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Ian Pace
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« Reply #6060 on: 19:59:30, 01-06-2008 » |
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Turfer-surfer, you may be erroneously gaining the impression of more frustration than is actually there - it's fine, just felt like a bit of a grump!
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'These acts of keeping politics out of music, however, do not prevent musicology from being a political act . . .they assure that every apolitical act assumes a greater political immediacy' - Philip Bohlman, 'Musicology as a Political Act'
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Turfan Fragment
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« Reply #6061 on: 20:02:39, 01-06-2008 » |
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Turfer-surfer, you may be erroneously gaining the impression of more frustration than is actually there - it's fine, just felt like a bit of a grump! It was for me an opportunity to ask a question about marking, and also exploit your greatest source of frustration. That last sentence of mine had been completely disingenuous. I now admit this most magnanimously. |
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richard barrett
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« Reply #6062 on: 20:11:58, 01-06-2008 » |
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Richard's Hospital Parking Rant continued... I received a reply to my letter of complaint, in which it is written: Whilst appreciating the circumstances to which you refer I am unable to offer a cancellation, as your vehicle over stayed the time paid for. When the consultant attended to his emergency case you should of (sic) returned to the car and paid the fee. I'm not sure whether I'm more grumpy about the p*ss-poor standard of written English here or the boneheaded dismissal of my complaint. Needless to say they will be receiving a more strongly-worded letter from me in a couple of days' time. I can see that I shall probably have to end up caving in, but not without first delivering myself of some elegantly-phrased sarcasm. |
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #6063 on: 20:15:20, 01-06-2008 » |
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why oh why oh why
My God, Ian, you're beginning to sound like the Daily Mail!   Rant for today is about the really poor standard of English you find from today's undergraduates (at least at some of the places I've taught at). And about trendy educational systems that somehow don't think learning is that important.
I find the standard of written English among my younger peers deeply dispiriting - there is a whole generation, currently in their mid-20s to mid-30s, who have no understanding of how the English language works - at least, not grammar and syntax. I find it a source of constant professional frustration that I have to spend so much of my time teaching younger, junior colleagues how to write English. They're not stupid, or lazy; they've just never been taught. And the fact that I spend so much of my time working with European colleagues who speak and write lucid and concise English just adds to the frustration. And the fact that other modern languages are no longer taught in primary schools, and Latin not at all in most state schools, means that the structure of language is no longer understood. Instead children are taught literacy, which is about function, not understanding. And I think it leaves them desperately impoverished; they cannot write critically or imaginatively without a huge effort to go beyond the formulae of their formal education. |
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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Ian Pace
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« Reply #6064 on: 20:16:23, 01-06-2008 » |
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One of the dangers when marking voluminous quantities of work, I find, is that after you've waded through pages and pages of unremarkable stuff, one moderately good essay (or even one by someone who can write reasonable sentences) is like an oasis - but it can be easy to give this too high a mark as a result. Also, when lots of people write on the same sort of subject, inevitably the ones you mark later on aren't as striking as the earlier ones, when they say essentially the same things. Once again, have to be careful to take account of this fact. Anyone else find similar things, or others, to be aware of?
Hmm - 'should of', that's pretty bad. Maybe it could be impressed upon students that even if they are doing a secretarial job, they need to be able to write reasonable English (not that it would seem that some secretaries can)?
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'These acts of keeping politics out of music, however, do not prevent musicology from being a political act . . .they assure that every apolitical act assumes a greater political immediacy' - Philip Bohlman, 'Musicology as a Political Act'
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Ian Pace
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« Reply #6065 on: 20:24:24, 01-06-2008 » |
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OK, off the computer now and back to marking again - wonder if I mark differently at altitude (flight takes off in less than an hour - hooray! Thoroughly sick of this airport now)
There are limits to how many essays you can get in hand luggage, when it also contains a moderately large laptop........
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'These acts of keeping politics out of music, however, do not prevent musicology from being a political act . . .they assure that every apolitical act assumes a greater political immediacy' - Philip Bohlman, 'Musicology as a Political Act'
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martle
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« Reply #6066 on: 20:34:46, 01-06-2008 » |
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Richard, do post your next reply here if you have a mind to. I could do with a sarcasm-fuelled chortle.
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Green. Always green.
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #6067 on: 20:41:36, 01-06-2008 » |
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Richard's Hospital Parking Rant continued... I received a reply to my letter of complaint, in which it is written: Whilst appreciating the circumstances to which you refer I am unable to offer a cancellation, as your vehicle over stayed the time paid for. When the consultant attended to his emergency case you should of (sic) returned to the car and paid the fee. I'm not sure whether I'm more grumpy about the p*ss-poor standard of written English here or the boneheaded dismissal of my complaint. Needless to say they will be receiving a more strongly-worded letter from me in a couple of days' time. I can see that I shall probably have to end up caving in, but not without first delivering myself of some elegantly-phrased sarcasm. Among the many forests-worth of forms I have had to fill since getting my office BlackBerry stolen last week was one from the IT security department, asking whether it was possible that the thief "could of obtained the password"  |
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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A
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« Reply #6068 on: 23:05:57, 01-06-2008 » |
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Well, there you are.
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #6069 on: 08:24:09, 02-06-2008 » |
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Last night apparently Paul McCartney appeared in Liverpool, my nearest city. This was on the national news. The previous night I went to an utterly wonderful Beethoven/Mahler concert at the Liverpool Phil (PC no. 3 with Paul Lewis, Mahler 5, conducted by Vasily Petrenko). Packed out, full of young people and even some children. Does this get on the news? Of course not. I know that this is the way the world works now, but my despair at the philistinism of this country - or at least its journalists - gets deeper every moment. Wrong, wrong, wrong values . As for confusing its and it's - WHY? It's so EASY. |
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A
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« Reply #6070 on: 08:56:25, 02-06-2008 » |
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That's a bit harsh Mary. Mc Cartney gives very few concerts , he goes to Liverpool rarely so it was an event of rather large proportions. All over the country there are concerts being given by fairly normal people like professional orchestras etc all the time. There isn't room enough in the papers to report them all.
It is obviously more interesting to hear that Paul McC was in his home town for the first time for quite a while...
Sorry !
A
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Well, there you are.
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #6071 on: 09:21:43, 02-06-2008 » |
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I know that really, A - at least I know that there are concerts given all the time (though the one I went to was particularly good), and that more people (bafflingly!) are interested in Paul McC, though I still don't think it has national news value - local, perhaps. I wouldn't seriously expect the concert I went to to be on the news - but nevertheless it does reflect priorities that make me despair. I shall be most interested to see whether the national news covers Simon Rattle's return to Liverpool in September. If it does, I may forgive the BBC  - almost. |
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« Last Edit: 12:17:12, 02-06-2008 by Mary Chambers »
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #6072 on: 09:31:53, 02-06-2008 » |
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I'm a bit grumpy today because I'm saying goodbye to my piano.
To be fair it's in Durham and I'm in Edinburgh, and that couldn't carry on for ever.
And I don't have room for it in the flat.
I was thinking about moving it to my new office, except until I get confirmation that I'm going full time I won't have a new office, and I'm worried that the temperature fluctuates alarmingly between roasting and freezing in our office buildings.
Anyway, my brother and his family have asked for it so that his girls can try to learn.
I'm sceptical about starting in June... I've always thought that September would be the best time but their mother is quite insistent that they need it now.
This is going to be my first of three train journeys to Durham this week. Don't ask. It's not worth it.
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #6073 on: 10:05:35, 02-06-2008 » |
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So where in Strathtay were you this weekend, hh?
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A
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« Reply #6074 on: 11:07:30, 02-06-2008 » |
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I shall be most interested to see whether the national news covers Simon Rattles's return to Liverpool in September. If it does, I may forgive the BBC - almost. Now here we are in complete agreement Mary !! |
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Well, there you are.
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