précis and reply to discussion
In lieu of lectures, your course is organized into weekly modules that cover topical readings, music videos, documentaries, study guides, questions and music theory emphasizing Mexican simple, compound and changing meters, Afro- Latin, syncopated, additive and polyrhythms, simple and compound melodic and harmonic intervals, simple three chord song, 12 bar blues and complex harmony, and scales, modes, melodies, motives, phrasing and the cultural and ritual occasions, musical events, singers, bands, artists, composers and performance contexts for regional Mexican music-making and dancing.
There are a total of 15 discussions that bring together all the materials together. Students will need to prepare 5 précis showing what you have read, learned and are able to analyze, evaluate, apply, create and comprehend the larger lesson plan. Students should submit 3 précis for the midterm and 2 for the final and an additional précis will be available for make-up or extra credit. Please upload your précis onto Canvas but also share portions or all of it with your students as a reply to weekly discussions which will allow students to prepare for exams. Each Précis is worth 2 points for a total of 10 points.
How to prepare a précis: A summary or a précis is NOT a personal interpretation of a work or an expression of your opinion of the idea; it is, rather, an exact replica in miniature of the work, often reduced to one-quarter to one-fifth of its size, in which you express the complete argument!
What actually happens when you write a précis?
First, you must understand the complete work so that you can abstract the central argument and express it cogently and completely.
Next, you must develop the argument exactly as the writer has presented it AND reduce the work by 75-80% of its size. Of course, this is possible when you consider exactly how you “learn” to critically read the work. The key word here is assimilation. When you read the material, it is probable that you will understand only those parts which have associations within your own experience (intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural, class, gender, sexuality etc.).How you actually go about writing a précis depends largely on your ability to restate the writer’s central ideas after you have assimilated them in your own mind.
Here are the rules of the game: a. Read ALL of the articles as many times as necessary most carefully and critically. Select one or two of the readings that most interest you or which you wish to learn about. b. Write a précis for your article(s) in which you state the entire argument(s) and present the logical progression (the development) of the critical argument(s) as clearly and cogently as possible. Précis should be no more than two complete paragraphs and a list of 3 to 4 vocabulary terms discussed in readings. c. Reduce the article to one-fifth to one-quarter of its original length and omit nothing from the essential argument. This is, in reality, the key to the whole enterprise!
d. Type the précis and begin with your abstraction of the central, inform-ing idea of the article. Having understood and written the central idea, present the essential argument in as cogent manner as possible. (Clue: Once you have assimilated the article through the musical illustrations, notated transcriptions and examples the writer uses to make his/her abstract ideas concrete, you do not have to include these in your précis!) Your précis will serve as your study guides for your Midterm and Final exams. e. Here is a central rule: Attempt to avoid copying large portions or paragraphs from the article. Instead, try to paraphrase what the author is stating in your own words. However, try to explain your understanding of the theoretical framework used in the readings. You may use key words, vocabulary and phrases only when you are expressing ideas which are technically precise or when you feel comfortable using the writer’s own words, i.e., you understand exactly what he or she means, and there is really no better way to express the concept.