Paper Comments

Sorry for my extended absence! I have been busy writing rude letters to the New Yorker. Exciting stuff coming soon but in the meantime:

– Good title!
– excellent
– glorious!
– !!! HEAPS OF MOUNTAINS!
– confusing–the women spent their time educating young girls?
– kind of confusing to bring up music but then dive into economic history!
– nice
– nice!
– key term! it was an age of fetishizing the machine for sure
– not sure how these two paragraphs relate
– crucial! Only value is usefulness = very 18th century
– abrupt transition!
– and more importantly, it was disturbing that a Revolution literally based on the Enlightenment’s rationalist philosophies so quickly became irrational
– ??? IT IS???
– awk
– try not to conclude with grand vague proclamations about life
– I could’ve read a whole paper just on the horse manual!
– good hook!
– Perhaps overstating the importance of musicians in this context…
– what?
– nice
– awk
– Well, wasn’t this what the French Revolution was about?
– what does this have to do with a fancy piano concerto? Are Liszt’s piano concertos not fancy?
– what’s this from
– NO. Much, much older. 16th century at least
– need more explanation of how this relates to “science”
– ?? Proofread!
– The Baroque?
– single-space block quotes
– your paper has not explored this
– !! really strange analogy!
– this sentence is tautological: “opera reigned in the staging of opera”
– ! Tautology! Come see me
– Gluck is “unrecognized”?
– I’m really confused
– but artists with patrons weren’t “starving,” that’s the whole point
– confused as to your chronology here
– This makes it sound like Haydn was unpopular
– nice metaphor! I LOVE IT
– clear paragraph
– nice
– good
– single-space block quotes
– ?
– ??!!
– not really!
– try to make your prose less rote and mechanical
– I agree, but you’d need to explain what you mean here
– rephrase
– nice word!
– ? what reason
– single-space block quotes
– dangling modifier
– What’s “it?”
– I don’t see how this quote illustrates what you just said
– need to introduce quotations–you’re just arbitrarily sticking them in
– ? how would this work
– non sequitur
– How? This is a weird idea
– crazy but true!
– Nice–I’ve got some cool stuff for you to read if you want to know more
– also to TEACH–to show balanced natural perfection as a model
– these 2 thoughts seem unrelated…
– hmmm…I think of this as more of a Romantic ideal
– good
– how does this quote represent resistance? Seems approving
– What’s “it?”
– Could use some specifics here…there’s certainly “folly” in earlier literature, e.g.
– What? The Romantic Era??
– Fun title!
– good
– muddy
– combine these sentences
– single-space block quotes
– confusing prose
– passive voice
– What’s “it?”
– elegant!
– kind of awk
– he’s so famous that this seems weird–just say “Schubert”
– you’re really good at finding the perfect quote
– Judeo-Christian value structure
– abrupt!
– kind of confusing
– proofread!
– can’t say “during Europe”
– What’s “it?”
– single-space block quotes
– Wow! Interesting town
– !! SO CRAZY!!
– :(
– this doesn’t include opera though
– yes, this is strange isn’t it!
– yes, and it made them crazy!!
– yeah cool! I get it now
– classic Queen Victoria…
– wow
– all novels are fiction
– need a segue here
– in the brutal world of industrialized capitalism!
– Waugh famously loathed children and was a horrible father
– 16th century is also very TEXT focused–it’s different to be conveying this stuff INSTRUMENTALLY
– give a fun example of a critic freaking out
– heavy!
– versus
– well, it was the case back then! Genres don’t define themselves
– “the Classical Era” is the “mother” in this analogy??
– “squishes” is such an intense word in this context…sort of horrifying
– this paragraph is REALLY confusing
– single-space block quotes
– combine some of these short, declarative sentences into longer ones
– Also the Grimms’ fairy tales (19thc) are so weird and often have REALLY unclear lessons
– cool way to put it
– But what does this have to do with art?
– hmm…you’re suddenly really far away from art/nature stuff
– give an example! Like how she calls women “spaniel-like”
– not at court operas! Obnoxious audience behavior is associated with public operas
– No. The opposite! Not for fancy people!
– can’t use wikipedia as a source
– What’s “it?”
– ? Weird sentence
– Not sure where this is going
– ? Why are you talking so much about whistling?
– See, but this doesn’t sound like a carnival
– But you said audiences back then were obnoxious too
– intense word
– aren’t these two clauses saying the same thing?
– confusing. This quote is describing ancient greek music
– so, they DIDN’T always use myths, or what?
– this quote is about the opposite
– why are you suddenly talking about the Romantic Era?
– what does this piano stuff have to do with opera?
– single-space block quotes
– Hmmmm you’re confused. Instrumental music in the 18th c is certainly not “supposed to have narrative”
– but this is vocal music
– ! Scholars aren’t “of” their publisher
– “Doctors” aren’t really “romantic” in the sense you mean
– Well, it’s EXACTLY the same. “Paying to listen to a performer” = “spending money on a concert”
– tautology
– this is a concerto, not a symphony!