Mussorgsky “Pictures at an Exhibition”: Essay Activity

Description

If your students have completed the 4 activities in the Introductory Learning Bundle as well as the 3 worksheets prior to this in the Follow-On Learning Bundle they will have gained some useful background and context, an overview of the entire work, a sound grasp of how aspects of musical language function in relation to the programme as well as detailed knowledge of certain key sections.  Throughout, they will also have practiced writing short commentaries on the music of Pictures.

Now for the full essay! This, however, is where some students really struggle!

With this in mind, the Essay Booklet starts with a specimen introduction. What follows is a series of engaging (I hesitate to say the word “fun”) activities that take the specimen introduction as a starting point and will make your students think about the process of essay writing whilst fulfilling the requirements of a top-grade essay in terms of the exam-board marking criteria.   What are “evaluative and critical” judgements? Where and how do we demonstrate “knowledge and understanding” of “background” and “context” and how do we choose “relevant examples” and show “close familiarity” with those examples? And last bit not least, how do we weave all of this information into a “coherent”, logical and “sustained line of reasoning”. These are just some of the criteria that are addressed in the activities.

In order to complete this final activity your students will have to engage with both the music of Pictures as well as the requirements of the mark scheme at a deep level. When they stop and think in this way, all sorts starts to “stick”! Specialist terminology, useful vocabulary and effective phraseology as well as ideas and opinions about the music that will stay with them.