This is a fun two-day activity about reviewing music. Ground rules: No Youtube, Facebook, or video games! Break these rules, and you'll wind up in the penalty box--working at the tables in Krissy's advisory.

Task for Thursday, October 27

__1. (10 minutes) Search for a review of your favorite musical artist at any of these sites:

http://robertchristgau.com

http://rollingstone.com

http://pitchfork.com

http://vibe.com

http://altpress.com

http://spin.com

http://www.nme.com

or if you don't have any luck there, try the user comments at

http://www.amazon.com

__2. (15 minutes) Read the review you found, create a new Word document, and paraphrase the review in your own words. Use at least 3 sentences.

__3. (10 minutes) In the same Word document, respond to the review. Is the reviewer right in your opinion? Use at least three sentences.

__4. (10 minutes) Share what you read and wrote!

Thursday Homework: Pick a song (something different than the above) to write about in class on Friday morning!

Friday, October 28

__1. (2 minutes) Quickest lecture ever: Criticism is about knowing what you like, and figuring out why you like it. It's also about knowing what you don't like, and figuring out why you don't like it.

__2. (2 minutes) Share with the class the music you're going to write about today.

__3. (30 minutes) In the same Word document as yesterday, write a "review" of the music you've chosen. Show me two completed paragraphs or 30 minutes of writing, whichever is longer!

__4. I'll have conferences with students throughout class.