Please pay attention to the details of what is required in order to accumulate as many points as possible. This is an exercise in using the information that has been provided to you in class and for me to see how much you have learned and understand about the material. As usual, this will stretch you just a little bit and ways that hopefully will surprise you. So now to the details:
The topics that you would have been tested on are as follows:
1. Dancing – This would included the various dances that were presented in class – Highland Fling, The Sword Dance, The Seann Triubhas, The Sailor’s Hornpipe, Lessor known dances, National Dances, etc. Included would be the stories and histories of the dance, the costumes, the details and “nuggets” – such as the first American to win the adult championship, the first woman to be allowed to compete – anything that you know would be included. I trust you took notes.
2. The Fiddle/Violin – again, information that is relevant to the topic – who were the makers? Where did they live? How is it made? What material is used? What type of horse hair is used in the making of a bow (for example?), the Scottish composers, types of fiddling – West Coast, Shetland, the players, the most famous instruments, where they are today, who presented them? Whatever and anything that is in your notes is all fair game.
3. The Harp – Its history, its construction, the types of harps, the keys they are in, their limitations, why they lost their popularity with the masses, types of scales, famous harpers, the fellow who devoted his life to saving the music (Edward Bunting), the heroes, the villians (who executed the harpers and burned the harps) – there is a lot of information that I gave you that would be covered in the exam – bring it forth.
4. Scottish contemporary musicians. Draw on your knowledge of the musicians – especially the ones that were presented in class. Name some artists and talk about their contributions.
These are the 4 topics that are covered. There is an abundance of information that will propel you to a terrific grade. Don’t by any means, limit yourselves to only the details listed above – these are just some of the facts – it is up to you to bring forth the rest of them as you would have done on the exam.
Now, there is the how…
Rather than you doing something dreary, dull and uninteresting, I have devised a plan to allow you some latitude and show some creativity. What I want you to do is to assume the role of a character in one of the topics and weave the information into your project. For example, you could be a highland dancer who lives in a clan – make up a name – describe your costume, write about the history of the dances that you have learned, include the details – perhaps tell about a dancer in your clan who accidentally stepped on the sword prior to a battle and what happened…, somehow weave into your story about a harper that you know and what you learned about the harp from her/him along the way, ( elaborate and make up a story that suits you), perhaps you are a distant relative of Turlough Carolan or Niel Gow (famous Scottish fiddlers and composers) and put that into the details of your writing. Zoom ahead in some way to summarizing about the modern day Scottish Musicians – it doesn’t matter how you do it – just create something – a time capsule, time travel, a time machine, it matters not – whatever you come up with suits me. There are no “wrong” ways to do it. There is a great Apache saying “There are many paths to the same place”. Find the path and the way that suits you.
Points will be awarded for each fact that you include. How you choose to present it is of course, completely up to you.
The project will be out of 100. 25 points per topic would be a reasonable goal for you. I have given you clues in the details to get you started. It is up to you to take it from here.
It is due on May 27th in class. New Times Roman single spaced 10 is the requirement. It should have a cover page along with your name and SID number along with the title: “Midterm Take Home Assignment”. It must be stapled together. It must be grammatically correct with no spelling errors. ANY Wikipedia references will be cause for zero points. ANY cutting and pasting is forbidden. This was fairly evident after reading your Scottish Musican assignments. The directions that I have laid out for you must be followed to the letter. No exceptions.
I recognize the unorthodox nature of this assignment but I believe it will provide me the ability to gauge your knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. It will also allow you to cement your own knowledge and understanding because it is coming from a different part of your brain. As I say, tres cool…
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