29 Reading
Before You Read
Complete these pre-reading activities before you read formal and informal reviews of a performance.
Expressing Opinions Directly or Indirectly
Roshan, Gilles, and Claire expressed opinions in this chapter’s video. Facial expressions, such as raising an eyebrow, can show people’s thoughts even when they don’t say a word.
Complete each row by writing words that someone might say. The first one offers two examples.
| A person may be thinking … | I may see … | He or she may say … |
| Example:
I didn’t expect to see this website open on Claire’s laptop |
“I don’t think we should be looking at this.” | |
| 1. I really like this! Or, I agree with you! | ||
| 2. You are so loud my ears are hurting! | ||
| 3. You stink | ||
| 4. If I eat another bite, I’m going to throw up |
Vocabulary: Synonyms
Many words have multiple meanings. Look at the table below. For each row, indicate the words on the right that have the same meaning as the word on the left.
| appeal | attraction | charm | fruit skin | request |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| boundary | border | edgy | limit | outskirts |
| filter | clean | hesitate | screen | sort out |
Predictions
You are going to read reviews of musicians and their performances. All these opinionated reviews were published or posted in public. Magazine editors set boundaries for reviewers, who may be called critics. Do you predict that a critic will focus on what he or she likes, dislikes, or both?
Moderators of social media sites also set boundaries. People post their informal comments and exchange opinions. Which topics do you predict will be in the reviews?
| Appearance | Familiarity of songs | Stage presence | Voice quality |
| Audience | Instruments | Talent | Volume |
| Clarity of the words | Lyrics | Ticket price | Venue or location |
How direct or indirect will the comments be? Who do you expect to be more vocal in their opinions, admirers or critics?
Reading 1
Read this article published by a music reviewer.
Rural Roots and Rhythms
Jordan Cardinal, Our Ear on the Provincial Music Scene
This month, we continued our tour of musical venues outside big urban centres. We headed north for a performance in Maskwa County. There is no sugar-coating our experience at the Beaver last Saturday night.
Like some county halls, the Beaver in Maskwa was built as a country church decades ago. The solid wood construction and three storey high ceiling make for excellent sound. Of course, success on any stage depends on who is on it.
As a semi-professional musician, I have played almost every genre and enjoy listening to many. The Smashing Beats describe themselves as folk-pop. If folk music means telling a good story, the Beats came up short. Their lyrics were unoriginal. Seriously, the lead singer delivered line after line about life or love gone wrong that left me cold. His in-your-face attitude made it seem like I was responsible for all his troubles.
If there was a silver lining in the clouds over Maskwa last Saturday, it was the bass player. His amazing talent was highlighted in two toe-tapping solos. Clean and simple, the first chorus reminded me of our best roots guitarists and had the audience on their feet. Just as appealing was his acoustic performance on double bass of “Red River Valley”—the only old favourite in the set.
The Smashing Beats’ appeal seems to be mostly with younger folks. After the intermission, I noticed more empty seats and fewer seniors in the crowd. Perhaps music-lovers who are middle-aged and older want something easier on the ears than “screaming cats.” The pre-show Twitterverse said the Beats are easy on the eyes. No doubt about that, but for this old soul, upbeat sounds always outplay smashing good looks.
After You Read
Comprehension
Strategy: Recognizing Opinions and Facts
When a music critic like Jordan reviews a performance, he includes facts and opinions.
1. Choose the statement that includes an opinion.
a) This is Jordan’s first article about music in the countryside.
b) Roots music is the best kind of music.
c) Jordan reviewed a performance in Maskwa County.
2. Choose the statement that is neither an opinion nor a fact.
a) The Saturday evening performance was in an old building.
b) The Beaver is the only county hall that used to be a church.
c) The hall in Maskwa was built for great acoustic quality
3. Choose the statement that includes a fact.
a) Ads for the Smashing Beats concert said they play a mix of two musical styles.
b) The Beats’ songs made Jordan feel chilly.
c) Jordan was responsible for the sad lyrics the lead singer sang about.
4. Choose the statement that includes an opinion.
a) One member of the Beats played a double bass.
b) The bass player had unusual skill.
c) The song “Red River Valley” was a favourite of the older set.
5. Choose the statement that is neither an opinion nor a fact.
a) The audience had more young people than seniors.
b) The Beats were hard to listen to for an entire evening.
c) Jordan is a young woman.
Vocabulary
Strategy 1: Inferring Meaning
When writers use idiomatic expressions or indirect descriptions, readers understand the true meaning by inferring, or guessing, using the context. Choose the best answer by inferring.
1. “There is no sugar-coating our experience” means that the reviewer
a) is recommending not going to Maskwa County
b) heard seriously sweet sounds
c) didn’t have enough sugar in his coffee
d) disliked the band’s performance
2. “If folk music means telling a good story, the Beats came up short” means that
a) the band didn’t play for very long
b) the reviewer didn’t have a long story to tell
c) the rhythm didn’t fit the folk music style
d) the songs weren’t telling stories
3. “If there was a silver lining in the clouds … it was the bass player” means that
a) the reviewer found something positive
b) one musician did not appeal to the reviewer
c) the weather was dark, but the lights were bright on the bass player
d) a double bass is a shiny, dark instrument
4. “Upbeat sounds outplay smashing good looks” means that
a) good sounds can be beaten by good-looking musicians
b) being handsome isn’t as appealing as playing cheerful songs
c) handsome musicians have been beat up
d) if the beat is too loud, the audience will leave a beautiful concert
Strategy 2: Using Context to Determine Meaning
1. The word GENRE has several synonyms. In each sentence below, indicate the word that could be replaced by GENRE.
a) The reviewer, Jordan, has played almost every kind of music.
b) Folk music is a style Jordan expected to hear from the Smashing Beats.
c) What category does the song “Red River Valley” belong to?
d) In this book, every chapter scaffolds, or supports, a different sort of writing.
2. The word BEAT has several meanings. In each sentence below, indicate the word that could be replaced by BEAT.
a) You can hear the rhythm of a song clearly on a drum.
b) The drummer hit his instruments with drumsticks.
c) Some older folks left early. Jordan guessed they were tired.
d) Some younger people’s hearts pounded faster when they met the good-looking musicians.
Reading 2
Read the threads on the Maskwa Folk Music Festival SpaceBook page.
After You Read
Comprehension
Strategy 1: Paraphrasing
Choose the best answer.
1. Another way to say “This band is so appealing to all generations” is
a) “Young and old people all like this group of musicians.”
b) “This group of musicians asks for everyone’s support.”
2. Another way to ask “Why isn’t he on the short list?” is
a) “How come he isn’t one of the preferred musicians?”
b) “Tell me a reason why Del isn’t written on the list of short names.”
3. Another way to ask “… besides eye candy, what would they bring to the main stage?” is
a) “Does a band get to perform in the best place just because they’re good looking?”
b) “What does this band do except deliver sweets?”
4. Another way to say “Courtly Love is the only band on the short list … with gender equality” is
a) “It’s the only group with equally short men and women.”
b) “No other popular band has the same number of female and male musicians.”
Strategy 2: Recognizing Meaning
Choose the best answer.
1. The festival invites SpaceBook friends to
a) express their opinions
b) appeal the top choices to play on the main stage
c) filter each other’s thoughts
d) respect the boundaries of Bear Bottom Campground
2. Jeff Reiter may feel that ___________ is withholding some information.
a) the festival
b) Em Nguyen
c) The Ian and Sylvia Revival
d) Del Jacobs
3. Tatiana’s phrase about “ears and eyes glued to the main stage” means she
a) agrees with Dylan about appearance
b) can’t stop staring at the bands on the stage
c) thinks that sound and appearance matter
d) wants a well-built stage
4. The task of the Maskwa Folk Music Festival SpaceBook moderator is to
a) remove comments
b) filter posts
c) judge how bands look
d) value clean air
Vocabulary
Strategy 3: Reinforcement of Words and Definitions Through Use in Context
Look at the table and sentences below. Complete each sentence with a word from the table.
| post | revive | withdraw | serious |
| connection | gender | include | diversity |
- The festival moderator tries to _____________ everyone but has boundaries on opinions.
- One band is trying to _____________ the songs and style of Ian and Sylvia.
- You can’t _____________ unfiltered opinions on the festival’s SpaceBook page.
- The opening performer won’t be chosen by _____________.
- By removing inappropriate posts, the moderator shows that he or she is _____________ about inclusion.
Discussion
NOTICE similarities and differences in public opinions given about musical performances.
FIND examples of positive and negative descriptions.
COMPARE your predictions about positive and negative comments with the compliments and criticisms of Jordan and the SpaceBook writers.
Did your predictions about formal and informal reviews match the readings?
DISCUSS how comfortable or uncomfortable you feel about expressing strong criticism to familiar and unfamiliar people.
Are there boundaries on public comments?
Should reviewers report what they admire but filter what they dislike?
IDENTIFY any unwritten rules for someone like Jordan, who is paid to write reviews.
What might his obligations to his community be?
IDENTIFY any unwritten rules for someone who writes his or her opinions on social media.
What might their social obligations to their community be?
DISCUSS how readers respond to reviews.
How might people respond to Jordan’s carefully written music reviews?
How could the quick exchange of ideas on SpaceBook affect the quality of those comments?
Why would the SpaceBook moderator take down some comments?
What might have been said?
How might the writers of the removed comments respond?
THINK about your own relationships outside English class.
TALK about situations in which you comment on the quality of people, places, or things.
What boundaries guide your evaluations?
Do your filters change depending on how private or public a conversation is?
TALK about situations in which others evaluate, review, or assess you.
What boundaries guide them?
Would you like to change their filters? How?
Extension Activity
Print another Language Observer Log and Language User Log to help you to pay attention to and try out words and expressions from this chapter in your daily life.
2. Review with a Rubric
Each of the writing and speaking practice tasks in this book has a rubric. The rubric clarifies exactly what is reviewed or evaluated. It helps give writers and speakers a clear rating of how well they perform on a language task.
Almost any performance can be reviewed with a rubric. A fair rubric is a very helpful tool for a reviewer who is judging or comparing several performers.
In this activity, you create a rubric and use it to evaluate musical performances.
Part A Rubric Design
- Look at the rubric template.
- Agree with others about whether you will listen to audio tracks of songs or watch videos of musical performances. Agree on a time limit per song.
- Discuss the qualities that you will review. You may wish to include clarity of the words, quality of the voice(s), different descriptors from the Prediction questions of this Reading section, or other parts of a performance.
- Discuss the rating system you will use. You may wish to use categories such as “Bad-Okay-Good,” “Strong-Ordinary-Weak,” “Unacceptable-Acceptable-Above Average-Amazing,” or make up your own categories.
- You may add more columns or rows to the rubric or remove some.
- If you don’t have access to a computer or printer, print a copy of the blank rubric.
- Choose several qualities and enter them in the left-hand column.
- Choose your rating system and enter the categories in the blank header spaces.
- If you do have access to a computer, design your own rubric using a word-processing program.
| Performance Qualities | Comments | |||
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Part B Rubric Use
- Each participant prepares by bringing a CD or DVD of a musical performance or saving a link to an online performance.
- Every reviewer listens to or views each musical performance once. Everyone completes a rubric for each song, taking time to write comments. Write at least one compliment and one criticism of each performance.
- All the reviewers share their evaluations.
Part C Rubric Review
- Discuss how well your rubric worked. Was it fair? Were there qualities that you didn’t include that would strengthen the rubric?
- Discuss whether the rubric helped clarify opinions and rate the performances.
- Did the categories encourage you to say exactly what you were thinking or did they cause you to hold back and filter your opinions?
Reading Progress Check
Read the questions and answers before reading this text.
This is a strategy to help you locate the answers more easily.
After you read the exchange of emails, answer the questions.
11/07/15 6:34 p.m.
Dear Mom,
What’s up with Priya? The last I heard from her, she was all excited about hosting “the most eligible bachelor.” Weren’t you coaching her on cooking?
Roshan
12/07/15 7:59 a.m
Dear Roshan,
Priya has a lot on her plate right now. She’ll be in touch soon, I’m sure. Are you eating well? You looked too thin the last time you were home. Even Dad noticed. Maybe you’re the one who needs some time in the kitchen with me. Who would have thought that I’d be telling you to eat more?
Love, Mom
12/07/15 8:27 a.m.
Dear Mom,
No worries about me. Mrs. Ames and Mrs. Turner have invited me over for dinner. But back to Priya. What do you mean she has a lot on her plate? She hasn’t posted anything on SpaceBook since last weekend. She hasn’t answered my texts. She didn’t respond to my Skype invitation.
R
15/07/15 9:11 p.m.
Hellooooo Mom!
First Priya goes silent, and now you haven’t answered my email from three days ago. And I know you always check your email every morning. Something’s up, isn’t it?
R
1. Scan the four emails in this exchange. Which statement is true?
a) Roshan usually emails his mom in the morning.
b) Roshan’s mother usually responds immediately.
c) Roshan emails several times a day.
d) Roshan expects a reply in a day or so.
2. Choose the best answer. If Priya “has a lot on her plate,” she is
a) eating too much food
b) doing a lot of cooking
c) feeling too busy
d) learning how to make new dishes
3. Choose the best answer. Who may be withholding information?
a) Roshan, Priya, and their mother
b) Priya and their mother
c) Priya
d) Roshan’s mother
4. Choose the best answer. Why did Roshan’s mother write, “Are you eating well?”
a) She is thinking about sending more sweets.
b) She is offering indirectly to give Roshan cooking lessons.
c) She is indirectly criticizing Roshan’s cooking.
d) She is changing the topic.
5. Choose the best answer. The main idea of this reading is
a) cooking is important to the Mehta family
b) sharing dinner shows how important a relationship is
c) families aren’t comfortable sharing all intimate topics
d) Roshan’s sister and mother are not comfortable emailing Roshan