The readings are full of information, and it can be difficult to figure out what is more and less significant. The study questions are designed to help you focus on the most important issues and concepts addressed in each reading assignment. They are a key part of the work you will be doing in this class.
Study questions for A History of Western Music are contained in the Study and Listening Guide. The Study and Listening Guide also includes a list of objectives for each chapter, an outline of the central ideas presented in each chapter, questions on the music in the Norton Anthology of Western Music, a list of terms to know and names to know for each chapter, and review questions.
Study questions for Music in the Western World: A History in Documents, edited by Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, are available online at Study Questions for Weiss-Taruskin.
Before each class, you are expected to read the assigned readings, listen to and study the assigned pieces, and answer in writing the relevant study questions in the Study and Listening Guide and the Study Questions for Weiss-Taruskin. The instructor of your discussion section will assign particular study questions to answer in writing, making the other questions optional, but you are encouraged to answer them too, at least in outline. The study questions are like problem sets in a mathematics class: an opportunity to work through the material for yourself. Writing your answers down will help you retain the information. For questions in the study guide, write them in the study guide itself; for questions on the Weiss-Taruskin readings, write them on your own paper. If you do not understand the material relating to a question, come to the next discussion section with specific questions about what you do not understand.
(Note: The assigned readings and pieces will not always go in order through HWM, WT, and NAWM. Follow the assignments as given on the syllabus.)
The instructor of your discussion section will use the study questions in reviewing material or as a starting point for discussion. Your instructor will periodically examine your Study and Listening Guide to make sure you are keeping up with the study questions. In addition, your instructor may ask you to read to the class your answers to some study questions, may ask you to hand in answers to some study questions, or may give a quiz or in-class assignment that draws on the study questions.
Last updated: 21 August 2007
URL: http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/m401/M401slg.html
This webpage was designed and is maintained by J. Peter Burkholder
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