SUPPORTING SKILL 2:

IDENTIFYING EVIDENCE
___________________________________________________________
When considering organizational patterns, we look carefully at not only the general ideas but also
the supporting details. There are two main categories of supporting details: evidence and
analysis.

WHAT IS EVIDENCE?
Evidence is a broad term that refers to anything your readers can verify themselves – that is,
anything they can confirm with their senses: they can SEE, HEAR , FEEL, TASTE or SMELL it.
Evidence cannot be debated. It is objective, not subjective.

Types of Evidence
objective description of an object
a timeline of events
a quotation from a composer’s letters
paraphrase or summary of an article that you read
a screen shot of measures from a score
???

What constitutes evidence will be different depending on the course. In a Music Theory class,
evidence may consist of measures or bars from the music. In a Music History class, it may consist
of the text of a poem or the letters of Chopin. In a literature class, it may consist of a quotation
from a novel or play. What’s important to remember is that evidence is usually taken from the
shared COURSE MATERIAL.

Exercise A.
Read the sample paragraph from a student essay in Music History. Then, answer the questions.

Montsalvatge selected "Cuba dentro de un piano" from Alberti's collection of poems,

"Trece barras y 48 estrellas" which translates to "13 stripes and 48 stars", in reference to the
American flag. The collection criticizes American imperialism in Central and Latin American,
and denounces colonization of all forms. The controversy of this collection, as well as his
Marxist beliefs, led to his exile from Spain in 1939 by dictator Francisco Franco (Orringer
2021, 168-69). Montsalvatge compliments the narrative Alberti creates throughout his
music, specifically the notion of fusing Cuban musical styles with "traditional", European
classical music in order to portray the interruption of Cuban culture with Western influences.
The piano introduction (mm. 3-7) incorporates a habanera rhythm of a triplet followed by
two eighths, creating a feeling of unsteadiness in both meter and atmosphere.

Figure 1: mm. 5-7 of "Cuba dentro de un piano"

 Another key moment in "Cuba dentro de un piano" is the ending. The final line of the song —
"they changed SI into YES"— represents the infiltration of White Americanness into Cuban
culture and life, going back once again to the themes of imperialism and colonialism.
Montsalvatge captures the harshness of Alberti's sentiment by reprising the opening
descending ninth progression, this time with heavy, more violent articulation, and sixteenth
notes instead of triplets. This change in rhythm is a modified habanera rhythm, and I believe
it emphasizes the stripping of Cuban culture that Alberti highlights in his text—something
that was once solidly Cuban, was now modified to fit the constraints of a more Western
European, or American tradition. However, the heart of Cuba is not lost, as Monstalvatge
concludes "Cuba dentro de un piano" with the reoccurring Lento melody, and the habanera
rhythm gets the final say.

1. Identify the evidence.

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2. Identify any language in the paragraph that is factual or mostly factual.

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3. Identify the general statements of phrases that are related to the main idea of the essay.

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4. identify any sentences in the paragraph that function as analysis.

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Language Skills: DESCRIPTIVE IMAGERY

WHY IT’S USEFUL: by recognizing descriptive imagery in written and spoken discourse, you
can visualize a writer or speaker’s meaning. Additionally, you can use descriptive imagery
to make your own stance more realistic and vivid.
Descriptive imagery is when the speaker or writer uses language to paint a vivid picture for the listeners
or readers. Sometimes that imagery elicits certain emotions. Imagery is essential for deepening
understanding, and engaging our audience. Descriptive imagery involves an appeal to our senses –
sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell – to describe someone or something. Look at these two examples.
Which sentence paints a better picture? Why?
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• It was a rainy day. Rain fell from the sky.
• The day was gloomy; soft, cool rain fell from the gray sky.

Word choice is essential in descriptive imagery; it involves choosing concrete words that cause a certain
feeling. Review the chart below. It includes concrete words that elicit certain feelings.

Sight Sound Touch Taste Smell

brilliant faint dusty bitter fragrant
dingy growling fluffy creamy moldy
faded howling icy luscious musty
gleaming piercing prickly rotten odorless
misty roaring rough spicy pungent
silvery rustling toasty bland perfumed
twinkling sizzling velvety zesty sweet

Exercise 1: Read each sentence. Change the underlined word to a more descriptive word.
1. The soft _________________ blanket covered the infant.
2. The old castle had a bad ________________ smell.
3. The fireworks made a loud __________________ noise.
4. Did you taste the dish she prepared? It was quite good ______________.
5. The full moon is really nice _________________ tonight.
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6. Can you smell those roses? They are so lovely _____________________.
Exercise 2: Read the words below. For each word, indicate the sense it could describe.

piercing be11 sizzling pct creamy mik

tangy durim spicy pepper odorless rom

bitter gard
qu.tt cau

fluffy clowd velvety dingy

faded picture fragrant tlcwer coarse st.me
pungent pepper growling gneug twinkling
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rustling mmse
WHY IT’S USEFUL By writing descriptively, you create mental images for the reader,
establish the context, and develop a mood that evokes an emotional response from readers.
The more descriptive your writing is, the better your reader will understand it.
An effective description gives readers a better sense of a subject. Descriptive writing adds to the
believability of an experience, enhances understanding of a difficult concept, and even transports a
reader into another world. While most people associate descriptive writing with evoking an emotional
response in readers and bringing characters to life, it is also essential to use descriptive writing when
illustrating a process or procedure in a piece of music, comparing and contrasting different depictions of
a scene in a film or opera, as well as describing evidence in support of a claim in a formal academic
essay. Descriptive writing may include:

sensory description uses the five senses to help the reader feel what is being described
evaluative description uses evidence to support a claim
comparative description compares and contrasts two or more things with each other
spatial-relational uses an object’s location in relation to other objects to give readers a
descriptions mental map or image

Descriptive writing is appropriate in a wide range of rhetorical contexts and academic disciplines, but we
will focus on those that are specifically related to music.

Exercise 3:
Look at these writing situations, and determine (1) What is the rhetorical purpose for each – in other
words, what is the purpose for the audience (to entertain, to express, to inform, to persuade)? (2)
Which kinds of descriptions would you use in each of these writing situations?

discipline descriptive writing task rhetorical purpose/type of

description
Ethno- As an ethnomusicologist, you will observe a concert

spatial-relatimaidaiptimssensaydeswip.tn
musicology and take detailed field notes describing peoples’
routines and actions.
Music Write a story that imagines the viewpoint of a person
History in the audience attending the premiere of
Beethoven’s Eroica. Describe his/her life and inner
thoughts and feelings. Include historical details. Be
sure your story has a good arc with rising and falling
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ceonee
action.
Arts
Leadership
Write a letter to a funding organization about an
issue in the music profession. Describe how the issue
is impacting musicians and argue why the "
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organization should fund your project.
Business Imagine you are developing a new ensemble that you
Marketing would like to appeal to your generation: identify and
describe a defining event for your generation and currentsituatienwithpaotsihat.in
explore why it had the impact it did
EXERCISE: Building Descriptive Skills

Overview: In this exercise, you will practice writing descriptions while exploring some of
the common qualities shared by music and visual art.

REVIEW
Recall that there are three main categories of vocabulary that we will encounter in this class:
General English, Academic English, and Discipline-Specific or Technical English (which in our
class will often be music-related vocabulary).

Begin by completing the chart below, which consists of vocabulary that is shared by music and
art. Use an English-English dictionary.

Word Meaning in Art Meaning in Music

color/timbre the visual perception of a certain
quality
rhythm the principle of design that suggests
movement, often achieved through
repeating visual patterns
form an element that is three-
dimensional
style distinctive visual characteristics that
make it possible to group works of
art into categories of similarity or
difference
texture
the unique sound of an individual
object, whether it is an instrument or a
voice
distinctive sound characteristics that
make it possible to group musical
works into categories of similarity or
difference
how various elements (melody,
rhythm, harmony, instrumentation)
combine to create an overall sound
quality

NOTICING ACTIVITY
Impressionism was an artistic and musical movement that took place at the end of the 19th
century. It offers a good example of how artistic and musical description can overlap.

Study the chart below. Notice that some of the characteristics are shared, and some are
slightly varied, and some are completely unique to each art form.
 VISUAL ART MUSIC
COLOR pastel, blended tones, emphasis emphasis on tone color, timbre, sound,
on light influence of non-Western sounds
LINE movement movement, flow, blended harmonies,
whole-tone scale, chromaticism
RHYTHM repetition of objects (haystacks, free, flexible
trees, waves)
TEXTURE short brushstroke, blurred effect, frequent use of pedal in piano
think application of paint repertoire, blended harmonies
FORM less clarity of form than previous short forms, moving away from formal
eras structures (sonata, symphony)
SUBJECT nature, water, the outdoors, nature, water, the outdoors, dancers,
MATTER dancers, imagery imagery

OBSERVE
Claude Monet
Water Lilies (1919)

LISTEN
La Mer
Claude Debussy
Arturo Toscanini; NBC Symphony
Orchestra

1. In the space below, or on the back of this page, describe the painting by Monet, using
descriptive imagery and sensory detail. Try to describe not only what is obvious but also what
others may not see initially.

2. Listen to the piece by Debussy. Write a brief description of what you hear.

3. How does the visual description help make your musical description more vivid? Can you
identify which words seem objective or subjective in your description?
EXERCISE A
Look at the five pairings of artworks and musical works below. Each artwork comes from a
specific time and place. Next to the art, you will see a companion piece to listen to. Choose
one of the artworks, and on a separate sheet of paper, describe it in detail. Consider color,
space, line, texture, style, and form. In your description, be as specific as possible. Try to notice
anything interesting, odd, or unusual, and describe it. Experiment with adjectives, adjective
clauses and adverbial phrases.

Then, listen to the companion musical work from the same place and time period. Describe the
musical work in brief. What descriptions can you use in both instances? What other methods
can you use to describe the music?

OBSERVE AND DESCRIBE

A Soviet recruitment poster from the time of the
Russian Revolution in 1917
(It says, “You! Have you signed up with the
volunteers?”)

LISTEN
String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110 II.
Allegro molto
Dmitri Shostakovich
Emerson String Quartet

OBSERVE/DESCRIBE:
Nighthawks (1942)
Edward Hopper
U.S.

LISTEN
Summer Music
Samuel Barber
Dorian Wind Quintet
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 OBSERVE/DESCRIBE:
Dans le lit 'In Bed' (1892)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
France

Listen: Erik Satie, Préludes du "Nazaréen" (1892)

OBSERVE AND DESCRIBE

Moses (1945)
Frida Kahlo

LISTEN
Toccata for Percussion I. Allegro sempre giusto
Carlos Chavez
Southwest Chamber Music Members

OBSERVE and DESCRIBE

Knife Behind Back (2000)
Yoshitoma Yaro
Japan

LISTEN
Princess Mononoke
Joe Hisaichi
(La Pietà; Angèle Dubeau, violin)
EXERCISE B.
Choose another pair of art/musical works – or choose a pairing one from your own country that
you know about, and answer the questions below.

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Title of Musical Piece:

Describe how the artist/composer uses color/timbre:

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Does the art/music tell a story, create a mood, or both?

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How does the artist/composer use rhythm?
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Comment on the similarities and differences. Can you tell they were created in the same
time/place? Why or why not?
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