Compare and contrast troubadours with today's singer-songwriters. in what ways are they similar? what differences are there between the troubadour and today's musician?

Hello, as a singer-songwriter major myself, I think I can help. 
The profession of a "Troubadour" started in the late 1000's and lasted through the mid 1300's. 
Troubadours were different from the classical artist, in the sense that they were highly lyrical and poetic, rather than being focused on the composition of the music itself. They were very melodic and most were metaphysical/intellectual.   
They sang about love, loss, and even some humorous/vulgar stuff. 
Near the peak of their prevalence, there was even the option to go to school to be a Troubadour.

Like the troubadour, a singer-songwriter is less classical in their music. It is hard, no doubt, to get into school to major in that field with out some understanding of music theory and composition. 
Usually singer songwriters play one or more instruments to accompany them, but some just have others play for them. Most songs written in modern days, deal with the same stuff that the troubadours went through: death, loss, love, and life.

I would say that they are most similar in the way that they seek creativity and how they use music as an outlet. Another similarity is that not many troubadours were respected in their profession, and from experience I know that this mentality is the same today; being a musician is not looked at seriously in the business world. 
The biggest difference, I would assume, is the resources. The troubadours mainly played on the streets and they might have gotten gigs, but not likely. Now, we have bars, and people who want musicians to come play. It is also much easier to get your music out there now, thanks to social media and iTunes. 

I hope I could be of help! I go to a preforming arts school, and I gig weekly at a bar called "The Carousel Lounge" in Austin, Texas! 

It would. a painted portrait would be an important thing because they are official and take real artists to paint and if it was a painted portrait it would mean that there's seriousness and a desire to work together. portraits are maybe even more so important today because they are not a mainstream thing and are made only when we want to impress someone since they take time and will.sending a picture would not be the same as sending a portrait because a picture is just taken with a camera and there's no soul to it. if a picture is a painted one then it can reaffirm, especially if both states people are in it. if it's just a photograph then there wouldn't be much to it.things today are different because there's photographs everywhere and seeing pictures has lost its meaning since they are so abundant and found everywhere. all newspapers have pictures and just sending the same picture as everyone has would not mean much since it's easily obtainable.  perception of authority has changed over the years because the people trust their governments less and less as years go by. before world war two, governments were trusted and presidents were believed to work for the good of the country. nowadays, everyone is looking out for things that might bring the downfall of governments since it has been shown that governments often do bad things to say in power.