MUS-M 410/510: Writing About Music, Fall 2018
Indiana University Jacobs School of
Music
Daniel R. Melamed dmelamed (at) indiana.edu
Schedule
Wed 22 Aug
Introduction
Fri 24 Aug Assignment
1. Analysis of a published concert review
Wed 29 Aug Assignment 2. Concert
review/Comparative analysis of liner notes
Fri 31 Aug
Assignment 2
Wed 5 Sep
Assignment 3. Concert review/Liner note
Fri 7 Sep Assignment 3
Wed 12 Sep
Assignment 4. Concert review/Comparative analysis of
published reviews
Fri 14 Sep
Assignment 4
Wed 19 Sep
No class--Yom Kippur
Assignment 5. Concert review/Liner note
Fri 21 Sep Assignment 5
Wed 26 Sep Assignment 6.
Concert review/Liner note
Fri 28 Sep
Assignment 6
Mon 1 Oct Assignment 7. Concert review/Liner note
Wed 3 Oct Assignment 7
Fri 5 Oct
No class--fall break
Wed 10 Oct
Assignment 8. Concert review/Comparative analysis of
recording reviews
Fri 12 Oct
Assignment 8
Wed 17 Oct
Assignment 9. Concert review/Recording review
Fri 19 Oct Assignment 9
Wed 24 Oct
Assignment 10. Concert review/Recording review
Fri 26 Oct Assignment 10
Wed 31 Oct Assignment
11. Concert review/Liner note (complete program)
Fri 2 Nov No class
Mon 5 Nov
Wed 7 Nov Assignment 12. Concert review/Recording review
(multiple recordings)
Fri 9 Nov Assignment 12
Wed 14 Nov Assignment 13. Concert review/Feature story
Fri 16 Nov Assignment 13
Wed 28 Nov
Assignment 14. Concert review/Blog post
Fri 30 Nov Assignment 14.
Wed 5 Dec
Assignment 15. Concert review
Fri 7 Dec Wrap-up
Information
Instructor
Prof. Daniel R. Melamed
dmelamed (at) indiana.edu
Office: M325C, (85)5-8252. Office hours by
appointment.
Course web page:
http://dmelamed.pages.iu.edu/M410-510-Writing-2018.html
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http://writing.melamed.org
Aims
In this course you will learn to write for non-specialists about music, focusing on journalistic criticism (reviews of concerts), notes for recordings and concert programs, reviews of recordings, blog posts and feature stories. We will read published criticism and notes, but will mostly spend our time discussing writings by members of the class.
Organization
The class will meet twice a week. There is an assignment for each meeting due at 5 PM the day before; i.e., Tuesday at 5 for Wednesday's class and Thursday at 5 for Friday's.
In weeks in which there are two assignments, half the class (Group 1) should do the first assignment on Wednesday and the second on Friday; the other half (Group 2) should start with the second assignment on Wednesday and then do the first on Friday.
Group 1 (A first, then B)
Group 2 (B first, then A)
Miguel Arango Calle
Mallory Carnes
Joanne Choi
Maria Fokina
Luke Hayden
Miguel Menendez-Pidal
Clara Loisch
Madeleine Wething
Chialing Pidd
Assignments designated "post" must be circulated to members of the class (see below for instructions). Note that a few assignments do not need to be posted.
In class we will discuss the posted writings and the issues they raise. You should read each carefully and be prepared to participate in a constructive discussion. Please bring a copy of every text to class on paper or in electronic form.
Assignments circulated in this course are to be considered private and should not be shared with anyone else without the author's permission.
Please also submit every assignment on paper in class on its due date, both the ones you post and the others. Double space, with one-inch margins, not right-justified. Put your name and the assignment number at the top.
Keep a folder of returned, marked-up assignments, which you will be asked to submit together at the end of the semester.
Requirements
Attendance at every class meeting. Notify the instructor in advance if you must miss a class for an emergency (your health or the health of somebody for whom you are responsible). Do not make plans to be elsewhere during class meetings.
Grading
Academic conduct
You may discuss assignments with classmates and others as much as you like, but all written work must be entirely your own. Every use of the work of others must be fully documented. If you violate the standards of academic conduct you will fail the course.
Accommodation
Please consult the instructor if you need accommodation of a disability or for religious observance, according to University policies.
Resource
A useful resource for finding published concert reviews is Lexis/Nexis.
Submission
Please post assignments by e-mail:
Use the subject M510--Assignment [#]--[your name] [For example, M510--Assignment 4B--Dan Melamed]
Send the message to EveryonesACritic (at) melamed.org [This will send the message to every member of the class]
At the top of your message, put your name and the title of your essay.
The first few times, try sending your text to yourself as a test before you send it to the list; please use the plainest possible formatting.
Assignments
Peter Jacobi in the Bloomington Herald-Times
Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times