“Keller teaches Paul more than how to be a good musician.” Discuss.

The topic says specifically, “Keller teaches Paul …”, - What are the major exchanges that take place between Keller and Paul.- Are there any lessons that fall outside the realms of mere music.

A list of main events that involve Keller and Paul

1. The first music lesson when Keller doesn’t let Paul play.2. ‘We must be on guard against beauty always. Never trust the beautiful.’3. When Keller lent the Libretto to Paul.4. Keller reveals to Paul about his family what happened to them.5. Keller travels with Paul to Adelaide.6. Keller sends Paul a letter criticising his music7. Paul learns about Keller’s true identity and feels sympathy for his solitude and

loneliness.

Paul Crabbe in Peter Goldsworthy’s novel, Maestro, is typical of many headstrong adolescents in the face of well-intentioned advice from adults. Furthermore, he has an arrogance and unduly high opinion of his own worth. Eventually, however, he comes to recognise that his piano teacher, Keller, has far more of merit to him than merely an ability to play the piano.Consequently, Paul recognises that he has learnt considerably more than just an attitude to the craft of the piano from him.

Once you have completed your introduction, then you are in a position to write your body paragraphs.

TOEEL is a sensible way in which to try to construct them

Topic sentence – introduces subject of remaining sentencesOpinion – what you think (often builds on the topic sentence)Evidence – incident/quote to support opinionExplanation – explain HOW the evidence supports your opinionLink back to the topic – show relevance of discussion to the essay topic

At Paul’s first music lesson with Keller, when he was not allowed to play on the piano and only listened to Keller talk about the fingers, Paul reacted negatively. Keller knew how Paul’s music would sound like and crushed Paul’s smugness about his ability which was less accomplished than he believed. Paul thought of it as an insult and a waste of his time, as reflected by his strong opinion expressed with frustration to his father after the first lesson that, “He practically broke my arm… He’s a sadist,” when he complained to his parents. Knowing that Paul was an arrogant teenager who had been praised too much, Keller tried to teach him more than just the mastery of the piano, but how his attitude should be. Although Paul did not receive Keller’s message, later on he realized how much Keller had taught him.

When proofreading your work, keep an eye out for the consistency of your verb tenses, in addition to whether or not the sentences make sense. Jumbled verb tenses cause confusion.

A further character trait of stubbornness as well as adolescent impatience is obvious during a number of other friction filled exchanges between Paul and Keller. One of those relates to Keller’s efforts to educate Paul about the dangers of subtlety in music because it can be conveyed as lameness. Keller’s intentions are plain in his advice that, ‘We must be on guard against beauty always. Never trust the beautiful’, because he recognises the importance of energy and decisiveness in its execution. There may also be some allusions to his own complacency about calm conditions which, on closer consideration given the circumstances under which his family were killed, may be a lesson about the need for vigilance. However, it is much later that Paul becomes sensitive to these lessons about conviction in performance and the dangers in crafting beauty which may either veil a trap or drain vital music of its energy.

After his return from Adelaide, Keller decided to teach Paul the truth about his family. Keller wanted Paul to know about how his arrogance led to the death of his beloved family. He warned Paul about how dreams and arrogant expectations may fail to reach fruition. He knew the dangers of complacency related to pride and arrogance would through his own experiences and believed that his family would be immune from the grizzly fates that befell other people of Jewish descent due to the personal knowledge of the Nazis of him and his status as a performance pianist. However, this could not prevent the death of his family. The maestro stated gravely to Paul in an effort to disperse his smugness that “I do not tell you this for me… But for you.” Keller wished Paul could have understood his message, as he taught Paul as if he was Eric, his lost and deeply mourned after. He hoped Paul gained more that just piano techniques from their exchanges, but it was only after the death of Keller that Paul learned why Keller was so compelled to teach him with his peculiar ways and what he eventually gained from these lessons.

Paul comprehends the message Keller has sent to him from all their previous exchanges between them when he discovers the truth of Keller’s past. Keller’s family members were victims of Keller’s pride and arrogance. He thought he was too important to be subjected to the same discrimination as other Jewish associates, and believed wrongly that his family would be overlooked and safe. The death of his family and subsequent despair was sufficient deep for him to entertain the prospect to “hack off his fingers, one by one” if he ever felt like playing the piano again. Paul learnt from Keller’s past that his pride, passion and arrogance contributed to the disintegration of his once stellar performance career. He finally realizes that Keller’s advice was indeed true; Paul’s ego is far greater than his talent, and the importance of circumspection because of the way in which a person’s fortunes can alter so dramatically and so quickly without humility..

The Maestro, Keller, had taught Paul how to master the techniques of the Piano. Despite Paul’s initial impression of the “boozer” and unusual teachings, through age, and reflection he gained insight to the reasons why Keller taught paul and the extent of what he was trying to pass on. Keller endeavoured to showed Paul more than just how to play the piano, in the process of pauls realisation of the “extra knowledge” he

realises the need from keller for redemption and that he could see pauls lessons as a way to redemption. Kellers axim was to never trust beauty as it could be dangerous. He felt the need to pass this on not only for knowledge’s sake but because through his own experiences, he wanted reduce the pain that could be had for taking beauty for granted or to become complacent in ones ways bout of life.

Keller’s past demonstrated how pride and arrogance could bring ruin to ones life, Paul learnt from Keller’s mistake but only after he had committed same mistakes for all those years, causing him to have an unsuccessful career.