First
Essay Exam: The essay is due on
Wednesday, Oct.6.
You are to write an essay, approximately
five pages in length (about 1200-1300 words). You are to type/word
process your essay. Use of sources other than Hanslick's book or Kivy's
book requires proper citation.
Your essay must have a cover page with a
title and with your name. Do not put your name anywhere else on your
essay. If you do not want to write on one of the following questions,
then you are free to choose a topic.
If you choose your own topic, you must
present and defend a clear thesis, either defending or challenging a
central idea presented by Hanslick or Kivy.
However, I'd advise you to clear your topic with me, to make sure it is
worth the effort. For additional details about
my expectations, see http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/expectations%20of%20students/expectations.htm
Suggested topics:
1. Hanslick's entire book could be
summarized by his remark "The artist is inscrutable, but the
artwork is not." Explain how the two parts of this remark
illustrate his negative and positive theses, then explain the strongest
argument that he provides for each of the two theses. Illustrate the
ideas in the essay with musical examples of your own choosing.
2. What are the principal ways that Kivy
agrees with Hanslick? What are important points on which he rejects
Hanslick? (E.g., Kivy's enhanced formalism as opposed to Hanslick's
purism.) Illustrate the ideas in the essay with musical examples of your
own choosing.
3. What are four different theories about
the relationship between music and emotion? Explain them, explain which
of the four seems correct to you, and explain a major criticism of the
two that you reject. Illustrate the ideas in the essay with musical
examples of your own choosing.
Second Essay: The essay is due on
Friday, Nov. 19
You are to write an essay, approximately
five pages in length (about 1200-1300 words). You are to type/word
process your essay. Use of sources other than Gioia's book or Attali's
book requires proper citation.
Your essay must have a cover page with a
title and with your name. Do not put your name anywhere else on your
essay. If you do not want to write on one of the following questions,
then you are free to choose a topic.
If you choose your own topic, you must
present and defend a clear thesis, either defending or challenging a
central idea presented by Hanslick or Kivy.
However, I'd advise you to clear your topic with me, to make sure it is
worth the effort.
For additional details about
my expectations, see http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/expectations%20of%20students/expectations.htm
Suggested topics:
- Gioia's main idea is summarized in his book
title. How would you explain his idea that jazz is an imperfect art?
What implications does this idea have for our evaluation of a jazz
performance? Going beyond Gioia, are there other kinds of music that
his thesis would apply to? (Be careful to maintain the difference between
boring music and being bored by it.) Illustrate your essay with musical
examples of your own choosing.
- Gioia makes a distinction between
neo-classical jazz, modernist jazz, romanticist jazz. What is the
distinction and why does he make it? Which of the three does he think is most central
to jazz, and why? Are there any problems with this view? How successfully can you extend
the distinction to other types of music? Illustrate your essay with
musical examples of your own choosing.
- What does Attali mean by noise? Does it
have more than one meaning? In comparison, what is music? What does he
think that the distinction reveals about the centrality of music in
human life and human history? Illustrate your essay with musical
examples of your own choosing. Finally, evaluate the plausibility of
his thesis.
Final Exam
The Final exam is worth 25% of your course
grade. It is scheduled for noon on Monday, Dec. 13. You may use your books
and notes, but you may not consult the materials brought by other
students. You will have two hours to write an essay. At the start of the
exam, I will direct you to answer one of the following questions:
- How would Attali explain the supposed
superiority of attending live performances of music, rather than
listening to recordings? (To answer, think about which of the four
stages it involves.) How would Kivy defend the superiority of
attending live performances of CLASSICAL music? How would Scruton?
Explain the differences in the assumptions made by Attali and those
made by Scruton and Kivy. Finally, what is your own position on this
debate?
- What is the intentional realm, and what
is its importance in understanding the process of listening to music?
(What does it explain that we cannot otherwise explain?) Does Kivy
recognize the importance of the intentional realm? If so, how? Does
Attali recognize the importance of the intentional realm? Do you have
more agreement with Kivy or with Attali? Explain.
- What is the intentional realm, and what
is its importance in understanding the process of listening to music?
(What does it explain that we cannot otherwise explain?) Does Kivy
recognize the importance of the intentional realm? If so, how? Why do
some writers think it important to understand HOW the musical sounds
are produced? If so, how plausible are Scruton's views about the
intentional realm?
- What is valuable about listening to
music? Compare and contrast two different authors we have read on this
topic. Do you agree with either? Explain.
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