Posted: May 28th, 2015

GF Handel Messiah Chorus

GF Handel Messiah Chorus

Order Description

1
MUSIC 102

Expository/
Descriptive
Essay
Assignment
:

You
r assignment is to write
a
n
expository or
descriptive
essay. The instructions for the st
ructure of the essay are listed
below.
Study carefully and follow all the instructions
!

Select
one
of the
following pieces from the “Reading and
Listening” assignment list
as the subject of your essay
:
J.S. Bach,
Brandenburg Concerto #2,
movement
I
G.F. Handel,
Messiah: Amen Chorus

Use the
listed
NAXOS recordi
ng
,
not the YouTube
recording
,
to complete
this assignment.
Y
ou may
choose to
reference
(and cite)
a written score
if you desire
. However,
this
is not
required
.
Scores
of these works can be found on
imslp.org (International Music Score Library Project).
Most
of the observations and descriptions yo
u include should come
primarily
from what you hear.

The essay is to be
600

700
words of text (not
counting
footnotes
or the bibliography
).
Use
only
Microsoft Word to
write
and submit
your essay.
Check carefully your word
count.
Set the
word count feature to not include footnotes
.

Style:
Follow guidelines in
Kate L. Turabian,
A Manual for
Writers of
Research Papers, Theses, and
Dissertations
,
8
th
E
dition
(Chicago: U
niversity of Chicago Press,
2013
). Use
bibliography

style
foot
notes
and include
both
a
separate title
page and
bibliography
.
S
ee
correct formatting
example
s
and
instructions
in Turabian.
Refer
particularly
to
Chapters 15,
16, 17 and the Appendix
; S
ections A.1 and A.2

Specific Formatting Instructions: Use only Times New
Roman 12

point font for everything (title page, text,
footnotes, bibliography). Include no illustrat
ions, text only.
Include
page numbers at bottom center of each page
beginning with the first
page of text. No page number should
be
assigned to or shown on the title page.
2

Electronic Submission: Upload
an electronic copy of your
paper through I

Learn
before the beginning of class on the
date due
.

Grading

See the
Essay
Grading Rubric
. Note that you
need
70% (
15 of 21 points
)
to pass
on your first subm
ission.
R
ewrites require 80
% (
17
of 21 points
)
to pass. Do it right
the first time. It’s easier that way. Note that about 60% of the
grade comes from your content presentation
and organization
while
40%
comes
from correct spelling, gramm
ar, formatting
and citations.
Pay
attention to all of these details
.
Sources
:

R
ecording
Source

You
must
cite the
specific
recording
(located on the Naxos Music Library)
of the
piece of music
you are writing about
in
both
your
footnotes and
bibliography
.
Refer to Turabian
for detailed instructions
.

Required Additional
Sources

You
must
include and cite a
min
imum of
three
additional sources
used
for
background
and contextual
information (
composer, period, piece,
style
characteristics,
etc.).
One of these three sources
must
be the
Oxford Online Music
Dictionary
[formerly Grove’s
Di
ctionary
] which can be accessed through the McKay
Library.
One of the
three sources
must
be a printed source
(
i.e.
not an on

line source).
There are
sufficient
resources
available to you
both
online and in the M
cKay Library
for
these
additional sources
.
Y
ou will need to
correctly
cite
all
the
sources and
information you
use
in your
essay’s footnotes
and bibliography.
For this assignment use only author

attributab
le sou
rces.
Do not use
Wikipedia or
any
other
similar
anonymous sources.

Time References

You need
to include
some
additional
information in
your footnotes that Turabian does
not
require
.
Whenever you refer to what happens at a
specific
point in the
piece of music you must, for this
assignment
,
add a time
3
reference
indicating where the reader can loc
ate the exact
point in th
e
NAXOS
recording you are referencing
.
This
information consists of a
time
reference given in minutes and
seconds and
placed in a
f
ootnote just before the final period
in the footnote.
Examples: (2:13) for a specific moment in the
piece or (2
:13

2:45) to indicate
a specific passage.
Thesis
, Themes
and Hints
:

Choosing Thesis
and
Themes

Your essay should describe
how
the piece you chose is an example
of the
general
Baroque
musical
style.
Your essay
must
have a focused
thesis
centered on
this concept with several supporting
specific themes. The thesis
must
be supported with specific
examples of typical Baroque character
is
tics
from your chosen
themes
that
you find in the music
.
Your paper
should
not
be
merely
a general overall description of the piece.
Themes you may want to consider could be
related to
any of
the basic elements of music we have been discussing in class
(melody, rhythm, harmony, texture, timb
re
, form
). Your
themes
could also be
more narrow
aspect
s
of any of these
basic
elements, such as instrumentati
on, dynamics, meter,
phrase structure,
etc. What i
s there
that is
characteristically
Baroque
about whatever
themes in
the piece
you have chosen
to describe
?
You only have 600

7
00 words. Be careful
not to
pick
theme
s
or
a
corresponding
thesis
that is either too broad
or too nar
row
to adequately cover
and factually support.

Outline Before You Write

Before beginning to w
rite,
layout your
basic
paragraph structure.
What mate
rial are you
going to cover and at what point
in your essay?
After
finishing your first draft edit and
rewrite
and
edit and rewrite
again
.
Print a hard copy and r
ead your draft out loud.
Rework awkward or confusing sentences.
Have a friend read
your essay and give you suggestions.
Don’t
just
turn in a
rough or first draft written the night before the assign
ment is
4
due.
Give it your best effort the first time around. That is
really the only way to get meaningful feedback about what
needs to be
improved. Please do no
t ask
me
to
read your
essay and then
tell you
to correct
something you already
know needs to be corrected.

Write as a M
usic
ian

Use musical concepts and
terminology.
Assume your reader has a basic understanding
of general music terms.
If you are not certain how to describe
something in musical terms, look it
up.

Not Creative Writing

When writing a scholarly, fact

based
essay, there is no need to try and draw the reader’s attention
or intere
st to your subject. Assume your reader
is already
interested in the subject matter.
This is not creative writing.
Just
deal with the facts. Present them as clearly and concisely
as you can. Use precise and clear language. Write short
sentences. Use as few words as possible. Anything you write
or claim you make
must be supported
by the facts you
present or
source citations
you provide.
Include no “filler.”
Writing a
n E
xpository/
D
esc
riptive E
ssay
:
A
n
expository or
descriptive essay describes something in detail,
according to the disciplines that govern t
he thing being described.
In this case, you
are going to describe
specific aspects or themes
of
a
single
piece of music. The conventions and terminology of
the discipline of music, consequently, govern
y
our descriptive
method
and content. An essay describing a piece of music, for
purposes of this assignment, has the fo
llowing elements presented
in this
basic
order.

Thematic I
ntroduction
and
Thesis
:
Y
our
first paragraph
should
tell us what piece you are going to talk about
, what
specific element
s
/theme
s in
the piece you are going to
describe,
and particularly
why you
ar
e
going to talk about
them
(your thesis
about Baroque characteristics
)
. After
reading your
thesis
sentence
, your reader should understand
5
how
everything
you
subsequently
include
in the essay
is
relevant
to your thesis
.
In other words,
clearly state your
cho
sen
theme
s
and
thesis
.

P
erformance
F
acts
:
Since
you are describing a recording,
give the discography for the piece. Who performed it? Kate
Turabian’s
Manual of Style
sets fort
h the rules for citing
sound recordings in
both footnote
s
and
the bibliography
.

Contextualization
:
Briefly
answer the following:
W
ho?
What? Where? How? Why? When? Who wrote the piece?
When was it written? What or who was it dedicated to? Is it a
portion of a larger work? Does it have a text, and if so, what
does it say?
But
provide th
is information
as
briefly
you can
.

A
pplicable “Thesis

R
elated”
Descriptions
:
This
by far
should
be the majority portion of your essay.
Descriptions made by
musicians employ
correct
and precise
musical terminology
and concepts. Musicians would uses terms
such as

accelerando
” instead of “became faster,” or
cantabile
instead of “pretty playing.” There are numerous lists of
musical terminology to help you select the appropriate
descriptor
s
for music.
Remember that all foreign words
should be italicized
.
Y
our
description
s
should
always
elaborate
and be related to
the theme
s
and
thesis
stated in the
thesis
se
ntence of your first paragraph.
Do not include
anything that does not relate to or directly support your
stated thesis.

Conclusion
:
Briefly summarize
how
the
description
s
and
examples you have included
have
worked together to
produce an effective
validation and proof of your thesis
statement
.
Remember that just stating something does not
make it true. You must prove
or support everything you
claim.
Make sure to restate your thesis in your conclusion.
Spring
2015

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