Category: Outlines

Which singer, musician or band, would you most like to see performing live? Explain why that would make a difference to your appreciation of the music.

Explain why that would make a difference to your appreciation of the music.

• Examples are obviously required
• Accept a live performance that you regret not being able to experience
• Reasons for wanting to experience a live performance not previously experienced
• Detailed reasons for current taste and/or enthusiasm must be given
• Individual performers may be focused on; a singer or a musician
• Several performers may be focused on; a band
• The various elements that comprise live performance need to be addressed
• Emotion, atmosphere, solidarity, excitement, are some of the above
• The visual adds an extra dimension to the aural experience
• Charity performances and their significance
• Might encourage people to become musicians themselves
• The differences between home entertainment and venues outside of the home and how these impact our appreciation of the music

To what extent has the music of your country influenced the rest of the world?

Possible points for how the music of your country influenced the rest of the world

• Examples are essential
• Country and Western
• India and the Beatles for example
• Africa, the Blues and Jazz
• Reasons for the influence
• Politics and protest
• The folk tradition
• Remember it is music of your country
• Composers, singers, and songwriters may be mentioned
• South America and the Tango for example
• Sacred music – Gregorian chants for example

Advertising revenue in traditional newspapers and magazines is declining. To what extent is this a regrettable development?

Points for/against advertising revenue in traditional newspapers and magazines is declining.

• Decline in circulation due to the internet
• Decline in classified advertisements, e.g. job vacancies in local newspapers
• Closure of newsagents
• Technological change is inevitable
• TV/internet – better visual style
• On-line newspapers/magazines
• Expansion of retail websites
• Something tangible/traditional
• Regrettable because it is part of people’s routine
• Will always be a demand for certain magazines, e.g. TV listings
• Requires specific examples

‘The educational potential of the internet is greater than any danger it may pose to younger users.’ Discuss.

Possible points for/against the educational potential of the internet

• Ease and speed of collaboration with others (teachers/peers/experts)
• Dramatic increase in computer possession (laptop/hand-held mobile devices)
• Opportunity for global communication
• Access to a variety of information and knowledge (databases/video clips/graphics/ newspapers)
• Reduces the need for traditional libraries
• On-line classes/qualifications
• Homework potential
• Flexibility in applying for university/college places
• Viruses
• Too much information – can miss main points
• Information could be inaccurate/misleading
• Encounter ‘inappropriate’ sites
• Addiction
• Distraction
• Cheating (plagiarism)
• A reasoned assessment of ‘greater’ is required

‘Without science, the beauty and wonder of nature would not be fully appreciated.’ Discuss.

Points for/against without science, the beauty and wonder of nature would not be fully appreciated.

• Scientific explanations of the formation of living organisms reveal their intricacy and beauty
• Technology can reveal through exploration much that was hitherto hidden
• Scientific research of plants and insects, for example, can reveal the inter-dependence of life in our world
• Science is an integral part of nature and its various disciplines continue to provide insight
• The beauty and wonder of nature, the harmony, the patterns that science can reveal, are mirrored in art and music
• At the same time creative artistry and ordinary observation can open our minds and hearts to the beauty of nature
• Patterns revealed by physics across space and time
• Opportunities for artists to respond to the patterns that science reveals e.g. the zigzag pattern of all the elements making up our solar system
• The phenomenon of resonance when form echoes an idea
• The world’s relatively unknown wonders are explored by scientists e.g. Christmas Island – few areas can match its concentrated endemic life forms – other isolated worlds would be relevant
• Physics and music – the “music of the spheres”
• In medieval universities music was one of the core disciplines along with astronomy, geometry, and arithmetic – musical phrasing is mathematical in nature – balance, energy, equation.

Account for the popularity of biographies and autobiographies.

Possible points for the popularity of biographies and autobiographies

• Celebrity obsession
• Preoccupation with reality TV and instant fame
• Interest in the lives of others (e.g. the popularity of blogging)
• Celebrities are quick to exploit
• Expansion of multi-media biography channels on cable TV
• Popular films based on the lives of famous people
• Everyone exposing their personal lives on social networking sites
• Escapism/desire for sensational lifestyles

To what extent is censorship essential in advertising?

Possible points for/against censorship is essential in advertising

Keywords: ‘To what extent’ and ‘censorship’ and ‘essential’ and ‘advertising’.
• Monitor offensive material
• Identify misleading claims (e.g. consumer protection)
• Protect children (e.g. watershed)
• Prevent scams
• Protect health (e.g. smoking)
• Protect vulnerable
• Too much political correctness
• Censorship unnecessary after the watershed
• Nanny state (in a democracy)
• Overstates the actual influence of advertising
• Censorship is at the whim of various prejudices and attitudes

‘A country’s energy development should be restricted to its own natural resources.’ How realistic is this opinion?

Points for/against a country’s energy development should be restricted to its natural resources.

• Depends on fossil fuel availability
• Depends on climate/geography for renewables (HEP/wind/solar/bagasse)
• Awareness of government policy – willingness to explore/subsidise
• Desire to be self-sufficient
• Expensive developmental costs – may be cheaper to import
• Need to diversify
• New infrastructure (road networks)
• Possibility of nuclear energy
• Few natural resources
• Exploitation of resources by other countries (e.g. China ‘plundering’ Africa)
• Examples are required
• Better responses require a focus on ‘realistic’ throughout the response

How significant is income from tourism to your country?

Possible points for significance of income from tourism

• What proportion of GDP is a result of tourism?
• How much foreign currency flows in thanks to tourism.
• How much employment is created by tourism?
• Any spin-offs such as inward investment/establishment of multi-nationals?
• Any visible benefits to infrastructure and/or the environment?
• Improvement in living standards?

‘Totalitarianism and religion share one important feature: indoctrination.’ To what extent would you agree?

Possible points for/against totalitarianism and religion share the feature of indoctrination.

• Totalitarianism needs to be defined (proximity to authoritarianism still a matter of dispute).
• Political indoctrinatiohttps://www.opendemocracy.net/en/countering-radical-right/totalitarianism-twentieth-century-and-beyond/n in the sense that all aspects of citizens’ lives are subordinate to the authority of the state.
• Examples of the above, e.g. USSR, Nazi Germany, Communist China.
• Extremist religions can indoctrinate but while most religions attempt to build their power and influence, this process is mainly persuasion rather than indoctrination and people are free, not compelled to participate if they so wish.