I'm not talking open critism - it's from that one teacher you idolize secretly, but don't tell other people because they'd think you're a freak. So I got my dummy essay back from Advanced Writing today with a Midcalf warning that I was allowed to fight back. Well, I'm not your typical fighter.
And I'm certainly not a lover either.
I was looking through the corrections he made, and then I make it down to the lovely note at the bottom of the page. It went something like,
"Yeah, it's good. But I don't care for your condescending tone. Why don't you come back down to earth? The rest of breathe the same air you do down here."
Ouch.
See, judging myself--which may not always be the best idea--I'm not your usual hard critic that looks down on others. I would have ended up with the skater boy in the end.
I was trying to apply all of those "Zinsser says" rules, and this is what happened. Sure, I enjoyed writing the paper, and I can even back up why I took the direction and the tone. I'm used to people tugging away at me and telling me how it is. So I took my paper as opportunity to tell them back.
You be the judge. It's not horribly long, so don't get scared. I haven't blogged in awhile, so I doubt I'll get any responses, but here's the paper, in the computer screen flesh:
"Let Your Ears Hang Low—If You Dare"
By Kristin Griffin
By Kristin Griffin
*****"What's that awful noise?"
*****As the church service begins, an elderly lady clunks away on the organ with the vibrato setting in gear—everyone reaches for their ears instead of the hymnals. You’ve been here before, right?
*****Only the uneducated average Joe would assume that each organ player is just alike, or that the organ is too boring for today’s listeners. What happened to the 7th inning stretch, the Phantom of the Opera, and every creepy horror movie you ever wasted your time watching? And no, none of those involved any amount of clunking. Professors, teachers, and the whole lot of leaders strive to educate students in music, literature, sports, history, and every other important area that creates the well-rounded individual. Most music teachers—I know from experience— stress the art of vocal capability and teach basic piano skills, but fail to even mention the organ. Band directors encourage students to take up clarinet or trombone lessons, but you don’t see many kids signing up to play the organ. Is this instrument too complicated, too ancient, too boring to learn about? Would you believe that the knobbies on the side of the organ are called “stops” and the keyboards on the organ are nothing like the keyboards on a piano? Pfft. Common beliefs of the ignorant.
*****Students are not at fault—I blame the teachers who don’t take the time to teach something that is valuable in today’s world. Stupid people do not magically appear—they’re simply uniformed. And those uninformed people are the ones who stereotype. So here’s a holler to the music teachers out there—get ‘em educated—or better, first educate yourself and then pass it on.
*****I don’t expect people to understand each function of the organ, but I demand that they don’t form uneducated opinions. It’s about time the organ stopped falling out of the music trend and started inching itself back into its proper place—the music classroom, the music curriculum, and the conversations that don’t start with “what’s that awful noise?” People, therefore, need to stop stereotyping, educate themselves before speaking on the matter, and consider teaching basic organ skills within music programs (if they’re involved in music education).
*****And here’s the billion dollar question: Where’s the R-E-S-P-E-C-T? Even someone who has no music knowledge can understand that the score for Phantom of the Opera isn’t exactly easy. J.S. Bach was a master—no, the master—of organ music. Most horror-movie viewers would recognize his Toccata and Fugue in D Minor if they actually listened to the classical station once in awhile. The musically-challenged have no excuse.
*****What’s so interesting about the organ anyway? Take the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. While that may be most 15-year-olds’ favorite movie, many young adults would admit they’ve watched the movie if they haven’t declared obsession over the so-far trilogy. The half-dead Davy Jones doesn’t play the piano or even deliver one impossible-to-forget aria; he plays one mad pipe organ solo. Organs aren’t waiting for the monks, people (wait, do monks even play musical instruments?). The organ is up for 21st century entertainment. I guess cursed ship captains are good for something.
*****So give some Aretha to the organ players out there. Hey, most of them are probably somebody’s grandma anyway.
*****Play on, my fellow organ players. Play on.
*****Only the uneducated average Joe would assume that each organ player is just alike, or that the organ is too boring for today’s listeners. What happened to the 7th inning stretch, the Phantom of the Opera, and every creepy horror movie you ever wasted your time watching? And no, none of those involved any amount of clunking. Professors, teachers, and the whole lot of leaders strive to educate students in music, literature, sports, history, and every other important area that creates the well-rounded individual. Most music teachers—I know from experience— stress the art of vocal capability and teach basic piano skills, but fail to even mention the organ. Band directors encourage students to take up clarinet or trombone lessons, but you don’t see many kids signing up to play the organ. Is this instrument too complicated, too ancient, too boring to learn about? Would you believe that the knobbies on the side of the organ are called “stops” and the keyboards on the organ are nothing like the keyboards on a piano? Pfft. Common beliefs of the ignorant.
*****Students are not at fault—I blame the teachers who don’t take the time to teach something that is valuable in today’s world. Stupid people do not magically appear—they’re simply uniformed. And those uninformed people are the ones who stereotype. So here’s a holler to the music teachers out there—get ‘em educated—or better, first educate yourself and then pass it on.
*****I don’t expect people to understand each function of the organ, but I demand that they don’t form uneducated opinions. It’s about time the organ stopped falling out of the music trend and started inching itself back into its proper place—the music classroom, the music curriculum, and the conversations that don’t start with “what’s that awful noise?” People, therefore, need to stop stereotyping, educate themselves before speaking on the matter, and consider teaching basic organ skills within music programs (if they’re involved in music education).
*****And here’s the billion dollar question: Where’s the R-E-S-P-E-C-T? Even someone who has no music knowledge can understand that the score for Phantom of the Opera isn’t exactly easy. J.S. Bach was a master—no, the master—of organ music. Most horror-movie viewers would recognize his Toccata and Fugue in D Minor if they actually listened to the classical station once in awhile. The musically-challenged have no excuse.
*****What’s so interesting about the organ anyway? Take the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. While that may be most 15-year-olds’ favorite movie, many young adults would admit they’ve watched the movie if they haven’t declared obsession over the so-far trilogy. The half-dead Davy Jones doesn’t play the piano or even deliver one impossible-to-forget aria; he plays one mad pipe organ solo. Organs aren’t waiting for the monks, people (wait, do monks even play musical instruments?). The organ is up for 21st century entertainment. I guess cursed ship captains are good for something.
*****So give some Aretha to the organ players out there. Hey, most of them are probably somebody’s grandma anyway.
*****Play on, my fellow organ players. Play on.
