My Inspiration

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

Friday, July 8, 2011

The essay from hell



I started back to school several months ago with a great deal of excitement and apprehension. Did I really have what it takes? Could I hold my own? How would I handle the extra work? Three classes down and I feel like my worries were all in vain. After the first class, everything fell into place beautifully and it has all been good. That is up until now. I am taking what I thought would be my easiest class when in reality it has been my hardest. Music appreciation has thrown me a curve ball. I LOVE music, all kinds of music and get a great deal out of listening to the different varieties. This class was supposed to be a walk in the park for me because of that except it has not been. I have learned very little in this class and have struggled to get that.

Our professor is over our heads. Way too smart and unable to keep a train of thought to completion. We go off on tangents that look like a roadmap across the country plotted out by a child. Syllabus be damned.

Mind you, this is a five-week class so how hard can it be. Well after the first three weeks with nothing but 100s of pages of reading and listening to CDs, we get our only assignment of the class. We have to write an essay of a minimum of two pages regarding something that I can summarize in two paragraphs. Easy for me since I write all the time one would think but such is not the case. This cannot be fluff, it has to be scholarly, and it cannot be paraphrased or filled with citations he wants it in our own words. OMG! How did I get into this predicament? Half a dozen rewrites later I am finally at two pages with one cite. I cannot read this paper again or try my hand at flushing it out any more than I have. My head hurts just thinking about all that I have gone through to get it to where it is today. Will it pass, yes, am I happy with it, no. A well thought out paper requires more than one week writing it especially when you have work, life, required reading, and listening to do on top of researching the paper.

So I ask all of you scholarly musical geniuses, what is the role of the conductor?

1 comment:

  1. Simple, the role of the conductor is to organize the perceived chaos of rampant divergent sections or chorus into an orderly relationship, where everyone works together for the greater good. Creating a pleasing offering to the audience.

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