Maestro Response

Read pp. 12-14. There are two incidents/moments that beg for a response.

Read these pages and respond to one of the 'moments' in any way you choose, either as a journal entry, personal reflection, letter or something else.

The ‘moment’ when Paul is forbidden to play Chopin by Herr Keller. If I were Paul in this part of the book, I would have been infuriated. I am the type of person who likes to get straight into things, and would rather fail, then have to practice. It would have annoyed and angered me that my teacher would not have let me play piano for him. Perhaps I was not to become a great pianist, maybe only a good pianist. Herr knew that Paul could have the potential to become a great pianist, so maybe that is the reason why he was not allowed to play. I also see this in Herr’s POV. If Herr was going to spend his time teaching piano to Paul, he may as well teach him the fundamentals so that he can succeed, instead of skipping those first important lessons that people usually forget about, resulting in only reaching the halfway point of a musical career. Herr also knew that if Paul was serious about his piano, he would endure the hours of non-playing lessons to please him. 

Principal Intervention

To The State Education Department 

I am writing to address the issues that have been brought to my attention about the Darwin State School. I believe the issues that have risen have been about the school protection against the tropical rains, on the overcast days, a lack in the school curriculum, and frequent fights among some of the students. 

I agree with the statement that the school has little protection against the tropical rains and for overcast days. And the school committee and I are currently working on receiving the funds to accommodate such needs of the staff and children. As for the lack of school curriculum, it is understood that many of the younger grades have many classes, however the matriculation class is tiny in comparison. This suggests that the Darwin State school is loosing many of their students in their later schooling years. On the schools behave, this cannot be helped, as the funds of the individual students and choices can only be guided, but not chosen for them. Furthermore, the fights, knife-fights, dankness and unspeakable acts, I believe have been occurring because of the lack of teacher appearance and intervention. To solve these unspeakable acts, it will be seen that more teacher supervision occurs at lunch times, and before and after school. With the extra supervision, we hope to decrease the amont of irresponsible behavior occurring. 

I hope that I have cleared up any issues that have risen about the Darwin State School. We are currently working to strive for a better school for students, staff and parents. I look forward to your reply on these issues. 

Kind regards, 

The Principal for Darwin State School

The novel begins with Paul's 'first impressions' of meeting Herr Keller.

Imagine you are Herr Keller and you keep a daily journal. Record an entry in which you give your 'first impressions' of meeting Paul and his mother.

Due in class on Thursday.

Journal Entry: 

I finally met Paul today. His father had contacted me a few days ago talking about a vibrant young man of a son he had. Even insisted that his son was a born pianist with the potential to go far with the help from myself. Like I haven't heard that one before. But when he arrived, once again  the description people give of others was thoroughly inaccurate. Paul was not vibrant. But more like introverted and bored looking. 

After a mere fifteen minutes with Paul, I could tell that he wasn’t going to last long. Great. Who knows how long I am going to have to wait until another potential student contacts me. They’re always the same. Always keen and think that they are ready to learn how to become a pianist as brilliant as me. Ha. They think they can play as well as I with no starting rules? I’d like to see them try. This new student - Paul - is exactly the same. Thinks that just because he can play a tune on the piano, that he does not need to learn about the hands and the feel of the music. I will ensure him that playing Mozart and Liszt is more than just pushing down a sequence of keys. He even said that he could play a whole Chopin piece. Ha. Id like to see him try with the small arms he has. Couldn't even handle a little pressure on his forearm. We’ll have to build those up before I will allow him to play for me. That’s if he can even last the many weeks up until I will allow him to play. 

The Disappearance of Childhood Questions

1. The writer says, “The idea of childhood is disappearing”. What is his “idea of childhood”?

Berg’s idea of childhood is when children were able to have fun and not worry about anybody else. He’s idea of childhood is before the printers and media, but after the medieval, and the time of school. He believes that the knowledge of the child represented when one ‘turned into’ an adult.

1. Why does he believe the “idea of childhood” did not exist in the medieval world? 

Berg belives that the idea of childhood did not exist in the medieval world because of the ‘absence of the idea of education, the absence of the idea of shame’. The access to information was not easily accessible in the medieval world, therefore their only knowledge was from adults, who had no shame.

1. What are the elements of the “idea of childhood” the writer seems to be talking about?

The elements of the ‘idea of childhood’ the writer talks about is the loss of children’s innocence. With the introduction of media and technology, children are getting the answers to the questions they had not asked. This suggests that they have access to the same information as adults, therefore it is harder to separate an adult from a child. 

1. Comment on his use of the term “the idea of childhood”. What would be more accurate?

The writer suggests that there are many ideas and views of childhood from different point of views, and eras. He suggests that childhood is an idea that children are naive and shameless, but this is just ONE idea. 

1. The writer defines childhood as it became known after the development of printing. However, he sees this definition as having been eroded by the advent of electronic media. What is his argument for this? How well do you believe he justifies his argument?

The writer wrote in his new edition of his book, that much is the same, however it is only getting worse. When he initially wrote the book, it would have been through the idea of the development of printing, which is when the idea of childhood started to disfigure. But now, in the 21^st century, the idea of electronic media has increased the erosion of childhood because of the knowledge it allows children to possess. 

1. The writer comments on the “meshing of adult and child worlds” and concludes that “wherever one looks, one sees more evidence that childhood is disappearing”. What assumption underpins his argument? Comment on the accuracy of his statement. 

The writer suggests that children are quickly becoming like adults, that sometimes people cannot tell a child from an adult. He also suggests that children are becoming like this because of the knowledge and idea of ‘growing up’ that they want to have. Children are constantly ‘looking up at adults’, and as a result, are’mimicking’ them, so that their childhood is disappearing. I believe that this is accurate, as more and more, children are growing up too fast, and soon adults and children will have the same knowledge. 

Maestro Questions - Week 1

Read the first ten and a half pages of the novel and  complete the following activities:

1. Who is 'Paul' and what is your first impression of him? Provide a quotation (with page number) that you think encapsulates your understanding of him.

Paul is the main character in the novel, who is learning to play the piano. He's parents are musicians, so he comes from a heavy musical background. He is a quiet boy, so maybe he wants to express himself through he's music. I feel like his life revolves around music, so when he meets Herr Keller, "He stared; I stared boldly back, fascinated. I’d seen nothing like him before,” (p 5). My first impression is that he is very young and vulnerable 

1. Who is 'Herr Keller' and what is your first impression of him. Provide a quotation (with page number) that you think encapsulates your understanding of him.

Herr Keller is a very good pianist, who thinks that he knows what he is talking about, but is rude to Paul when he tells him that he is not good at piano. He is also a bit crazy and eccentric, but strict and controlling. "He smiled at me for the first time: a brief, minimal smile." (p 6) He seems like he doesn't smile very often, so hopefully Paul can change that.