to
this day.
A strength this source has would be that the author makes very good
arguments about how subcultures are created and how they affect our youth
in ways most people wouldnt imagine. A weakness would be that this book
really doesnt have any counterarguments presented. In that, I can form my
own to help create discussions for my writings.
The purpose of using this source is so I can present the argument that
grunge was very important to our society and that it made a huge impact not
only on the music industry, but on the way our views changed when
considering the troubles young adults face.

Strong, Catherine. Grunge: Music and Memory. Surrey: Ashgate, 2011. Web.
26 Feb. 2016.
This book by Catherine Strong is a great source for my paper because
it encompasses all of the topics in which I wish to discuss in my paper. She
talks about how grunge came to be and who was apart of that movement.
Though Strong herself seems to be a fan of grunge, she discusses how the

media took what grunge used to be, a genre full of emotion and angst, and
turned it into flannel shirts plastered on the cover of every style magazine on
the rack. She also discusses how grunge was able to take the normal power
positions of men and women and break those down so young adults no
longer felt as if they had to follow those guidelines. This source is really
relevant to my research question because it gives two different perspectives
of what grunge really is.
A strength this source has would be that it is two dimensional. It
doesnt give one argument without discussing opposing ideas. Strong really
takes the time to see all angles of this topic before making her claim. It
allows for a substantial amount of discussion within my research that will
help to help to add to my writings.
The purpose of this source is to show that there are people who can
see the two sides of how grunge is viewed, but is still able to make a strong
claim. I will use this source to back up my opinions and to also have
counterarguments.