In 2016, American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first musician to ever receive the award. The award sparked debates about whether a musician qualifies for the award. Educate yourself about both sides of the argument and form your own opinion about the topic. Read the four articles provided here to learn more about both sides of the argument. Write an essay to present an argument that either supports or opposes the decision to award a singer-songwriter the Nobel Prize in Literature. Your argument should include a clear claim, logical reasons, and evidence that is relevant and sufficient.

Outline

Do you believe that artists and authors should get awards for something that they did not mean to get yet deserved? That is what happened with Bob Dylan, who won a literature award for his rock music. There are many reasons why this should have been good. That includes that music is a form of literature and that Dylan was already deemed worthy by the judges. Bob Dylan is a famous singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist, though he is most widely known for his career in rock music. Before he started making rock music, he was an American folk singer. Dylan earned many awards throughout his music career. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Nashville songwriter hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He got awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016 as well. He earned the Nobel Prize for creating new poetic expressions within the American song tradition. It sparked many controversies, some saying actual writers deserved it, and others argued in Dylan’s defense. Bob Dylan’s work was poetic yet musical -and it was meant to be like that! Music and literature are both beautiful forms of art, and they are even better when mixed. Think about rhymes, musicals, and operas, they are very poetic and musical. Bob Dylan was very poetic, he even wrote a few books himself, like Tarantula and The Lyrics: 1961–2012. Poets.org says “Mr. Dylan has often sprinkled literary allusions into his music and cited the influence of poetry on his lyrics, and has referenced Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, and Ezra Pound“. His award in literature was no accident.There is no mistake in the choice the Nobel Prize judges made. These are well-educated and experienced professionals in charge of the Nobel prize for literature. The judges know what they are doing, especially if they award people a prize this important. Bustle says “members of the Swedish Academy and other similar organizations, literature and linguistic professors, previous Noble Prize winners, and national leaders” are the ones who decide who win the Nobel Prizes. These are very credible judges. It is for sure that the judges for the Noble prize winners are very credible and qualified people. It is also now known that Dylan was an author and put poetic writings in his songs on purpose. We can conclude that Bob Dylan deserved his prize.

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