WP1 Project

My Favorite Professor, Why?

Wendy Fan

Writing 2

February 6, 2021
 Fan 2

Translation

Professor Johnson is one of the most fantastic people I've ever met. His creative teaching

style impresses me a lot. In class, he plays different pieces of music for us. Professor Johnson

asks questions that could invoke our thoughts to a large extent. Instead of asking for a single

answer, professor Johnson encourages us to think of multiple solutions and specifically tells us

that correctness shouldn't concern us too much. There were times when I was struggling to

determine the definite answer. However, professor Johnson guides us through our imagination to

not be limited by the strict rules of how things should be.

When we listen to music, professor Johnson asks us to write down a list of things, such as

what we hear, think of, feel, and then share with the class. Every time I communicate with other

students in the class, I get new insights and perspectives on the assigned music. Professor

Johnson's teaching style notably enriches my understanding of music; then, we can develop a

broader knowledge upon further listening.

In the listening process, Professor Johnson does not require us to identify specific timbres

or the meter; instead, we can write down what we notice changes in a particular piece of music.

He encourages us to consider more aspects of music besides pitch and rhythm, such as emotion,

context, and image. One time, I described a piece of music as a "raindrop" and wrote it down on

my list. I was surprised when professor Johnson showed his appreciation. As a result, every time

I listen to music, my imagination flies.

As we listen to varying styles of music, we identify different aspects of music. For

example, once, professor Johnson played a symphony piece in class; and I wrote: "low cello

recalls sad memory" in my notes. This phrase shows that I listen to timbre, emotion, and image
 Fan 3

at the same time. He helps us practice combining different kinds of ideas while listening to music

and expressing these thoughts together.

Professor Johnson also asks us to produce original ideas that we think no one else would

generate. However, he never gives definite answers or corrects a student's response in class, so I

never feel much pressure when taking his course. I even become more confident in music

listening because professor Johnson inspires us to produce unique ideas instead of following

others.

I benefit a lot from professor Johnson, who imparts knowledge and teaches me how to be

a creative listener. Let's promote his teaching style since it can arouse students' interest in music.
 Fan 4

Explication

Music education is becoming increasingly important nowadays as more children find

interest in music, and listening takes a significant role. Music teachers have developed many

approaches to teaching music listening; however, most strategies focus on training students to

identify different aspects of music rather than motivating individual thoughts. In the peer-

reviewed article "Music Listening is Creative," John Kratus advocates a creative approach to

teaching music listening.1 Kratus develops his argument in the genre of academic writing. But

without real-life responses, readers never know whether his point stands or not. According to

Kerry Dirk in the article "Navigating Genres," "Knowing what a genre is used for can help

people accomplish goals."2 The author of an academic article intends to persuade the audience of

an idea based on evidence and reason. In particular, Kratus cites sources from other music

educators and researchers, such as E. T. McSwain, Saul Feinberg, and Robert Dunn, to help

support his argument. Through the peer-reviewed article, the readers get to know the concept of

creative listening and understand its benefits. I hope my translation will further convince readers

of the advantages of teaching music listening creatively. Kratus promotes a new teaching style

for students and their music understanding, so only students themselves can determine whether

this kind of style is suitable for them or not. People need to hear their voices because they are

essential standards in deciding the effectiveness of this teaching approach, so I consider a

student's point of view helpful. For this purpose, I modify the conventions by changing readers,

personalizing the tone, and emotionalizing words. I translate this article into a new genre

described by a student writing an evaluation for her favorite professor by altering conventions in

1 Kratus, John. “Music Listening Is Creative.” Music Educators Journal, Vol. 103, No. 3 (March 2017), pp. 46-51.
2 Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres.” Volume 1, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Parlor Press.
 Fan 5

three aspects-- audience, tone, and pathos. It is an appropriate translation because it serves as a

real-life example and attracts more students interested in music.

To transfer a rational academic article into a student evaluation, I employ a first-person

perspective and change the audience. The rhetorical situation happens when a student is writing a

course evaluation for her music teacher who applies a creative way to teach music listening. The

student would respond to an innovative way of teaching music and talk about its influence on

herself. The audience of the peer-reviewed article is music teachers who intend to teach music

creatively. But in my new translation, the audience becomes students who have interests in music

but know little about the teacher. In the article "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward

Rhetorical Analysis," Laura Bolin Carroll claims that "understanding the audience helps you

begin to see and understand the rhetorical moves that the rhetor makes." The new audience in my

translation is students looking for answers from their peers who have similar experiences.

According to Carrol, "Rhetors make all sorts of choices based on their audience." So when I

integrate information from the academic article into my translation, I try to make it appropriate in

the context of a student's evaluation of the teacher.

To convey professional knowledge in a more understandable language, I adapt

information from the academic article to straightforward expressions based on a student's

perspective, making my tone sound more subjective. In the peer-reviewed article, to clarify the

benefits of creative teaching, Kratus introduces two types of thinking—convergent and divergent

listening—and four types of creativity—fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality.3 In the

peer-reviewed article, Kratus highlights both importance of convergent and divergent thinking by

employing Peter Webster's model4. In contrast to the academy and rigorousness in the peer-

3 Kratus, John. “Music Listening Is Creative.” Music Educators Journal, Vol. 103, No. 3 (March 2017), pp. 46-51.
4 Peter R. Webster, "Creativity as Creative Thinking," Music Educators Journal 76, No.9 (1990): 22-28.
 Fan 6

reviewed article, I state the benefits of creative listening with more plain words from a student's

view. In my translation, the student reaches the two teaching types through personal experience;

then, she confirms the new method's usefulness in teaching music listening creatively. She refers

to her previous experience of taking a music course and admits its limitation on her imaginative

thought. On the contrary, listening to music creatively provides her inspiration and stimulates her

imagination to a large extent.

To further persuade readers of the innovative approach's effectiveness, I apply appeals to

pathos in my translation to invoke people's empathy. I add individual perception in my

translation by highlighting how the student reacts to her teacher's teaching style and how she

changes her attitude toward music listening to make my audience more appealed by the student's

comment. According to L. Lennie Irvin in the reading "What Is 'Academic' Writing?", "The

dominance of reason over emotions or sensual perception" is a characteristic of academic

articles.5 In the peer-reviewed article, Kratus demonstrates his argument with professional

knowledge and academic research. He reasonably supports his viewpoint without expressing

much personal emotion. In my translation, I describe her actions when her music teacher trains

students' creativity in the aspects of fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality by giving

details about her listening process based on Kratus's introduction in his article. I point out the

student's favor toward the new method and her happiness regarding her music listening progress.

In the aspect of fluency, Kratus mentions that a teacher can ask students to listen to a piece of

music and while listening, write a list of things that they hear, think of, or feel.6 In my

translation, the student follows the teacher's instructions and feels inspired while listening to

music. On the side of flexibility, Kratus suggests that teachers provide students with more

5 Irvin, Lennie. “What Is ‘Academic’ Writing?” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1, Parlor Press.
6 Kratus, John. “Music Listening Is Creative.” Music Educators Journal, Vol. 103, No. 3 (March 2017), pp. 46-51.
 Fan 7

categories to notice in music pieces without judging their answers. In my translation, the students

share an experience that her teacher appreciated one of her creative ideas and describes how she

generates various ideas. In elaboration, Kratus encourages the teacher to select music with

contrasting sections and asks students to write down simultaneous changes.7 In my translation,

the student combines her thoughts and writes down different, changed aspects simultaneously. In

the element of originality, Kratus points out that the uniqueness of a student's idea is essential

and opposes teachers to correct or defend a student's thought.8 The student mentions her

decreased pressure in course grades and increased confidence in music appreciation skills after

finishing my translation work.

Based on genres' different needs and contexts, it is necessary to make appropriate

changes when transferring one to another. In my translation process, I altered the original genre

and applied another genre with a new rhetorical situation, leading to evident changes in audience,

tone, and conventions. The original academic article primarily focuses on advocating for this

method but lack evidence in real life. My translation supports the academic article's argument by

reflecting how students positively respond to a creative teaching approach. By offering a

convincing example in real-life, the student evaluation successfully proves the innovative

teaching approach's effectiveness in the academic article.

7 Kratus, John. “Music Listening Is Creative.” Music Educators Journal, Vol. 103, No. 3 (March 2017), pp. 46-51.
8 Kratus, John. “Music Listening Is Creative.” Music Educators Journal, Vol. 103, No. 3 (March 2017), pp. 46-51.
 Fan 8

Works Cited

Carroll, Laura, Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis.” Writing

Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1, Parlor Press.

Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres.” Volume 1, Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Parlor Press

Irvin, Lennie. “What Is ‘Academic’ Writing?” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1,

Parlor Press.

Kratus, John. “Music Listening Is Creative.” Music Educators Journal, Vol. 103, No. 3 (March

2017), pp. 46-51.

Webster, Peter R. "Creativity as Creative Thinking," Music Educators Journal 76, No.9 (1990):

22-28.